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The Sunday Blog: Jesus Commands Us to Love Others

5/8/2022

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"Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you." --Luke 6:27-28 (NIV)

As a Christian and also a former military officer, one of the most difficult things for me to follow are the words of Jesus stated above.  Combat arms military personnel are taught that they must do whatever is necessary to successfully achieve victory and the primary way to do that in warfare is by destroying things and killing the enemy.  That is the primary mission of armies down through the ages.  Even the mighty warriors of early Jewish times followed the methodology of annihilating your enemy and it was with the support of their God that they did so.

So this begs the question: How can we reconcile that with the words of Jesus, clearly exhorting us to love everyone, enemies included?  The answer is clearly found in the word love.

Now when we think of love, we naturally think of those who are close to us, our loved ones, family and friends who we care for and who care for us in times of need.  But that's the easy part for God wants us to also love those who hate us, harm us and belittle us.  And this is the hardest thing for most of us Christians to deal with.

How can we love those who hate and hurt us?  It's just the opposite of the natural tendency of man.  But if you put it in the perspective of Jesus Christ and what he did for us it becomes easier to understand, even if it is still very difficult to do.  Remember one of the last things Jesus said on the Cross before he died: "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." Luke 23:24.

Jesus doesn't expect us to love what people do when they hate and hurt us, but he does expect us to forgive them for what they've done.  It's basically the love the sinner, hate the sin thing and, once again, it's what he expects of us.  So to do it takes work.  Just like remembering to read the Bible daily, praying regularly and attending services, forgiving those who have harmed us takes lots of work and the best place to start is with those who have caused us troubles of the smaller variety.  The more we practice doing what he says, the better we will get at it, and when we get to the point where we can forgive those who have caused the most serious harm to us, then we are truly on our way to a life with Him when we are done here.

Think of the case recently where the mother of a child who was killed by a drunk driver went up to the man who was guilty of the crime and told him that she forgave him and would pray for him every day.  Oh, she testified against him and told what happened and her testimony was critical as a witness to the horror, yet she found it in her heart to forgive him.  He still had to face the punishment for what he had done and I am sure he relived the event every day for the rest of his life, but at least he knew that she had forgiven him and through her grace he was given an understanding of how God's grace can work for all of us.  While we never know what it really meant to him, it likely opened his eyes to the concept of godly love, something we all need desperately in a cruel, hard world.

And that's exactly the way it is with Jesus.  When he was alone on the Cross suffering as a mere mortal man, he was doing it for all of the sins we have committed against His Father.  And the result was His forgiveness for our sins and the opportunity to be born again in Him.

Practice forgiveness, it will ultimately give you peace and joy.  You will no longer waste so much of precious life with hate and anger and learn to really live.  Try it, it's habit forming.

Lord, Help us to live our life with love, not just for those who are easy to love but those who have hurt us as well.  Infect our hearts with your love brought to us by the Holy Spirit and let us experience the joy of living a life filled with love and joy.  Let us understand that judgment is up to you, not us and just let our anger disappear to be replaced with peace and joy. In Christ's name we ask, Amen.

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Christ Is Risen!

4/17/2022

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Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they, and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing spices which they had prepared.  But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb.  Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.  And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments. Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, "Why do you seek the living among the dead.  He is not here, but is risen! Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, saying, 'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day arise again. " Luke 24:1-7

As I sit on my deck in the early morning mist of this quiet Easter morning, I think back about that day so long ago and the hope and promise it brought to a troubled and violent world.  I imagine how the disciples and those others loyal to Jesus felt after seeing his horrific death on Friday and how the next day, Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath, must have been gloomy in their hearts and their souls.

And then a glorious Easter Sunday morning arrived and as Mary, accompanied by Mary Magdalene and other women, made their way toward the tomb carrying traditional spices for the body of Jesus, they were astonished to find the large stone rolled away from the tomb opening.  Despite Jesus' words to the disciples and followers that He would arise from the dead on the third day, they had given up hope after witnessing His brutal death.  But here in front of them was the proof that He was alive; the tomb was empty and the wrapping cloths were not even moved, yet they were empty.

This singular event started a chain of events from which the worst dictators and villains cannot escape no matter how hard they try and how violent the actions they take.  For in a matter of less than two months' time, after the resurrected Jesus shows Himself on multiple occasions and gives His disciples their instructions for their future work, He ascends to Heaven and sends the third member of the Godly Trinity, the Holy Spirit, to infect the souls and lives of His followers.

Over the last two thousand years these followers, finally at last earning the name Christians, have carried His Word far and near and with it the message of hope for the future through surrendering souls to Him.  Many evil men have tried to destroy the faith through many methods, but none have been successful.  And as long as man walks the earth there will be Christians who stand by the True and Living God to the end, giving courage to others who will follow them.

The event of that first Easter gives hope, love and Eternal Life to all who make the free will decision to live for Him.  And once the decision is made they are free: free from bondage and suffering knowing that they will be granted a place at the Table of Our Lord and Savior.

He is truly Risen!  He truly Lives!  Seek Him and you will find a joy beyond all others.  Happy Easter.




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HOLY WEEK THURSDAY: The New Sacrament and the Arrest in the Evening

4/14/2022

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PictureWhile He prays, the disciples can't even stay awake to watch over him
Maundy Thursday was a very important day in the Easter Story, with Jesus spending most of the time from dusk to later evening with His Disciples in what would be the last great gathering that they would hold together during His short, thirty-three year lifetime on earth. They would see Him after the Resurrection, but not as the mortal being that they had known as his close followers. The evening meal was the traditional Jewish Passover meal and the evening was a most important time for the Jews. Sadly, we Christians often forget that Jesus was a Jew as those with whom He shared the faith in God would be the ones to request His death.  But He was bringing a new and living faith, a faith of love and forgiveness  to those who followed the Law and those in power naturally would see it as a threat to their authority and privilege,  a threat which, indeed, Jesus provided. He came to earth to offer a better way.

The Passover Seder is a very lengthy meal. It allows for much discussion as well as remembrance of the meal's significance and how it plays such a central place in Jewish history. But with Jesus the Jew who was now representing a New Way, taking traditional Jewish Law and adding a living component, Himself, He wanted to also explain to His followers that His coming at this time was not permanent but that He would return.  And, more importantly, He wanted them to know that His departure would mean their lives would be much more difficult, but they must remain true to Him.  He offered the sacrament of the Holy Communion as their remembrance of Him, with the bread representing His body and the wine His blood.  And while they listened and partook, they just didn't realize what that all meant. But this Last Supper, Jesus' last meal before His death on the Cross, would become the standard by which we recommit to Him symbolically in Christian churches the world over even today.

Even when Jesus washed their feet, clearly a duty of a servant, they really didn't understand His significance, thinking it strange that the King of Kings would perform such a menial task.  But there was a reason for every action He took, and He knew that after He departed, these things would come back to them and they would understand the full significance of the act, symbolically meaning their life as Christians was to be one of service and love.

Toward the end of the meal, Judas Iscariot, known by Jesus to be the one who would betray him, dipped his bread in the wine, the signal which Jesus said would identify his betrayer. He came over, kissed Jesus who responded by telling him to go quickly and do his evil deed, and Judas hurried away. Like so much more that evening, the Disciples didn't fully comprehend what was happening and they were puzzled. Shortly thereafter, Jesus rose and departed from the room and headed to the Garden of Gethsemane.


Upon arrival in the Garden, Jesus told the Disciples to watch over Him by staying awake as He went off by Himself to pray. He was in anguish, shaking and sweating profusely, many reports saying the sweat actually included His blood.  He knew what was expected and asked His Father to release Him from his required commitment and at that moment He felt entirely alone. The sins of the world were sitting on His shoulders and He was heavy laden.  He knew that He must go forward with the plan that filled Him with dread.

Returning to His Disciples, even they had let Him down, falling asleep when told to stand watch, but Jesus knew this was part of what He had to bear and it wasn't long thereafter when the soldiers, led by Judas, came near.  Judas came forward and identified Him with a kiss, and the soldiers took Him into custody. The Disciples wanted to fight, with Peter even cutting off the ear of one of the warriors, but Jesus silenced them. Jesus healed the wounded soldier as His Disciples fled in fear and the soldiers led Him to the High Priest, pushing and punching and mocking Him all the way.

The arrest was late in the evening and upon arrival at the Temple, the High Priest Caiaphas and His Temple leadership team gathered.  They would find Him guilty, with only Nicodemus showing any strong objection, and then the issue would move to the secular leaders, both King Herod and the Roman Governor, Pontius Pilate, to seal the fate of Jesus in the coming morning.  Our story will continue with Good Friday, the Day of Horrors, in the next blog.  I hope you'll join us as the Greatest Story Ever Today heads closer to its conclusion. Praise His Holy Name!


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Holy Week Wednesday: Jesus and His Disciples Rest

4/13/2022

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PictureThe Devil will learn of the determination of Jesus on Resurrection Sunday because He lives
This day, Wednesday of Holy Week was one where Jesus and His Disciples spent most of the day at rest, in prayer and in small group discourse.  The day was spent in Bethany, probably at the home of Mary, Martha and Lazarus, a family very close to Jesus.  After all, Jesus brought Lazarus, dearly beloved by the townspeople, back from the dead earlier. 

Imagine what was going through Jesus' mind during this short period of rest in the most fateful week of His life.  He entered Jerusalem in triumph on Sunday and then overturned the money-changer's tables Monday for making God's House, the Temple, into a bazaar.  Then on Tuesday the Chief Priests and scribes challenged Him in all that He said, clearly hoping to goad Him into committing blasphemy in His responses, He did not do that. But then he followed His teaching with a startling discourse to His Disciples on the Mount of Olives, pointing out what would happen to the world in the future.  And now, with time to ponder what would be taking place, He likely was being approached by Satan in another futile attempt to keep Jesus from following through on His mission.  After all, if Jesus failed to carry out the task for which He was sent to earth, Satan would be safe and freedom from sin through Jesus would not be attained.

Surely Jesus prayed to God asking that He be spared while also realizing that God would not relent on the task. So His mind was likely troubled by human thoughts while He had to maintain a steady appearance of calm for His flock.  It had to be very difficult to do that since the others anticipated a typical Passover experience while Jesus knew it would be one that would change the world.

Turning in for a quiet night, it is certain that He pondered the next day's extended Passover Sader, soon to be called by Christians as the Last Supper, He celebrated the first Holy Communion and taught His followers to use it as a special remembrance of Him. And then, they would follow Him into the Garden of Gethsemane to face His foretold capture and trial in the on the morning of Friday.  The horrors of Maundy Thursday will be discussed in tomorrow's blog..

The script is next headed for the crucial stages that we are all taught routinely as tenets of the Christian faith, yet we still hunger for the words which define us, encourage us in our faith and lead to our eternity.  How fortunate we are to have an Eternal Father who loves us so much to do these things for we mere mortals.  We are truly blessed. 

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Holy Week Tuesday: Jesus, the Teacher, Amazes Those in the Temple

4/12/2022

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PictureJesus amazes all who hear Him discuss all things spiritual and he frightens the leaders.
Returning to the Temple on Tuesday following his strong display of outrage at the bazaar-like atmosphere he saw on Monday, Jesus took a much softer, yet very different approach, on His Tuesday visit.  He was outwardly low key, softer spoken and calm, yet the words He had to say were very threatening to the Priesthood, because He showed His knowledge to be far superior to the leaders who had come to listen to Him. His purpose was to carry on  a discourse with them and all who cared to participate.  He allowed them to question him in depth, deftly avoiding any traps they threw, thereby not allowing them to charge him with blasphemy. He clearly showed His grasp of the Scriptures and the Law.  His ability to explain himself using beautiful parables, his gift of being able to challenge their wrong-handed handling of much of the Law, and his discernment of motives when others couldn't see the truth were marvelous for anyone to behold. But Caiaphas and his priests, mindful that the public was learning just how smart Jesus was, knew that he was a threat to their power and wealth.

Think about it.  This humble man of extremely modest background, a man from the poorest part of Israel and possessing no formal education was able to effectively argue over the issues using insight they had never seen in anyone and certainly not in the son of a carpenter who wandered the countryside like a nomad.  Jesus clearly dazzled them, but at the same time he redoubled their determination to destroy Him.  His destruction would require stealth, with an arrest after hours and his followers unable to assist him.  The immediate planning was quickly being finalized.

When Jesus left the Temple that day, he and His disciples went to the Mount of Olives and sat in the shade of the olive trees. It was here that He taught them about the coming fall of the Temple and the desolation that would be Jerusalem.  It is found in Matthew 24 and biblical scholars have penned it with the name, The Olivet Discourse.  In reading it, some might think He was referring to the end of the world, but scholars who focus almost totally on that subject say no, that it was not the time for Him to address the Revelation with these loyal followers. God had other plans, and He left left the writing of that book to his disciple John, to be written from isolation  years later while on the Isle of Patmos.

After their discussion in the warm afternoon sun, Jesus again retired for the night with his disciples back to Bethany and his friends Mary, Martha and their now very alive Lazarus, where he would rest until Thursday morning.  He and His disciples would talk and enjoy a day of rest so that Jesus could prepare, both mentally and physically, for what awaited Him.

But one member of the party did not accompany them.  It was Judas Iscariot, a man clearly different from the others.  He departed from the Mount of Olives in a different direction. rushing instead to the Temple where he made a commitment to identify Jesus for the Temple soldiers when they came for Him on Thursday night. He sold out his Lord for thirty pieces of silver.  By doing so, the plan was set and the event that would change the world forever was on schedule to fulfill the purpose of Jesus' entire life on earth.  Tomorrow we'll continue the story with a look at what Jesus did on His Wednesday, a day to rest.

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MONDAY OF HOLY WEEK: Jesus Chastises the Money Changers

4/11/2022

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Following Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, Jesus made his first visit to the Temple on the original Holy Week. not to preach but to just observe what was going on.  He knew that he was being watched as the Temple leaders were plotting to capture Him at some point, but only He knew it and He had to let the story play out. It wasn't time yet for the story to finish.

As He walked through the hustle and bustle of the courtyard, He was appalled at what He saw.  Rather than being a holy place dedicated to worship and honoring God the Father, it was a regular bazaar, a commerce center where business was being transacted and money was changing hands.  He did nothing but observe that afternoon, but He would be back later to address what He saw and deeply detested.  And then he departed the city to spend the night back in Bethany with friends.

On Monday morning He and His disciples returned to the Temple and Jesus showed visibly just how upset he was.  Finally, he spoke out with the words that were recorded for posterity by His disciple, Matthew.

“It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.”  Matthew 21:13 (ESV)

He then turned over the tables of the money changers, spoke briefly about his wrath and departed. He knew He was being watched but also knew that many of the faithful were unhappy with the financial doings of the priests, using Temple funds for their own uses and not the wishes of God. If  He had taken action then and been arrested, the whole plan for the ending of Holy Week would have to be changed, so He deferred to His Father's guidance.

Leaving the city, his party then moved to the Mount of Olives where he began the final process of verbally preparing His disciples for what would be coming.  He knew there would be doubts and fear, but He wanted to instill in them an understanding that they would remember later in their days of scorn. While they didn't know it, the would be alone after His death. Once again, they went back to the safety of Bethany where there were those who would watch over Him and warn of any sign of approach by Temple soldiers.

Meanwhile, Chief Priest Caiaphas and the other priests were both angered and fearful by the actions of Jesus which they had witnessed from a distance. They saw Jesus' controlled fury but realized that His actions and words struck home with many in the Temple.  Their plot would have to be performed with stealth, under the cover of darkness, otherwise it would potentially backfire.  After all, this was the week of the Passover, and any attempts to arrest and eliminate a man who many believed to be God during Holy Days would create chaos. If that happened, Caiaphas knew that the Romans would deal with it brutally and blame Caiaphas and the Temple leaders for its initiation.

The story will continue on Holy Tuesday when Jesus returns to the Temple to both preach and "school" the supposedly more learned priests on the workings of God's Law and what loving God really means. The Greatest Story ever told will continue then.


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"FORGIVE THEM, FOR THEY KNOW NOT WHAT THEY DO"

4/10/2022

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Is women's sports dying an unnatural death? What else is happening?
On this Saturday, the day before Palm Sunday 2022, I can think of no topic more appropriate than one using the well knows scripture verse found in Matthew 23:24. The major component of the verse which is today's title reflects on a society where the one only perfect man ever on this earth was put to death with horrific pain and suffering to send a message that society of its day really didn't care but He did. Society had become so jaded by so many that Jesus knew that only the promise and reality of eternity could ever hope to quell the power of the forces of evil from this earth.

Now that was then, and this is now, and yet we see that, despite the hope and promise of Jesus and His love and the great gift he gave us by dying on the Cross for our sins, that we still falter just like generations past. That is why the caption above was selected, for it is just one example of how we humans have the audacity to challenge the laws of nature which are, in fact, laws created by God. Man was created to be man and woman was created to be woman, and try as some might to claim otherwise, they fail. Finally it looks like even our yawning society is catching on and the awakening is growing only we can't let it stop, no, we must take it to the logical end with worldly citizens finally realizing that the same Man God who died on the Cross is still with us. He lives and will return to earth in glory on His appointed day, a time we will only know when it takes place. 

There are so many bad choices in addition to the cited issue above, but the point is that we must finally stand up and say , enough is enough, and clean the filth and the scourge, the debauchery and the love of money, in order to make this earth a place of love and peace for Him. Can we do it by ourselves? No. Can we do it with Jesus? Yes, if it is His appointed time. Regardless, goodness and light is what He expects from us, not gloom and evil, so if we will take up the cause of Righteousness by following Him, we are guaranteed our reward when this life is done. And to that I can only add HALLELUJA!

This day, Palm Sunday, represents the beginning of the period we call Easter and will culminate next Sunday on Resurrection Day. Celebrate Him, honor Him and worship Him, and in so doing we will fill ourselves with His Spirit, His Love and His Life, and spread it to all with whom we come in contact. That's how we spread the Good News of this day: The Good News that Jesus Christ came and still lives with us and He is with us forevermore. Believe in your heart on Him and truly LIVE.



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APRIL FOOL'S DAY 1995: Kicking and Screaming All the Way To FLA!

4/1/2022

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Late afternoon: Finallly I made it.
Twenty-two years ago today, my life changed dramatically on that April Fool's Day. It was the day that I moved to Florida to accept a challenging new position. I had changed occupations a few years earlier and was at the time a senior sales and customer service representative for BFI Waste Systems, the second largest business in the field in America and a Fortune 500 company to boot. I was, however, offered a challenging new position in Florida to fill a great management slot and oversee the transition from the previous company to "Big Blue" in Daytona Beach and the surrounding area.

​It was a bright and sunny Saturday morning as I headed out on my way to start my new job on the following Monday. I was going by myself since I needed to find a new home for the family and wouldn't have much time for them until I had succeeded in reinforcing our company policies with employees of the old company. This was a tough time in the business for the old successor's employees who were somewhat skeptical and fearful and afraid that they would be sacrificed for efficiency with change. To add to the concern, I had been told that things were a shambles there and that I had to get things resurrected and functioning quickly within just a matter of a month or two. So, I thought about these things all the way to Daytona on that beautiful day, deciding to stop for the night due to serious traffic delays around Savannah where I-95 was undergoing a huge roadway expansion.

I had mixed emotions because I had hoped to move up to a comparable position in the Peninsula BFI office but was told that no internal promotions were offered by the District Manager, an old school former Naval officer who felt it better not to fill a position with someone who would have peers who were now subordinates. Not wanting to admit that he was right, when the Florida offer came, I accepted it because it was my big chance for growth with a company I really respected and loved to work for. I would be working for my former boss who had been advanced to the next higher level in Florida as well and I was happy to know I would have the continuity in reporting relationships.


As mentioned earlier by later afternoon I was stuck in traffic in South Carolina near the Georgia line. I realized that the last four hours of my trip would likely take twice the time as the backups weren't moving above snail pace, so I booked a room off I-95 below Savannah and stopped for the night. Besides the small beachside house I had leased in Ormond Beach  couldn't be entered after dark so I would be better off arriving on Sunday morning.

That evening after having a nice dinner, stopping at the bar for a nightcap and then turning in, I thought to myself that I really didn't want to go to Florida. We had only six months earlier bought a new home and I was happy back there in Virginia, but I also knew that finding a comparable job to the one I would be starting would be difficult and my company treated me very well, so I had to give it a chance. So, instead of being dragged kicking and screaming as said in my title, I actually calmed down, focused on the good things not the bad, and went to sleep thinking positively about what I would be facing come the morning. 

The following morning, refreshed and eager to go, I got up early to beat the traffic buildup and arrived in Daytona around noon, contacted the realtor and got my keys and directions, and drove east to A1A, turned northward and drove beyond Ormond Beach to the clean and neat little beach bungalow in Ormond-by-the-Sea. The home was in a modest neighborhood only two blocks from the ocean and it was quite comfortable for a man who would be batching it for the next ninety days or so. My wife and son would join me about a month after school let out, and it would also be perfect for the three of us until we found something we wanted to buy. With a small living room, kitchen, single well equipped bathroom, two bedrooms and even a Florida room on the back, it was settled on a small but well manicured lot and it was perfect for those days when work would occupy my time.  It was still about three hours from sunset when I had finished unpacking and looking around the house, so I decided to take a walk over to the beach and what a pleasant surprise. Since the location was miles up the road from the Daytona strip, the beach was wide open with small dunes fronting the ocean beside the highway and it reminded me more of the Outer Banks than Florida. I thought to myself that maybe my concerns about Florida were unfounded. Since I had said I didn't like Florida because I thought it was too flat, too hot and too Disney and parks, maybe I just didn't know it well enough to make that judgment. From that first day forward, I ended each day with a walk to the beach, and sitting on the dune watching the evening waves come in and admitted I was glad to be here. While the water was calmer than North Carolina, the beach was reminiscent of the Carolina days and to the north it remained that way all the way up to and above Flagler Beach, very much like the Outer Banks, only more populated and less remote. At the end of the day, I told myself that contrary to my expectations I knew I would enjoy living there and indeed I did.

After another day on the beach Sunday, come Monday morning before six I was on the road and off to my new office about seven miles away on the mainland. Pulling in to the plant, I was somewhat taken back to find out that so much of the equipment was old and rusty and the trucks needed a new paint job with our customary blue to replace the fading green of the past company. Walking in to the front office I found few people there. Next I walked into the sales department and made some mental notes about what I wanted to do. And from there I began a six month long effort to get the company in line with our "Big Blue" policies and to find those things that needed to be fixed and/or replaced. Now I was glad to be in Daytona, but I can't say I would see much of the beach at least not for the next few months, and I was right. I commissioned help from the regional office and we went through the programs needing reform from stem to stern. With it came the replacement of a number of sales reps who just didn't want to change, but after finding nearly thirty thousand dollars of payments in undeposited checks in desk drawers and file cabinets, it was necessary. Morale was low and efficiency was non-existent, yet I knew that once we had found the weak links and got things in order, we would have to get buy in by the employees transitioning to us from their former management team. In the end, the ones who stayed worked out well and prospered.

In those six months, I worked from sunup to sunset and often on Saturdays. But come Sunday when the ocean beckoned, I must admit I truly loved spending most of the day on the beach after going out for a great Sunday breakfast at one of the good local eateries. And while I missed church during that time, when all was running well and I had a more reasonable schedule, we found a beautiful Florida style church on the Halifax River and became members.  Sadly in the end, we had to leave Daytona when we learned that we just couldn't maintain the city business which was way beyond cost. Whoever agreed to those terms obviously played a role in the prior company losing solvency, but we cut our losses and I was moved to Jacksonville where I stayed in management until BFI, much to the chagrin of most of us, decided to sell out. They big boys got the money and we got the headache, but in all fairness with the stock options being bought up at a very favorable price, we all did well.

From there I worked for a smaller regional environmental services company until retiring and moving here in interior of North Central Florida. It has been a good life and in the times we are facing today, I am so fortunate to be in Florida. And if I learned nothing else, I learned just how tentative a great assignment can be when you work for big business. But, nonetheless, thanks for the memories, "Big Blue." Those were truly glory days in the end.
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YOU KNOW THINGS "AIN'T" QUITE RIGHT WHEN..........

3/30/2022

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Laughter: It's Good for the Soul.
   HOW MANY THINGS LIKE THESE CAN YOU COME UP WITH?  

                    YOU KNOW THINGS  "AIN'T" QUITE RIGHT ..............

..... When a  famous leader can't find his way from his vehicle to his office without getting lost even when he has a guide to escort him.

.....  When a leader claims to love democracy and then he abruptly eliminates any political opposition and also consolidates all media into one source.

......  When you are told you have to put something into your body but they won't give you the contents and say it is mandatory but never written into law.

......   So, then when you refuse to take it and cite both your constitutional rights and the Nuremberg code and they blankly stare at you asking, what's that?

.....  When you spend endless time in the kitchen looking for your dish towel that you just had in your hand and find it in the freezer.

.....   When you light up a cigarette that someone offers you before realizing you haven't smoked in thirty years.

.....  When you listen to an important speech and then in the morning paper or the online blog post the write-up seems like the writer it must have been covering something else.

.....  When you introduce your wife, second marriage, to someone with your first wife's name--OUCH!

.....  When you go in person to what someone bills as the game of the century, and the two offensive football powerhouses  come out with a 6-3 score.

.....  When you call your girlfriend after not seeing her in a week and she calls you Dave (your name is Sam) and she says she had a wonderful time last night.

.....  When the weatherman calls for a sunny week and the first ray of sun shows itself on Friday.

.....  When the long holiday weekend comes and it rains through it all, then clears on the evening of the last day.

......   When you go to the bank at ten o'clock on  a week day and the sign on the door says closed but all the banking personnel are scrambling about inside.

​......   When you go to a party and say you'll have just one drink and later, after five, you find a friend grabbing you  by the arm and taking your car keys.

......   When you go to church and ask your wife if the pastor skipped the Gospel message and she frowns and says you slept through it.

.....  When your two big dogs are in the house with you when you suddenly realize you can't see them and it is very, very quiet.

......   When a politicians says you should trust them.

That last one is the icing on the cake so I will just stop there, but the list can be endless if you think about it enough. Try it, you might find it fun and these day anything we can do to change the tense life atmosphere, if only for a moment, is a good thing.  Have a blessed day.

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THE SUNDAY BLOG: A WALK IN THE GARDEN

3/20/2022

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A beautiful, well cared for residential garden: a perfect place for meeting Jesus.
On a beautiful Sunday morning or any day of the week, nothing can be more beautiful than a lovely garden that displays plants and flowers, offering a view of some of the glories given to us by God above. In some places, the natural gardens of the world, found in national parks and other specially protected areas, nature also truly amazes as we ponder how could our Father be so brilliant to put together so many amazing things for us to enjoy in life, each with its own characteristics and needs to offer the beauty of a living thing.  And there is nothing more beautiful than a well cared for residential garden to add to a great home life. And witnessing the beauty of my own property as spring begins to come alive, it made me think of a beautiful hymn, In the Garden. 

Just in case you don't know it, it discusses how a person found his closeness with Jesus by visiting privately with him in a beautiful garden. Think of a wonderful garden as mentioned above or places like Callaway Gardens in Georgia, the Elizabethan Gardens in North Carolina, or such well manicured places like Colonial Williamsburg and the endless beauty of what man can create with plants and foliage to bring the best of all flora types of things to so many people to enjoy. Even my state of Florida is practically a statewide garden, hence the name Florida. But regardless of whether you take the message of the hymn literally as applied to a garden, the real message is to find your own little bit of heaven on earth where you can cultivate and carry on your spoken relationship with God and Christ. 

Think about it, your Christian faith is between you and Jesus Christ. No one else can give freedom from sin but but Christ through your acknowledgement of Him being the Savior. And you can't prove that He is our spiritual King, you have to take it on faith alone. And that's why it is important for you to have some quiet time with Him every day, for despite Him knowing everything about yourself. He wants to hear it in your own words. He wasnt to chat with you and be your loving friend, the best friend anyone could have. And this conversation can be in any private place that you choose, just as long as it is between you and Jesus. Surely a garden would be a good place, but it can be in your own backyard, at sunrise on the beach or walking through the mountains are on a quiet early morning downtown street. It doesn't matter where, but the important thing is to just do it.  You will please your Maker, you will feel better about yourself, and a calm and good feeling will envelop you. That's what Light does to Darkness.  Any questions?

Go with the Lord and have a blessed day.

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    ABOUT ME

    Hi, I'm James, a writer who studies nature,  animals and all things created by God. I also write from time to time about what I think God expects of us.  I would love to hear your thoughts on these subjects. I hope you enjoy my comments.

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