“Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. And falling to the ground he heard a voice saying to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’ And he said, ‘Who are you, Lord?” (Paul to the Church at Corinth)

It begins with a simple question asked by an inanimate sign at my local Starbucks. Giving an incorrect answer would cause me shame for not knowing, while a correct response would yield a 10 cents savings on my favorite beverage. I carefully studied the daring question:

“To whom was Walt Whitman referring when he pined, ‘O Captain! My Captain!’”

While the latte machine feverishly boiled the milk, and whispered conversation hung quietly in the air, I returned to my childhood and lifted from the shelf of my memory the books I’d read on this man of Men. I peeked in on his carefree youth, sputtered at his try-and-fail approach to career advancement, marveled at his ascendency to high office, and stood captive at his mastery of the inspirational word. He was an honored hero in my formative years and even now his life and tragic death move me to wonderment.

“Abraham Lincoln” I told the girl. She stared back at me, looked questioningly at my wife, and exclaimed, “You must have been in earlier and remembered the answer!”

“No!” I chided in my mind. “I know of whom the poet wrote for his life and words travel with me to this very day - living words - such as, ‘For score and seven years ago…’ and ‘The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.’”

Lincoln was a very good man but serves only as a weakened shadow of another Person we all know well. His youthful zeal impresses us. His career path seems more fail than succeed. His claim to fame seems weak compared to more forceful, savvy men. But in His death, He speaks more convincingly than any army that might work to stamp out His revolutionary message.

So I ask you a question, “To whom was apostle Paul referring when he pined, ‘Who are you, Lord?’” (Acts 6: 5).

While thoughts swirl, I invite you to return with me to the sacred Volume and recall the only answer deserving of this demanding question:

“I am Jesus! And I now invite you to become My ambassador to a drifting and sin-damned world.”

Dear friend, while the world may little note, nor long remember what we say, we must never let it forget what He did here. Our call and challenge is to not fail to carry out our mandate - so that the world will know!

No Other Plea

I need no other argument,
I need no other plea;
It is enough that Jesus died,
And that He died for me.

—Lidie H. Edmunds, 19th Century

Now It is the Lord!

I have been enjoying the daily readings of A. W. Tozer this year and today's devotional referenced these two little phrases that perfectly sum up the journey my life:

Once it was the blessing;
Now it is the Lord!

I once spent too much time chasing windmills of blessings from God. And upon catching them, found them to be incomplete and devoid of satisfaction. These days, I'm much more interested in knowing The One who is willing to give of Himself to me so that I might become more like Him each day. I'm learning that it is in the abundance of quiet relationship that my life is changing, transforming, growing.

Settled

O the sweetness of being settled in Christ Jesus
And in His purposes for my life.
My heart is still
Even though the world rages about me.
I am His...and He is mine!

God's Eternal Self-existence

Father! the sweetest, dearest Name.
That men or angels know!
Fountain of life, that had no fount
From which itself could flow.

The vastness is not young or old,
Thy life hath never grown;
No time can measure out thy days,
No space can make Thy throne!

-Frederick William Faber

One Blessed "Old Man"!

One Saturday evening, my family and friends surprised me with a fantastic surprise birthday party. I was shocked, overwhelmed and overjoyed when my youngest daughter appeared from the crowd. Thanks for driving through the storm, Naomi and Ronnie!

Thanks to everyone who came and for the lovely cards and remembrances. And Jeff, the fixodent was funny - really funny!

I am one blessed "old man", that for sure!

Carving My Benefits in Stone

Today I turned 50 years of age. What? It can't be true! But it is reality for me.

This little story illustrates how grateful I am for all of you remembering me today with such warm thoughts and greetings:

Two friends were walking through the desert. During some point of the journey, they had an argument and one friend slapped the other one in the face. The one who got slapped was hurt, but without saying anything, wrote in the sand, today my best friend slapped me in the face.



They kept on walking, until they found an oasis, where they decided to take a bath. The one who had been slapped got stuck in the mire and started drowning, but the friend saved him. After he recovered from the near drowning, he wrote on a stone,



'Today my best friend saved my life!'



The friend who had slapped and saved his best friend asked him, “After I hurt you, you wrote in the sand and now, you write on a stone, why?”



The friend replied 'when someone hurts us we should write it down in sand, where winds of forgiveness can erase it away. But, when someone does something good for us, we must engrave it in stone where no wind can ever erase it.
”

Today I'm carving my benefits in stone. Thanks, everyone!