7-2-02

Hallelujah for the rain! If only it could be shared across those ten western states where nearly three million acres of timberland has already burned in the worst wildfires of our nation's history. First Colorado and then Arizona were the focus of media coverage. And the names of a woman and now a man have been given their fifteen minutes of fame: Terry Barton in CO and Leonard Gregg in AZ both forestry professionals who secretly set ablaze their respective drought stricken areas. What would the families who've lost their homes (and pets) do with such culprits, if they had their way? That legal word "culpable" has a fuller meaning for me now. But an EPA policy of recent years that stopped the natural annual burnoffs out there surely set the stage for these colossal conflagrations. In North & South Dakota they happened without human instigation. So now our fireworks of Independence Day have been badly upstaged by these horrible examples, as I see it. Even the glorious image of firefighters that 9/11 gave to America has been a tiny bit tarnished by that gal's rage over her broken love affair and and the guy's desire to make extra bucks fighting the fire that he had set. Love and money. Sounds like "the same old story."

The flap over "under God" in our Pledge of Allegiance couldn't have been timed better. It's made us aware that our patriotism in the USA includes yet a higher allegiance. As the president said so aptly, "God is the source of our freedoms." Though we are not a theocracy, we've proven ourselves to be a theistic democracy. Since no laws can coerce U.S. into belief, we just do so anyway because the Bible says more than once that "the fool hath said in his heart 'there is no GOD.'" And we sure don't want fools in charge of public affairs. Folks send me jokes now and then to use in this column. I guess they think I should lighten up instead of always trying to be John the Baptist. Well, I sure can't measure up to that but do have to be Joe the Methodist. So here's a song I wrote to the tune of "The Star Spangled Banner" that would be proper to sing in church as HEAVENLY PATRIOTISM: Hail to Jesus our King, as His praises we sing with the saints now reborn in His image and likeness. And He's coming again to abolish all sin, when this earth that He first made a home for the righteous will be recreated, restored in pure love and at last handed back to the Father above: beyond time GOD's Kingdom in eternity, a home for all the saints with the SON it shall be.

Thus every Lord's Day is "Sonday" and celebrates His promise to return and claim His Israel of GOD wherein our citizenship is everlasting.

What a helpful editorial that was Sunday about the war on terror by Diana West. I read it several times to grasp her distinction between Islamic and Islamism, the latter being our enemy. Though we reject theocracy, Christian or Muslim, we are a Bible based nation. And I thought it was a mistake to give copies of the Koran to those Al-Qaeda being held imprisoned at Guatanamo Bay in Cuba instead of Bibles. Holy Scripture is not relative, just according to which book contains it. There's only one Bible and it has 66 books: 39 Old Testament ad 27 New. The 14 books of Apocrapha are helpful but not divinely inspired. The Author reveals Himself in the sixty-six, which are a record of the mighty acts of Yahweh in history for the salvation of humanity.

Ann Landers is gone and Billy Graham's last crusade is set in October. Now even J.C. Watts is stepping down. But the pope's attitude is "straight ahead" from reports we've heard. But sometimes it's a mistake to stay too long. Remember J.Edger Hoover? And FDR? Both of which overstayed their time. We even had a bishop who stayed so long that the UMC had to adopt episcopal limits of two quadrennia (four year term) because he stayed on for four. Even J.C.Watts has stayed longer than he promised, but I commend him for now putting his family first.

4-5-02 extra column What a show it was last night at Wacker Park in Pauls Valley! Niece and I had watched it from a few miles south of PV last year, but this time we drove up to the parking area. At first we'd parked in a place with no view of the display, but we moved to where it was ideal to view. Still we were not as close as we plan to be next year. Instead of sitting in the car as we've always done, we plan to go into the Tomptson Field stadium an see from underneath the bursting rockets. I salute the Kiwanis for such a fine presentation in which the rockets seemed to get larger as the show continued. And that grand finalle of the fountain spewing beautiful lights really was exciting to behold. One advantage of staying in the car is that you can get away without so much waiting. I'd guess it took two hours for some of those folks to leave considering the huge pack of cars for blocks around. But again, it was terrific. Maybe the stress of 9/11 added emotion to the event, even though we couldn't hear the loud speaker but only see the lights and hear the bangs up in the sky. We waited so long that we feared we had missed them somehow, but when they finally began it was truly worth the wait, I say. Maybe that's a kind of parable of our nation that's still growing into what GOD intends for it to be. At times I'm tempted to think we've gone past redemption possibility and just headed straight for hell. But patience (fourth fruit of the Spirit in Gal.5:22) keeps me pledging allegiance to the flag and praying for our leaders. Then Independence Day seems so magnificient, as we celebrate our liberty and justice for all. Freedom, that's America. Until mankind is able to freely accept the offer in Christ Jesus, how can it be real. Too much religion has been imposed of the populace of other lands. So freedom isn't just an end in itself. There's the Kingdom of heaven beyond even that which is our ultimate goal. There ought to be an Interdependence Day for the whole world, when it would be acknowledged that "in Christ all things hold together." Can't recall just where St.Paul affirms that truth, but it's in one of his epistles of the New Testament. When the Jews proudly told their unacknowledged king (the Christ we serve) that they had never been slaves to anyone, He told them "whoever commits sin is a slave to sin." Thus, He came to offer them and us the divine forgiveness that frees man from even that slavery.

Does'nt it seem amazing that as soon as the wildfires in Colorado and Arizona subside, the flooding in south Texas takes center stage. The sheriff was saying today in that county of Canyon Lake TX that hundreds of homes had been lost to the overflowing waters. I thought of a song George Beverly Shea used to sing: "Some through the fire, some through the flood, some through deep waters but all through the blood; some through great sorrows but GOD gives a song in the night season and all the day long." Somehow it caused me to think of Psalm 23 recited in unison as a flock of the faithful, though the CUP is too personal be a "we": "Yahweh is our shepherd, we shall not want. He maketh us to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth us beside the still waters. He restoreth our souls. He leadeth us in the path of righteousness for His name's sake. Yea though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we shall fear no evil. For Thou art with us. Thy rod and Thy staff, they comfort us. Thou preparest a table before us in the presence of our enemies. Thou anointest our heads with oil. Our cup runeth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow us all the days of our lives. And we will dwell in the house of Yahweh forever."

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