I had prepared and uploaded my blog for today but I set it aside late last night. I can’t get past tomorrow, September 11 or as it has become simply 9-11. There will be many words today, few will be able to capture the impact in loss of life and the realization that our enemies now had the ability to bring the horror of war to our soil. Here are a couple of things I take away from that day.   Death is never an easy thing to cope with and I don’t hold much with the advice that “things will be better in time; every day it will get a little better.” Don’t believe that, I believe we just learn how to live with it or for lack of a better term tolerate the loss. Like everyone else I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing. Been fifteen years now and I still can close my eyes and see those people jumping from the towers. Now after all these years’ history is slowly being rewritten in that many films have been edited to remove those pictures. Why is that important? To me it is important because while I can’t say what was in their mind at that time, I prefer to believe in that moment of extreme despair they chose how they would die. First take away, how much easier is it for us who only have to choose how to live.

One of the first things that happened after it was determined that this was not a terrible mishap but was indeed a deliberate attack, was a no fly order issued for the whole country. All flights except those of military origin were grounded throughout the USA. I remember standing outside at work that afternoon and the next few days and looking up at the sky above. My second take away was that those contrails left by planes were absence from the sky. How odd it seemed. Just as a room becomes quite, no one speaking, their absence marked the silence of the skies. It was as if I was waiting to see something there that would tell me everything was going to be alright. My third take away is perhaps the one that is most imprinted on my mind and heart. As the towers fell the dust and debris of this awful destruction blotted the sun from the sky and blinded all those trapped by it. Everyone was covered to the point that there was no way to distinguish skin color or ethnicity, all were caught in a world of gray horror, dependent on the help and mercies of those closest to them. Somehow the need to take or offer a hand, to cover and shield another from the debris, to offer self in defense of another was the most striking thing I saw. We came together as a people, there was no time to shout USA, USA as would be heard much over the next few days. This may not make sense and I stand to be corrected. I believe on that day we were Americans all and in that moment we all became God’s children. (Matthew 22:39 A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.”

There is no way I could ever put to words the sacrifice of NYFD or Police, EMS or the hundreds of medical and civilian responders, there are no words that could do honor to their sacrifice. So how or where do we go from here? As a nation and a people we need to return to the good way, we need God and there is only one way…..

John 14:6 Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.

The next few weeks here in the “Pew” we will spend some time with the writings of one of the best known, most traveled and I would argue the reason the Gentile Church became a force to be dealt with. What made these letters so important? First which books are we looking at? The Pauline Epistles are Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus, and Philemon. They contain much of the doctrine the Christian faith is built upon, especially in relationship to salvation and are significant for teaching on difficult theological issues such as election, predestination, foreknowledge, the deity/humanity of Christ, God’s ongoing relationship with Israel, and the Judgment Seat of Christ. They can be considered to be a very practical tool on teaching how the church should function, containing teaching on spiritual gifts, qualifications of church leaders, the role of women in ministry, and the relationship between law and grace in the life of a Christ-follower. Paul was important to the unifying of the church among the Jews and the Gentiles…thus the Christian Church of today and The Pauline Epistles are part of that unity, and the teachings they contain are equally inspired and in complete harmony with the rest of the Bible. In the weeks to come we will look at selected verses and such from each of these books.We will start at the very first of the list…Romans. Our Sunday School teacher in remarks about Romans, said this… “one of the fullest statements of the Christian faith.” There are many fine books and thoughts about the Book Of Romans and I was particularly fond of these. They are taken from:

https://bibleproject.com/guides/book-of-romans/ 

It always helps to look for and understand the KEY elements that shape the writers thoughts and help us understand his point better. With that in mind here are some Key Points to our book this week.

Key Themes

• God’s gift of rescuing humanity through Jesus.
• God maintaining his promises to Israel.
• Love unifying the diversity of the Church.

I am going to pass along some things about this Book, most likely  one of Pauls best writings. I will also place the source of this information at the end of each revelation. First, you that have joined me in the past here in “The Pew” know how much I respect the proper use of words. Here are some key words to pay attention to…

Key Words – Some of the key words in the book of Romans, and the frequency of their use in the epistle, include: law (78 occurrences); sin (60); faith (39); righteousness (39); spirit (29); flesh (26); grace (24); gospel (13); Israel (12) & Jew (11); works (9); justification (3).  (https://livwat.com/pdffiles/ROMANS.pdf ) 

These words and their frequency of use set the tone of this letter. Paul also makes a Theological point and clearly calls to our attention who was lacking in their responsibilities. 

“Paul argued that Jesus is the only righteous one. As we read his letter to the Romans, we learn that Jews and non-Jews alike have missed the point. The Law cannot make someone righteous, but it can point to the one who is, Jesus, who came to make all things right. He mends the rifts that separate us from one another.”(The Bible Project)

It is best that we acknowledge that the Holy Trinity…Father, Son, Holy Ghost cannot exist in a place of dispute. God is Love, and trust and truth serve Him best.

One web site I encourage you to take the time to visit is a favorite of mine… //www.gotquestions.org/Book-of-Romans.html 

This is a summary of the book of Romans… a good read. I give you this as a closing thought from…Got Questions…

 Romans is about the good news—the gospel. The word gospel is prominent at the beginning and end of the letter, and it’s foremost in the letter’s thesis statement in Romans 1:16–17: “I’m not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, ‘The righteous shall live by faith.’ 

Romans is a powerful read and I encourage you to explore it and its truths often. 

Life is Good

jk

Early morning here on the “Back porch”, not my usual time. A lot of things have changed the last few months but the porch is the only place I can ponder in peace. Remember the Boy Scouts before they “woke” up. All those silly notions about God and Country and being prepared? I was one of those silly kids that loved it then and hate the loss of such for so many of our kids these days. One thing that has changed for sure is my memory. I am a bit long in the tooth these days but the rules of “to ponder” allow me some room…so join me in this weeks ponder. 

Taos, New Mexico and a little northeast of that… the Village of  Questa, New Mexico. Now that for a boy of 16 was an adventure few others could have. Actually, it was myself and about 29 others, all Boy Scouts and leaders included, up from Amarillo Texas to camp in the mountains of New Mexico. My time in the Scouts was about to come to a close. I had gained the rank of a First Class scout and had earned the Order of The Arrow, I add this information for those who would have no idea of what I am talking about.

The Order of the Arrow (OA), previously known as Wimachtendienk Wingolauchsik Witahemui (WWW) is the honor society of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA),^[4] composed of Scouts and Scouters who best exemplify the Scout Oath and Law in their daily lives as elected by their peers. Started as a Camp Fraternity by E. Urner Goodman, with the assistance of Carroll A. Edson, in 1915, its goal was to reinforce the Scout Oath and the Scout Law. Started without approval of Boy Scouts of America (BSA), it became an “Official Experiment” of the Scouting organization. In 1948, following an extensive review, it officially became a program of Boy Scouts of America. (Wikipedia)

As best I can remember the drive was a little over 200 miles and we left early in the morning and got to Questa in a little under five hours. We did stop and visit the Pueblo’s outside of Toas NM.

I do remember that at that time we actually drove out of Questa on a dirt road and when that ended we packed up our personals and camp gear and trekked up into the mountains.

Having spent some time camping in Palo Duro Canyon I did fairly well on the trail up and into the mountains. But we were all tired and it was getting dark and we set up camp as quickly as possible. Being a Senior Scout I had two Patrols assigned to me to keep up with. I think there were two other Senior Scouts with us. We quickly half dug a latrine and I remember staking a rope from the perimeter of the camp to the latrine itself. The instructions were very plain…at night use a flashlight and follow the rope to the latrine. Like all things sometimes the best laid plans of men and mice don’t always work…I will leave it at that and your imagination. One of the patrols I was assigned to had breakfast duty that first morning and we decided to get a jump start on the morning by mixing the pancake batter before we got into the our tents. Somebody had either read or seen a mountain man movie and we put the lid on the mix pot tied it down and then attached a rope to the top of it and hoisted the mix pot, using a tree limb to pull it a few feet up off the ground. Well, again that “best Plan” thing bit us. The pancake batter froze, breakfast was a nightmare and we had the pancakes for lunch. Well there were lots of adventures in the mountains and memories to take home but the Ponder here is is this… Do I kinda wish I was a Boy Scout one more time or am I sad to see a better time fade away? 

Kurt

Kurt

This week’s blog completes our series about God’s word in “Hard Times” What a wonderful way to end this series. It is a collection of comforting words of heavenly tenderness all set before us to give us faith in hard times. They serve to remind us of the righteousness, mercy and grace that are the benefits of serving GOD. In Psalm 103:2 be remindful of of the benefits of serving our creator…Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits. We should also remember that He is slow to anger…verse 8…The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. Imagine… Know…That God has removed our sins from us as far as infinity… as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. Mercy, oh what mercy God has for His Children…verses 10-17…

10

he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. 

11 

For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his love for those who fear him;

12 

as far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

13 

As a father has compassion on his children,
so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;

14 

for he knows how we are formed,
he remembers that we are dust.

15 

The life of mortals is like grass,
they flourish like a flower of the field;

16 

the wind blows over it and it is gone,
and its place remembers it no more.

17 

But from everlasting to everlasting
the Lord’s love is with those who fear him,
and his righteousness with their children’s children—

What does our God ask of us? To whom are these benefits given to? We find that answer in verse 18…

18 

with those who keep his covenant
    and remember to obey his precepts.

I hope you have enjoyed this series and encourage you to come back to “The Pew” next week. Stay strong and safe and Keep The Faith.

Life is Good

jk

Having a bit of a hard time with this heat this week. My old free temp gauge from the local service station with their logo on it remains above 95 degrees most of the day. Evening cools a bit but not much. The only break we have got is that the humidity is not all that bad. How bad is it really? I trade my coffee cup for a large glass of SWEET tea when on the porch…How long a ponder determines the number of glasses. I didn’t have to have a lot of time to decide that this weeks ponder has to do with reality. 

   “the world or the state of things as they actually exist, as opposed to an idealistic or notional idea of them.” 

Reality… I sometimes think that we lost all sense of it. To me we are like walking a switch-back road…you can’t really look back to see where you’ve been and you can only see a short distance ahead to where you are going. Consider this…eggs where $3.97 a dozen here at Aldi… I have to ponder why. If they are in short supply why don’t they ever run out of them at that price? Remember in the 70’s the inflation and loss of jobs in the textile industry…just one segment of the job thing. It was rough for all of us, the reality was that most prices doubled and the reality was they never came down. Most folks don’t do reality well. There are a lot of things that get in the way of this thing called reality. I won’t subject you to a long list of stuff but just say the sales of Ross Colored Glasses is higher and denial makes the lenses. Now there is one thing that enhances denial of reality… hope for a better day. This time on the porch I am Pondering a situation that involves the approval of the Government and an insurance company. Reality is I will never walk again without help… a person, a device or an alternative means of moving around… That is reality. Consider this… we began the process of aging with the first breath we take and that is a God ordained thing. You can’t fool mother nature. There is nothing better than a good dose of reality plus a good ponder… to make your day complete. You see Pondering is in the Bible. So if you are pondering this age thing, read this…Jesus said to Peter…

John 21: 18… “I tell you the truth, when you were young, you were able to do as you liked; you dressed yourself and went wherever you wanted to go. But when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and other’s will dress you and take you where you don’t want to go.” (NLT)

This is REALITY.

Kurt

One goal of “The Pew” is to encourage those of the way to always “go beyond the word”… seek God’s word and follow the good way… prayer, Holy Spirit and Obedience to our GOD…Led by our knowledge of what is expected of us.

Going beyond the word is simply knowing about the old journalism points of… “Who, What, Where,Why and How” We will start with one of the best. William Barclay’s Daily Bible Study. From his introduction to Ephesians:

The Supreme Letter

By common consent, the Letter to the Ephesians ranks very high in the devotional and theological literature of the Christian Church. It has been called ‘the Queen of the Epistles’ – and rightly so. Many would hold that it is indeed the highest reach of New Testament thought.

There is no doubt that Ephesians was written by Paul while he was in prison for the Faith. One question that surfaces is to whom Ephesians is written to. To whom was the letter written? Some think it might have been directed toward the Gentiles. Paul notes in chapter 4 verse 17… “With the Lord’s authority I say this: Live no longer as the Gentiles do, for they are hopelessly confused.”  That enough to think this way…I don’t think so but it is an interesting thought when one is trying to unite the Faith. There is another fact about this letter. Paul was in Ephesus longer than most places and had friends there yet the letter is void of any personal greetings, overall it is a very impersonal in content and tone. There is more but I will refer to “Barclay” before moving on.  “None of the great early manuscripts of the Greek New Testament contains the words “in Ephesus” none of the great early manuscripts of the Greek New Testament contains the words in Ephesus.”

They all read: ‘Paul . . . to the saints who are also faithful in Christ Jesus.’ This is from a current text from the NLT version… “Ephesians 1 This letter is from Paul, chosen by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus.”

There are other disputes which we will leave behind for now. The world of digital advances gives us a treasure trove of information and little gems that allows us to further acquire knowledge, such being this article written by Jack Wellman and posted in:  https://www.whatchristianswanttoknow.com/5-good-chapters-of-the-bible-to-read-during-tough-times/print/ . A concise listing of bible verses that strengthen The Confidence of Our Calling. Now again to give credit to where credit is due…here are the verses Jack Wellman points out that strengthen our confidence in the calling we have been given… Ephesians 1:

4 Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. 5 God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.

9 God has now revealed to us his mysterious will regarding Christ—which is to fulfill his own good plan.

11 Furthermore, because we are united with Christ, we have received an inheritance from God,[c] for he chose us in advance, and he makes everything work out according to his plan.

20 that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms.

See how it all comes together, we are so blessed. God had a plan…We have been adopted into His family…and it was of HIS doing.

We can say with confidence we have been called…Stand Strong in The Faith

Life is Good

jk

I have always been a coffee drinker, you might say I am addicted to coffee. I Don’t drink as much now as I did when I was working but enough to qualify for frequent drinker status and yes I have a favorite coffee. The StarBucks Americano, that is my choice. Welcome to the Porch… Sooner or later with the continued inflation showing no signs of abating I knew this would make it to the Back Porch. My reasoning came from the feeling that a good ponder, a real good one is usually about something of little or no great concern…remember thinking about something should require at least a reasonable amount of knowledge and a direction…coffee requires neither. Coffee is an acquired taste or habit that is a personal obsession… “ can’t start the day without a cup of coffee” or you have heard it said… “I got to have that afternoon cup to get through the day!” I read an article the other day that said inflation had come down a significant amount over the last three months. Now I am just guessing that the person or persons who wrote that do not eat anything or drive anywhere. Now to the ponder this evening here on the porch. I have had a Gold card from Starbucks since 2012 so I do have a real concern about what is going on at the bean factory. Consider this…19% of Starbucks sales are food. (Starbucks)  As of September 2022, cold drinks accounted for 75% of the sales. I refer to these drinks as coffee that has been defiled but they redeem themselves by listing their the number one, most popular drink at Starbucks is…brewed coffee, mainly Pike Place. (July 2, 2024) My first Americano from the bean king was a Venti size and it cost $2.89. Amy went by yesterday and got my usual Americano Vt…$4.88. Not bad I guess under the current conditions… that’s about 17 cents a year increase. However the last three years has seen the largest increase… About two years ago it was $3.55 and now $4.88 an increase of about $1.33. Now add to that and they also made major changes in their Awards program, increasing the number of stars required to get free drinks or food items. Here is an interesting fact…In the US, mobile orders account for 27% of Starbucks transactions. ((Digital Initiative) It removes the possibility of the price increasing before you get there.

So here is the point of this ponder. Pondering, as I have pointed out in the past does not require accuracy and there is no accountability. So my figures could be wrong…nice thing is who cares, kinda like the News Networks today. But I do remember the Apostle Paul asking himself why “do I do the things I ought not do and not do those things I ought to do?” That’s what is nice about the “Art of Pondering” there are no real rules. The simple fact is…I’m Addicted to Coffee.

Kurt

Is it a personal Thing?

There are some things about this first letter of John that we should consider to understand it better. There is no opening address or closing greeting. It most definitely seeks to address a particular situation and a particular group. While anxious in manner its attitude is loving and its purpose is to inform others. We would do well to remember that this letter was written in Ephesus a little after AD 100. Here in Ephesus you now had second, even third generation of Christians…the glory and splendor and excitement of those early days had now become different. For the believers of that time it had now become a memory in which they had incorporated a half-hearted following. The wonder had been lost. (Matthew 24:12) The flame that once burnt brightly was now no more than a flicker. To some the standards of the faith were to burdensome and they were tired of the demands it made on their everyday lives. This hagios thing…the call to be different… To live a holy life was to much of a burden in these times. Just as it is today for many Christians, the pressure to accept and live by the new standards as determined by the cultural demand for change has become overwhelming.

1 John 3:10

So now we can tell who are children of God and who are children of the devil. Anyone who does not live righteously and does not love other believers[b] does not belong to God.

Continuing “Hard Times” this week we take a look at 1 John 3… you might also call this an exercise in accountability because it is a true saying that proof is in our actions… How we treat others not only maters but shows others who we are… “They’ll Know We Are Christians By Our Love”. 1 John has some other points we will get to in just a moment. This chapter makes it very plain and presents evidence with a timely rational…Are we professing and confessing our faith in Christ, or are we just talking? The scripture is short and direct…1John 3:4 Everyone who sins is breaking God’s law, for all sin is contrary to the law of God. Your life, how you live out your faith is the real proof of the confidence you have in your faith. I like this Chapter because it says so much in so few words. Consider these points and verses:

– proves the fact that whoever does not sin really knows Christ (1 John 3:6);
– shows the fact that whoever does sin doesn’t really know Christ (1 John 3:9); and
– establishes the fact that whoever sins is of the Devil and we know that whoever is truly abiding in Christ is abiding in Him because of their lifestyle of not living in sin (1 John 3:8-9).

In closing there are other things that we should consider. In 1 John 3 we are instructed to love one another, while that is no easy task try and remember that peace and hope in hard times can only happen in a atmosphere of love…the Spirt does not abide among hate and fear.

Life is Good

jk

This week is a milestone for me so…I came out here on the back porch to ponder how far I have come since April. I would like to say It has been a long walk but the truth is I haven’t been able to walk since April 17th. I tore my right knee tendon and had surgery to repair the tear but when they got in there it was worse than they thought. I had torn the tendon completely… completely…not a tear, not a rip but completely. Now if that was not enough…added to that was the fact that I was a bit long in the tooth… the old folks way of saying…old. Of course I was not aware of the severity of the injury…I was asleep at the time and blissfully unaware of what awaited me. I had a comfortable surgery but a nightmare of recovery awaited me. First off the brace for my knee was modeled after a medieval torture device and it would stay on for at least 6 weeks. The objective was not bend the knee to soon before the surgery healed because it would cause the tendon to tear again. At my six week check up it was discovered that a slight tear had occurred again… Doctor…  “you have bent that knee to soon!” I did not agree with that…but it was my knee so I guess it was me. Then they decided that I needed to go to a rehab facility for awhile and awhile soon became 6 weeks. I will share that ordeal with you at another time… I kept a journal, I did, I promise.

So I do ponder why all this happened but the result is I have learned something from all of it. With God every adversity has a blessing somewhere in the journey. Things are never as bad as they seem and I can assure you that at first that was hard to believe from a wheelchair. So I started from the position that I was crippled …cause (someone) to become unable to walk or move normally: Yep that would be me. Let’s take a moment to ponder that. invalid: one who is sickly or disabled…  It is used to describe functional limitations that affect one or more major life activities such as walking, lifting, learning, breathing and everyday day tasks.  As you can read I could have found myself in a much worse condition but I didn’t…another blessing among the adversity. God has blessed me with a good wife and daughter, friends, a church that helps when asked and the prayers of good people. No I can’t walk but through the God given faith that a better day is ahead I have found alternative ways to move about, comfortable and safely. Life is Good…God is Good.

Kurt

This week we continue our series of chapters to read when things get tough in this life. John 10: 1-7…:“I tell you the truth, anyone who sneaks over the wall of a sheepfold, rather than going through the gate, must surely be a thief and a robber! 2 But the one who enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep recognize his voice and come to him. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 After he has gathered his own flock, he walks ahead of them, and they follow him because they know his voice. 5 They won’t follow a stranger; they will run from him because they don’t know his voice. 6 Those who heard Jesus use this illustration didn’t understand what he meant,  7 so he explained it to them: “I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. (NLT)

Jesus has often been referred to as the Good Shepherd, thus becoming a picture woven into the language and imagery of the Bible. Let’s do a quick walk through. The one thing that stands out is that this chapter presents Jesus as The Good Shepherd. Can’t say it enough or write it because of the message it sends to us… Jesus is unwilling to lose any of us. John 10:16:  I have other sheep, too, that are not in this sheepfold. I must bring them also. They will listen to my voice, and there will be one flock with one shepherd. (NLT) In verses John 10: 28-29 we see the security of salvation in Christ and the comfort of the Father. Christ is truly God… John 10:30 “The Father and I are one.” Reading in John 10: 3-5 “The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep recognize his voice and come to him. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 After he has gathered his own flock, he walks ahead of them, and they follow him because they know his voice. 5 They won’t follow a stranger; they will run from him because they don’t know his voice.”(NLT) Jesus knows us and we know him. Perhaps the most comforting thing we read in this chapter can be found in verse 10:11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep.” (NIV) Of course another verse we all know from John…10:15  just as my Father knows me and I know the Father. So I sacrifice my life for the sheep. (NLT)

Consider these as being the marks, qualities, and duties of a good pastor.

-he is led by the Spirit…lives and works for the good of the church…the salvation of souls…sacrificing himself entirely to the will of God.

-the second mark of a true minister-his labour is crowned with success.

-A third mark of a good shepherd is that he speaks so as to instruct the people –

-A fourth mark of a good pastor is that he knows his flock; he knows them by name and their needs.

-We might say that Jesus was in many ways the “First Pastor” and as in this day continues to lead us away from danger… He does so by maintaining the those gentle yet powerful persuasions that flow from a heart full of the word and love of Christ, into the kingdom and glory of his God.

More, much more could be added but the important message is that even in times of uncertainty, fear and pain, we have a Good Shepherd to protect us, guide us… We, God’s children are His sheep and we are never alone.

Life is Good

jk