What Does Your Favorite Hymn Say About You

Someone once told me "Every one has a story and that story is worth telling."  I do believe that.  

I also believe that those stories not only need to be told it is important that they be heard. Each of us has a unique life experience the majority of which will go with us to the grave. Our stories are just too detailed and intricate to be told between the covers of a book. They literally take a lifetime.

I am now in my seventies and living the last chapters of my life story. Most will never make it into print . . . after all, I have to live them first and that will get in the way of recording them for posterity.

Often it is the things that we pass over quickly because they are so "ordinary." People my age and those who were of my father and mother's generation often spoke of our favorite Bible verse, or our favorite place to visit. But no one ever asked, "Why is that your favorite hymn.

For example, my favorite hymn is Blessed Assurance. I have never asked myself why nor has anyone who has ever sang or arranged it for me asked why. I am confident there is a reason that of the thousands of hymns I choose (or perhaps it chose me) Blessed Assurance as my personal favorite. Perhaps I will say more about this down the road.  My point is simply that the choice of that hymn says something about me as a person.

I often reflect back on my Mom and Dad and the journey that brought them together and resulted my being here. It is a wonderful story.  Today while doing a little of that I remembered that my mother's favorite hymn was Face to Face and my father's was Follow Me.  I am sure those were not simply chosen from a list but in some way spoke to their individual hearts and lives.

Today I have spent some time thinking about my father and that song Follow Me. I wonder what there was about the song that it became a special . You have to understand that the song is all about struggle and acceptance. Listen to the song (See link above).  Check out the lyrics:

I traveled on a lonely road and no one seemed to care.
The burden on my weary back had bowed me to despair;
I oft complained to Jesus how folks were treating me,
And then I heard Him say so tenderly,
"My feet were also weary, upon the Calvary road;
The cross became so heavy, I fell beneath the load,
Be faithful weary pilgrim the morning I can see,
Just lift your cross and follow close to me."

"I work so hard for Jesus" I often boast and say
"I've sacrificed a lot of things to walk the narrow way,
I gave up fame and fortune, I'm worth a lot to Thee"
And then I hear Him gently say to me,
"I left the throne of glory and counted it but loss,
My hands were nailed in anger upon a cruel cross,
But now we'll make the journey with your hand safe in mine,
So lift your cross and follow close to me.

Oh Jesus if I die upon a foreign field someday,
'Twould be no more than love demands, no less could I repay,
"No greater love hath mortal man than for a friend to die"
These are the words He gently spoke to me,
"If just a cup of water I place within your hand
Then just a cup of water is all that I demand.
But if by death to living they can Thy glory see,
I'll take my cross and follow close to Thee.

As I reflect on his life as I knew it to be it seems this song was a perfect fit. He was born on a farm in Central Texas on December 21, 1911.  He spent his childhood watching the Great War unfold and finally come to an end only to be thrown into the Great Depression as he entered adulthood. At a young age he was introduced to alcohol by his youngest uncle (They were about the same age) and that began a struggle that would consume much of his life. That was followed by his own War experience in Europe during WWII.  

As the oldest son he had to accept family responsibilities that were beyond his years. He became the "fix it" guy for the family and the community. He was the last of the children to leave the farm and carried the weight of responsibility to not only fix the wagon but also the broken life.

He was required to chaperon his sisters on dates and keep an eye on his brothers.  He was a man from  whose lips I never heard a hard ugly word. He didn't swear and he didn't argue or fight. He was good almost to a fault.

He repaired his brothers and sisters cars and rarely charged them even the price of the parts. He did this despite of the fact that he knew what they said about him behind his back.  He was always there when they needed him.

Maybe one day I will try to tell his story as I know it but for now suffice it to say his favorite hymn pretty well sums up how he felt about his life. If you didn't really know him, live with him watch him closely every day as did I then just read the words of his favorite him and you'll get a pretty good idea of how he felt about himself.

What is your favorite hymn and what does it say about you?

What Really Happened to Glenn Miller?

I have been tootling around the Airborne Troop Carrier Facebook Group and for some reason I was reminded of a conversation I had many years ago with a fellow named Michael N. Ingrisano Jr.  Mike was a WWII veteran. He served with the 316th. Troop Carrier Group and the 37th. Squadron. My father was also a Troop Carrier guy having served in the 315th. Troop Carrier Group and the 34th Squadron. Mike and my father both participated in just about all the same operations. 

Mike, who was a NCO and radio operator was also a staunch defender of the Troop Carrier Pilots who dropped the Paratroopers on D-Day against the accusations, primarily from the 101st Airborne that they were either too high or too low and too fast when dropped. I used to correspond with Mike about those allegations and the part Stephen Ambrose played in perpetuating them. Ambrose promised a dozen times to correct the record but died without making those corrections.

Michael Ingrisano, Jr 

Mike was also helping me understand some of the symbols used on Dad’s sortie record. It was during those conversations that he voiced his skepticism about how Glenn Miller, the famous band leader, died during the war. I related to him that my Dad seemed equally skeptical and that he flew the band many times between London and Paris.

My Dad was a Crew Chief and Flight engineer in his official combat role but he was also an NCO pilot.  Dad flew the aircraft frequently in and around the Spanhoe area of England. Mostly as one would drive a customers car to “road test” to make sure it was ready for operations. He had more flight time than most of the pilots in his squadron. But I digress.

Major Glenn Miller was just 40 years old and near the height of his fame as leader of the Army Air Force band, when he disappeared on Dec. 15, 1944, though the United States military didn't announce the news until Dec. 24.At any rate recent revelations and documents (2019) around the death of Glenn Miller have brought the subject back to the forefront of my mind. 

Over the years several stories arose about Miller's death.  The four most prominent theories over the years were:

• Miller never boarded the plane, but was assassinated after Gen. Dwight D. “Ike” Eisenhower sent him on a secret mission one or two days earlier to negotiate a surrender from Nazi Germany. 
• He made it to Paris, where he died of a heart attack in a bordello.
• The small plane he was on was destroyed by bombs jettisoned from a phalanx of Allied bombers passing overhead on their way back from an aborted mission over Germany.
• The small plane went down due to icing.

Glenn Miller

I remember meeting with a group of WWII Troop Carrier pilots in Branson, Missouri at one of the last reunions of the 315th Troop Carrier Group. I learned the story of Gussie Perkins flying his C-47 through Tower Bridge.  His picture was in English history books for years. That was quiet a story. In fact, that was largely what these reunions were about . . . namely, keeping these men’s stories alive. I can only wish I had recorded them.  I suppose I was just too focused getting their memories of my Dad.

It wasn't long before a group I was sitting at that reunion turned their attention to the band leader Glenn Miller and in their words, "His supposed death in the English Channel." Not a man there believed the "official" story of how Miller died. They did think the assassination theory had merit but most felt he had probably died of something like cancer. One think was certain . . . . they didn't buy the "official" story. It seemed to me this might have been an ongoing conversation from one reunion to the next.

All my father ever said about the official report of Miller's death was, "Son don't believe everything in an "official" Army report. Keep in mind that with the Army it is all about a report not necessarily the truth. If the truth and needs of the Army coincide that was good but sometimes the truth was sacrificed to high command's needs. The need of the Army always trumps the truth. It is the report that matters" I think you get what he was implying. Whatever else he thought about the issue of “official” report on Miller’s death, well, it went with him to his grave. I think this has been illustrated by the story told in the movie, "The Last Full Measure."

I  knew that 34 TC Squadron of the 315 Group often flew the Miller Band and their instruments back and forth between England and Paris. My father, who was a member of that Squadron, had become friends with Broderick Crawford, the band's announcer for a short while during the war. Crawford later ended up in Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge.  But for a while he was in London.   He and Dad frequently did Pub Crawls together. My mother confirmed this friendship. She always complained that the one thing you could always count on with Broderick around was that by the end of the night everyone would be, in  her words, "Blind Drunk." It also explained why we HAD to watch the TV program Highway Patrol in which Crawford stared.

At any rate, because I knew of the connection I was curious as to what the men of the 315th TC Group thought happened to Miller. Oh, at first, they gave me the handful of the popular stories.  Finally it came to this:  They thought, looking back, that he might have had a heart attack or cancer. They said he rarely flew with the band but often would see them off.  They seemed to agree that he didn’t look well.  In fact, he seemed to them to have lost a lot of weight and just generally didn't look well.  The consensus was he got sick and died in London or perhaps Paris.

Type of Plane in which Miller supposedly died

Additionally, they claimed that the plane he supposedly was in when it crashed into the English Channel was sitting at an airfield in France where they frequently were (maybe Amiens France) more than a week after his "supposed" crash.

But the thing that really got my attention was when one of the pilots said, (This is all paraphrase) "All I can tell you is what I know for a fact. I know for a fact that John Morgan didn't die in any plane crash because I saw him in New York after the war. John Morgan was the pilot of Miller’s small plane and was supposedly killed in the same crash).

I recall someone, a guest like me, asking him how he knew it was John Morgan. He replied, "I met him  early in the war and we got on pretty good." Others confirmed that relationship. Sort of like my Dad and Broderick Crawford. . . . they were kind of war buddies or maybe drinking buddies or both. He said, "We talked for a few minutes and agreed to meet at some eating place for lunch the next day. He never showed and I never saw him again."

He went on to say when I called his name as I walked up to him he nearly "jumped out of his skin." "Looking back I think that's probably because he had changed his name and was surprised to hear someone call him by his birth name." 

These guys believed back then that Miller died of some sort of health issue and that the crash story was used to cover up that fact. At any rate that's the story those men told then and I have no reason to doubt them. It is interesting that Miller's own brother has recently acknowledge that Miller confided in him that his health was failing in 1944. Miller smoked heavily and newly found Glenn Miller diaries seem to confirm that.

Just a side note: I remember Mike Ingrisano and I talking about this. He related that while researching some archives he found in a mislabeled box a document tracer number for a classified document that related to the Miller death. He said when he went to try and get the document the clerk told him it was there but too late in the day to retrieve it but if he came back in the late morning it should be ready. When he returned he was told by a different clerk that the document was indeed there but that it could not be released as it was still classified. Mike, was as would be expected, a bit skeptical. I'm betting that document number is still in his papers.

Mike, an NCO and not a pilot himself, was a ferocious defender of the actions of WWII Troop Carrier Pilots and crews during the Normandy Invasion in 1944. I believe he about drove Stephen Ambrose nuts. Mike died in 2012 less than 1 month short of his 91st birthday.

Do I know the truth about Glenn Miller's death. The straight up answer is no! Do I believe the "official" Army account of Glenn  Miller's death? The answer again is a resounding NO!  

Here is what I think. I think somewhere in the files of the WWII military files sets the true story.  Here is what I think that story is:

Glenn Miller who was a major motivational tool of the U.S. Army. In fact his role was so important that Hitler had put a bounty on him.  Because we know that Miller was a heavy smoker I am certain he had cancer of some sort. I believe the men of the 34th TC SQ when they noticed over time the change in his health evidenced by loss of weight. His own brother confided as much. I have no reason to doubt the stories of the 315 TC GP veterans about seeing John Morgan in New York after the war.

Miller either died of natural causes and for reasons that we do not know because that information is still classified and the Army brass felt the need to manufacture a story that he somehow died in a war accident and that his body was never recovered from the English Channel.  Another possibility is that because of the progression of some illness Miller committed suicide. Now that would certainly because for a cover story.

I know, it makes no sense. What could possibly be gained by such a twisted tail of intrigue? I certainly don't know.  Perhaps the OSS was involved but why?   They were involved in all sorts of screwy operations that today seem a little odd even for that time.  Does it even matter?  Well, only if you want the story straight. The Army, and the government in general, is always hiding something when they concoct these kinds of stories. This one will, like the death of General Patton, never go away because the "official" stories just do not make sense in the context of their times.

Then again, maybe that fuel line freezing theory is correct. After all, that is what is in the final official government papers made public thus far.

What do you think happened?

Mary Did You Know That Your Baby Boy . . . .

Today's blog posting is long but the subject is of eternal importance. Read it through and then share our own thoughts on the subject.

"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations." Jeremiah 1:5

"But when God, who set me apart from my mother's womb and called me by His grace, was pleased."  Galatians 1:15

"Your eyes saw my unformed body; all my days were written in Your book and ordained for me before one of them came to be."  Luke 1:15

"Listen to me, O islands, and pay attention, O distant peoples: The LORD called me from the womb; from the body of my mother He named me."  Isaiah 49:1

What God says in His Word certainly has to inform the discussion around whether to allow a child to develop and be born and have a chance at life or to destroy that opportunity.

Since God clearly has intention for the unborn of which we are not privy then we do not have the right to make that choice without running the risk of going contrary to God's purposes.

However, going contrary to God's expressed purposes is not something with which we as a nation are unfamiliar. We seem to do it on a wide range of moral issues.

I have a rule of thumb when it comes to moral issues. It is this: What God prohibits He does not regulate and what God regulates he has not prohibited." A corollary to that rule is: "What God loves I should love and what God hates I should hate."

Proverbs state that there are seven things that the Lord hates and among them is "hands that shed innocent blood." One should only need to search the phrase "innocent blood” in Scripture to get a pretty good idea of how God feels about shedding of innocent blood and how he deals with those who do.

Unfortunately for us God is not interested in our opinion on these matters. The shedding of innocent blood is expressly prohibited and in no way regulated therefore it is spoken of as an abomination unto the Lord.

Ultimately, in these matters, for Christians it is a matter of will we obey man or will we obey God . . . will we adopt societies norms or will the standards God has established in scripture determine our choices.

Scripture is not complicated and does not need us to go through all sorts of intellectual gymnastics to understand its meaning. That is required only when we don't like its clear self-evident meaning. Scripture was written in vernacular Greek of the day so the man on the street could understand its meaning and the Scripture says, God hates the shedding of innocent blood and there are none among us more innocent that the unborn.

I will add here that another aspect of this that we often neglect is the fact that we do not fully understand the mind of God.  We do not know what His purposes for any of the unborn are nor do we know the means by which He brings his “called ones” into the world. I have a friend whose mother was a prostitute. She could have aborted him. Instead she took the high road. Gave birth and then put him up for adoption. He was adopted by Godly people became a Christian evangelist who was God’s tool to lead many into the kingdom of God. I myself was a candidate for abortion because of fear on the part of medical people for my mom’s life. Thankfully for me my mother believed in the sanctity of life and here I am. Preaching the gospel for 50 years. 

I wonder how many scientist, ministers, doctors etc. were never known because their pre-birth lives were literally “cut” short by the abortionist tools. I am so glad that Mary the single mother of Jesus didn’t opt for an abortion or our salvation would never have been provided.  My point is . . . . the inconvenient truth of an unwanted pregnancy may just be the source of a mighty blessing from God. If not that child then perhaps that child will become the parent of a great leader in some arena of life.

In response my view someone who claims the who abortion issue is not about the ”fetus” but the mother’s rights suggested that I look at Exodus 21:22-24 to get an idea of the relative importance God places on the pre-born. It reads, “If people are fighting and hit a pregnant woman and she gives birth prematurely but there is no serious injury, the offender must be fined whatever the woman’s husband demands and the court allows. But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 25 burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.” (NIV)

So, I looked. In fact I looked pretty hard at Exodus 21:22 (NIV) and without a full blown exegesis of the chapter I must confess that I fail to find anything there that speaks to the issue of either a woman's right to choose or the unnatural ending of a pregnancy. What I did find is a ruling that should two men be fighting and the pregnant woman is struck  of one tries to interfere and by either of the combatants so that as a result of that blow she miscarriages then her husband can demand damages or in the case of a death he can demand the death.

The first question one is confronted with is when it speaks of serious injury and death is it speaking of the woman or the child. The short answer for me is that the primary focus is on the woman but given the concept of the “tree and its fruit” the unborn child would be considered the fruit of the tree. 

The significance is not that there is different values for the woman and her unborn child but that both held value for the husband. The injury or death of either as a result of such a blow would be considered something for which the husband could exact compensation in any amount he chose. The exception would be in the event of death and then the rule of “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth” would come into play and the offender could be executed.

I find absolutely nothing here that is applicable to a woman intentionally aborting an unborn child. That is simply not discussed in Scripture and with good reason.  Namely, such an act was incompressible. Evidence of the incomprehensibility of such an action is the fact that Joseph initially sought send Mary away and not to deliberately abort her child which in fact was not his.

What I do find is a clear indication that violation of the law carries with it price. Some of which are fixed and others that are negotiated settlements. I guess you'd say some are high crimes and some are misdemeanors; some are criminal and some are civil.  

Paul takes this up a notch from the actual physical acts and motives with which humans deal to the spiritual dimension of such actions.  Clearly when says that “the wages of sin is death” he ups the significance of these kinds of activities. This passage in Exodus is absolutely devastating for a sorceress and idolaters.  So much for Exodus 21:22.

As far as rights, be they human, men’s or women’s right to choose and decide the verdict is absolute and clear. Everyone has the right to choose or decide. In one sense our life is the result of the sum total of our choices. 

However, we all understand that having the right to “choose” does not justify the choice. I wouldn’t argue for a minute the right to choose. You see the right to choose comes with the responsibility for the consequences of that choice. It is the Biblical consequence that those who advocate for abortion dislike. Trust me, in nearly 50 years of ministry I have had many a woman sit across from me weeping bitter tears for child they aborted when just a young women.  It is like killing another person . . . you never forget and you always wonder what the result would have been if you had been older and wiser when you acted. 

That is why the pro-abortion folks want to refer to the forming child as an embryo, a fetus, a glob of bloody cells. The newspeak of our day wants to convert the terms describing the progression of development as separate from the child that is developing. That lunacy is why only the most hardened abortionist like the racist Margaret Sanger and Governor of Virginia, Ralph Northam, endorse abortion in the last weeks of gestation and beyond. No one among them seems to know when that process produces a person. Perhaps Genesis 1:24 is informative here: “And God said, 'Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds”

I'm sure if you think about it a while you can come up with a million examples of this principle. We all have the right to choose. Everyone always has. It is the consequences of our choices that have grated us. Some consequences may be good and others not so good; sometimes the consequences can be reverse and sometimes they are final. Abortion, like suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem. It is like driving nails using a sledge hammer. 

Unfortunately for too many having the abortion does not eliminate the long term consequence unless somehow we sear our conscious  

However, when you are using your right to choose (decide) and that choice is going to effect another then the rights of that human must be weighted into the choice you make. As someone once said, "Your rights end at my nose."

MY Body, MY Choice Argument:

Now a word about whether or not the “Right to Choose” argument is even valid. It seems to me that the “My Body, My choice” argument was thrown out the window many years ago.

We decided as a society that the “My Body, My Choice” argument was not absolute.  For example:

1. If I want to commit suicide the government steps in and says that is not a right you have. Suicide is a crime against yourself and while not always prohibited it is heavily regulated in cases of terminal illnesses.

2. If you want to put harmful drugs in your body the government says you do not have the right to do so. The taking of drugs, both helpful and harmful, are heavily regulated and often failure to follow the regulation lands you in jail.

3. Let say you have decided to sell some of your body parts. Oops, Not a “My body, my choice” issue. The government steps in and says not allowed. You can donate but you cannot monetize. 

4. Even in the case of abortion under today’s standards the right is not absolute. It is highly regulated.

Let’s be honest for once about abortion. Abortion is an industry in which the single largest beneficiary of which is Planned Parenthood. Planned Parenthood is the brain child of Margaret Sanger and avowed  a business established by a blatant racist. It, abortion has nothing to do with “My body, my choice.” It is more like an inconvenient truth. 

Here are the facts:

1. Only about 1 percent or less abortions are for women who are the victims of rape

2. Less than one half of one percent of abortions are for incest

3. Only 13% of abortions has to do with birth defects, or other health issues of infant or mother. These are virtually performed in hospitals not abortion clinics.

4. About 85% of all abortions are for convenience of some kind. Things like education, finances, embarrassment etc.

The Real Kicker: While it might be your choice it is not even your body that you are choosing to kill it is a new human life at some stage of its development all the way through actual birth.   “And God said, "Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind." And it was so.” Genesis 1:24

If you simply favor killing an unborn or new born child just be honest and state it plainly. Stop all the intellectual gyrations and word games. Stop twisting Scripture to establish abortion. Just admit that for some reason you believe birth control is inconvenient and/or self-discipline is so lacking and that abortion is a handy way to make up for stupid carelessness. 

Finally, what if someone has had an abortion. What does that do to their standing before God. It does the same thing that all sin does it separates them from God. But they need to know that while the “wages of sin is death” and the “soul that sins will certainly die.” s

Fortunately for us God is in the sin forgiving business and that upon repentance and faith He will “forgive their sin;” . . . "cleanse them from all unrighteousness;” and . . . . . “remember it against them no more.”  The woman in this case should then go forward with their life as though they had never sinned.  Remember the words of the Lord to Peter when the Spirit said to him, “do not call what I have cleansed unclean.”    How wonderful is the grace of God.

Wonderful Grace of Jesus, greater than all my sin; 
How shall my tongue describe it, here shall its praise begin? 
Taking away my burden, setting my spirit free; 
O the Wonderful Grace of Jesus reaches me!

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.

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.
Wonderful the matchless grace of Jesus, 

Deeper than the mighty rolling sea; 
Higher than the mountain, sparkling like a fountain, 
All-sufficient grace for even me! 
Broader than the scope of my transgressions, 
Greater far than all my sin and shame; 
Oh, magnify the precious Name of Jesus, 
Praise His Name!

This Ole House

I snagged this photo from Traces of Texas. I found it both haunting and provocative. It tells such a compelling story about life in Texas in the late 1930's . . . . 1938 to be exact.

Back in the mid-1970's I took my father to Hickory Creek Community just east of Celeste, Texas. That's where my family lived in the late 1930's. In fact, that is where my Dad left for World War Two in 1942 and to where he returned in late 1945. It was the place to where my English mother came in 1946 and where I was conceived.

This was my father's first trip back of which I am aware since he left for Orange, Texas in 1946. In reality we were taking a trip back in time to the days before he went to war in 1942 . . . to the place where he lived and worked and where many of the stories I had heard all my life were lived out.

The road was gone where the Appleby house was located. So were the row houses where many of the people I had heard about and some of whom became members of our family lived. Well, it wasn't exactly gone but it was lost beneath the two to three foot high Northeast Texas Prairie grass. But we navigated it perfectly as he pointed the way relying on memories from "back in the day." I suspect he had walked those roads, drove mule teams down those roads and drove the old Model A down those roads so often they were burned in his brain.

With the exception of one, pretty much worst for the ware, house it was just a big unworked field. But there it sat, weathered and worn. I remember saying to my dad, “She’s pretty much showing her age and neglect.” He replied, “Shoot, this is the way it looked when I walked away for the last time.”  I began to walk around leaving Dad to his thoughts as he was transported back to a time I really knew nothing about. I could see it in his face and his eyes seemed to see the ghost of days gone by. I wondered what he was seeing that I couldn't see. How I wanted to see it but it was not mine to know. At least not with the intimacy and detail he was now experiencing. I just elected to enjoy him as he made that personal journey back in time . . . . a trip back to when he was a young man

I once asked my aunt Edna Mae, Dad's younger sister, about his social life. After all, we all have a social life even back in the late 1930's and living on a farm. Her response as, "Did he have a social life, I'll say he did." Oh, I knew about singing bass in a regional Stamps Music Company quartet and playing fiddle at the Saturday dances in Celeste. But that wasn't what she was talking about.

I have a photos of him and a lady named Edith Gilbert at the edge of the cornfield. In my mind it was just behind the house. I wondered if he could see that scene captured in the photo. Edith was his prewar sweetheart. All his family thought she’d be Mrs. Appleby one day.  Lucky for me it didn’t workout. That war changed a lot of things and one of them was me.

If I'd have known about this photo when we were at the old farm house I'd have probably ask.  After all, I do recall as we turned off the highway and made our way down the county road that would twist and turn until we came to the family farm house he kept pointing out where people back in the day lived. I especially remember him mentioning at one old dilapidated house, "And that's where the Gilbert girls lived" as though I should have known about them.

As I walked through the tall grass that had swallowed up everything but the house he suddenly was back with me as he shouted, “Be careful over there! That’s where we dug a cistern.”  Sure enough a couple of feet from where I stood were some rotted boards and beneath them was that really big hole in the ground. It reminded my of the time, and I told him about it for the first time, when we lived in Vinton, Louisiana. A kid from down the street was chasing me around the house and I jumped some rotted board covering the open top of our septic tank. The kid behind be stepped on the boards . . . the collapse, and yer your got it, he went down into the septic tank. Dad, as he snickered in his own pecular way said he could have lived out his life without learning that. I think he knew since my Mom had to help me get the kid out of the, well grey water is putting it lightly.

We poked around outside as he pointed out where on the porch he and the boys slept during the summers. Finally we went inside. I was astounded how they lived in such a confined space. It was pretty much two rooms with one divided by a blanket. It was physically better than the house in the photo that started all this remembering but it I frightfully similar in size and design.

I remember looking over in one corner and seeing an obviously old tool box tray with tools in it. I said, “Hey Dad . . . . there’s some tools over here.” He walked over looked at them for a long time and after what seemed a forever he said, “Well how about that.” “How about that what?” I asked. He said, “Those where my tools.” When I left for the army that is exactly where I left them.  I could tell again, that he was back in 1942. I wish I could have seen whatever it was he was seeing in his mind. Directly I said, “Well, Dad, if their yours I am going to take them with us.” I am sentimental that way. He quickly said, “No, just let them be. They’ve been there this long just let them be.

Years later I would take my sister there to see the old place and if the tools were still there I was going to get them. But as fate would have it everything was gone on the second trip to Hickory Creek and the tools with them. The land was fenced and plowed and no sign that anyone ever lived in that place.  And yet that little spot, now part of someone else’s farm, was the center of the universe for the Appleby family.

But I digress, As we stood on the porch . . . . Maybe the porch in the photo of him holding his guitar he painted a picture of the houses that use to be along the road across from where we were. He not only described them but he told me who lived in each of them. Some of those people became my aunts and uncles by marriage . . . especially the Grace family. He also pointed out where the Caplinger’s lived and indicated that the old Caplinger cemetery was down the side road a bit. Sure enough as we left I espied the Caplinger Family Cemetery sign pointing up a dirt road. All our folks he said are buried in the Leonard Cemetery. By our folks he meant his grandparents, an aunt and a great uncle.

I have thought about that old house and all the stories it was hiding and am glad I got to see it before it was gone. Unfortunately the 1970's was before phones that take photos and I left my camera back home in Kilgore.

When I look at that old shack in the photo above and the people in it my first response is nostalgia and romanticism. But then I remember what my Dad said when I asked him if he ever met Audie Murphey, the most decorated soldier in WWII, who was from Wolf City just across the fields. He said, “Naw, first of all he was a lot younger than me and besides that back then he was just another bare foot boy running around here.”

I also remembered something else he said to me years before we took this little tour. His brother, my uncle Melvin, used to write an article for the church newsletter called “The Good Old Days.” It was sort of a romanticized telling of the family’s growing up in North East Texas. Dad would pick it up and say, “My brother sure can spin a tale but I’m here to tell you that the only the only good thing about the Good Old Days is they’re gone.”

Life on that farm was hard. Oh to be sure they had a good upbringing by my grandparents. They were both good and godly people and there are indeed stories to be told about them. Growing cotton and corn as tenant farmers was a hardscrabble life. The more you look at that photo the more you begin to realize pictures really do tell a story. What story do you read in that photo.

Stuart Hamblen’s song “This Ole House” tells the story . . .

This old house once knew my children
This old house once knew my wife
This old house was home and comfort
As we fought the storms of life
This old house once rang with laughter
This old house heard many shouts
Now she trembles in the darkness
When the lightnin' walks about

This old house is a-gettin' shaky
This old house is a-gettin' old
This old house lets in the rain
This old house lets in the cold
Oh my knees are gettin' chilly
But I feel no fear or pain
’Cause I see an angel peekin’
Through a broken window-pane

Now this old house is afraid of thunder
This old house is afraid of storms
This old house just groans and trembles
When the night wind flings its arms
This old house is a-gettin' feeble
This old house is a-needin' paint
Just like me, it's tuckered out
But I'm gettin' ready to meet the saints

Now my old hound dog lies asleepin'
He don't know I'm gonna leave
Else he'd wake up by the fireplace
And he'd sit there and howl and grieve
But my huntin' days are over
Ain't gonna hunt the 'coon no more
Gabriel done brought in my chariot
When the wind blew down the door

Are We Returning to Gospel Preaching?

I Kings 18: 41-45.

 And Elijah said to Ahab, “Go, eat and drink, for there is the sound of a heavy rain.”  So Ahab went off to eat and drink, but Elijah climbed to the top of Carmel, bent down to the ground and put his face between his knees.  “Go and look toward the sea,” he told his servant. And he went up and looked. “There is nothing there,” he said. Seven times Elijah said, “Go back.”   The seventh time the servant reported, “A cloud as small as a man’s hand is rising from the sea.”  So Elijah said, “Go and tell Ahab, ‘Hitch up your chariot and go down before the rain stops you.’”  Meanwhile, the sky grew black with clouds, the wind rose, a heavy rain started falling and Ahab rode off to Jezreel. 46 The power of the Lord came on Elijah and, tucking his cloak into his belt, he ran ahead of Ahab all the way to Jezreel.

For a number of years I’ve been concerned about the kind of preaching that was being done in our churches and major telecast. It appeared to me that there was a large movement toward a social gospel. By social gospel I don’t mean the classic social gospel of Reinhold Niebuhr but rather the health wealth and prosperity gospel is being preached by contemporary preachers.

It seems that there was hardly a place that you could go on television or the radio to hear preaching that you did not run into the health wealth and prosperity folks. As if that were not enough I began to notice that in our mainline churches particularly those who broadcast their Sunday services on television were also beginning to leave out the core of the gospel in favor of more popular themes of how to have a successful marriage, how to become financially free, how to raise your children, and other such themes.

Not only sell at the same time preachers were beginning to use all sorts of outlandish theatrics to present their messages. Everything from stage backdrops to riding motorcycles through the church. It seemed as though we were trying to re-create our worship services in the image of the Barnum and Bailey Circus. And one began to think that the leadership believed PT Barnum that there was a sucker born every minute.

When you began to realize that not only was the preaching taking on a circus atmosphere but the congregation was being little by little worked out of the active participation in the service. Hymns began to give way to choruses that went on ad nauseam. The performance atmosphere was doubled down on by eliminating choral groups in favor of worship teams and small group performers. Sermons began to be reduced in length from 30 minutes to 15 minutes with the music seemingly never stopping. Often it was played even while the preaching was taking place.

Personally I saw very little positive taking place in the way we worshiped. This feeling was exacerbated by the fact that we were now living in an age of mega-churches where members hardly knew each other and seldom interacted with one another.

This for me, a Baptist, was especially disheartening. I had grown up in a tradition in which at a very minimum we had three services a week. We had a Sunday morning worship service that was tailored toward a broad audience and was usually evangelistic in nature. That was followed later in the evening by an evening worship service that consisted of a smaller number of people but tailored especially for believers. Then at midweek on Wednesday evenings we had what we called a prayer service or prayer meeting. This gathering was for the purpose of having a short devotional thought, sharing the needs of the church members of the community and praying.

What bothered me about this trend from a local family oriented congregation to the large theatrical mega-church concept was the abandonment of the New Testament model for the church. The apostle Paul when speaking of the church often referred to it as a body. In a theological sense it was the body of Christ. In a practical sense it was all of the local believers as a unit. He often referred to the church as having Christ as its head and all the members the various parts of his body which taken together constitute the church.

Additionally when he spoke of the church he often referred to it by way of illustration using the family unit. In the family unit of his day the husband was the head of the household and the wife, the children and any servants or persons living with the house so constituted the family. The church was to be like that.

The local church that is modeled upon these principles will come more near producing a membership that is well grounded in doctrine and acts with ethical appropriateness. It will be more likely to be responsive to the needs of its individual members and its immediate community.

But as I began I was somewhat dismayed that in my lifetime I began to see slippage into a more casual and less biblical model for the church. I would live through the mega-church movement. I don’t believe that the mega-church movement came about because of bad intentions. Quite the contrary I think it came about as Wynn Arn promoted his view of church growth and missions. That is, the concept of the user-friendly church. It was an effort to remove all the obstacles that prevented people from attending worship. Hence the more relaxed atmosphere fewer restrictions and expectations the part of attendees. Services became more entertaining and last threatening. But like everything else it was the unintended consequences that bore the fruit. But that may be changed . . . . .

This is where I Kings 18:41-45 come in. I have looked time and time again for some sign that we might just be about to find relief. What I witnessed today all around the world was like that little cloud about the size of a man’s hand. May it continue to grow until we see the life giving rain in the form of a new birth of biblical preaching and worship.

I may be wrong but even before the Covid-19 pandemic I had notice what I think might be a trend within the church (body of Christ). I told Susan, in what seems like an eternity ago now, that I am hearing more and more of the "celebrity" (TV) preachers, even some of the "health and wealth" guys, adding a gospel appeal at the end of their sermons. 

Not only has that trend continued but some are returning to the "gospel message." Their sermons are actually intentionally designed and delivered to inform people of the fact that they are sinners and that their sin has separated them from God. They are pointing once again to Jesus as God's response to our sin through whom he offers us redemption and restoration.

I must tell you that I am not saddened to see all the theatrics and staged productions go by the wayside. We need to return to the concept of one hunger man telling another hungry man where to find bread.

I am also seeing television networks like TBN and CBN promote coming to Christ instead of becoming healthy, wealthy and wise . . . . . . .  to be saved from the effects of sin.

Susan, just mentioned one of the TV preachers she generally doesn't care much for brought a terrific Easter message. She said that it seemed as though he laid aside his performance personality and shared the resurrection story as it moved in his own heart. In short, he was authentic.

I do not believe there is a more powerful message than the Gospel of Jesus Christ and it is at its most powerful self when it comes through an authentic vessel . . . . . not a perfect vessel but an authentic one. So when it comes to the preaching of the gospel I am more optimistic than I have been in the last several years.

Another trend that I’m saying is the reintroduction of the hymn. All we are not all the way there yet but there are promising signs. Many of the chorus writers are beginning to incorporate old gospel hymns into their newer music. This is a good sign. Perhaps with time we will return to the hymns of the faith that inspired us, taught us the gospel, moved us in the spirit and the heart, and gave a strength only came to the end of life.

So I’m hopeful. I’m hopeful that we will move to a more Christ centered Bible-based worship. Where the pulpit which represents the preaching of the gospel is central in our building’s signifying to all those who come into that place the importance and primacy of preaching of the gospel. That the person who stands to preach from behind that pulled will see that not as a speaker stand in the sacred desk from which the word of God and the word of God only is to be proclaimed. It is not a prop for reading poetry; it is not a stand to hold music; it is not a post behind which to hide. It is the proper place to hold the sacred word of God as the man of God reads and proclaims its message.

I’m hopeful that the preaching in our churches and our broadcast will return to the preaching of the gospel. It is time to get back to the lifting of Jesus. After all it is not our preaching ability or style; it is not our singing ability or style; it is not our appearance with our dashing personality; it is Jesus who draws men to himself. It was he who said, “and I if I be lifted up will draw all men to me.”

Recognizing that when Jesus spoke this it was concerning his own death on the cross, I will say with out hesitation, that it includes the lifting him up before the people through preaching. For indeed the apostle is right when he says, “how shall they believe on him in whom they have not heard and how shall they hear except one be sent.”  Lifting Him up . . . that is what we are to be about.

That is what we should be doing and we should be doing it not perfectly but authentically. Not sharing what we don’t know but what we do know and this past Easter, as I sat att home in front of a computer watching live streaming from all around the word the gospel message I am encouraged as I heard preacher after preacher and saint after saint declaring through spoken words and with singing voices the one thing that authenticates our message . . . HE IS ALIVE!!

It is Lonely At The Top

This is not a political posting and I do not want any love or hate Trump comments. But as I look at this photo I think of all the times I had to make a hard decision. A decision that would affect negatively many lives regardless of what I decided. I recall how that weighted not only on my mind but upon my soul itself and the "damned if you and damned if you don't" feelings I had.

Good people would offer me their advice and even make their demands regarding what I should decide known. I would think, this all seems so simple to them. How I wanted to turn to each of them and say, "Here, since it is so simple and such an easy thing you decide."

In less significant issues I would sometimes do just that. I would tell some complaining individual, "It is clear that you are concerned about this and that you have spent a lot of time thinking about it. I think you'd be the best person to put in charge of this issue." In every instance, with the exception of once (and that proved to be a mistake) and there were many, they all declined.

In those moments I understood the dilemma of the great Apostle who once said, "I am torn between the two." There is never a win when you are confronted with such choices.  People are going to hurt whatever you decide. Some will be family and friends. But you are the man of the hour. Fate, history or God has placed you where you are and it is you that must decide. You know much of the fallout from your decision and would like to just walk away. But that is not a choice . . . . .you and you alone must decide and what you decide will change a lot of lives . . . . . some for good and others not so good. But decide you must. It is more than your job to do so. It is your responsibility and it is the hour for which you have been chosen.

You have moments when you'd like to hide; moments where tears flow because of the consequences of what you must decide. Now multiply that pressure a thousand or ten thousand times over and you may feel just a little of what the President is experiencing.

I see all this reflected in this man's face. That is why I have ceased my politically motivated commentaries on Facebook. I will only engage with what I believe to be the most egregious cases of Trump Hatred Syndrome.

This decision was reached after I saw in one press interview a crack in his armor . . . . .  a moment when his feeling almost overtook him. He wept for just a split second as he spoke of the great numbers of people who will die. In that moments I felt what I have not felt in many years, the emotional, spiritual and yes even physical impact of "The lonely weight of being in command." The weight of being the only one in the room whose thinking and decisions  really matters and that time is running out to decide.  It truly is "Lonely at the top."

All of us who have to lead soon face the loneliness of command. Leadership is always a personal endeavor, a very human endeavor. It matters not whether you’re leading in a commercial bank, a nonprofit, or as a teacher in a school leadership becomes very human and very personal.  Often, as leaders, we’re going to have to make difficult, sometimes painful, decisions. There is a weight that we will have to carry, and the burden will sometimes seem almost unbearable.  Our President is facing one of those times.

I do not believe he is playing games with this and I do believe we should not be either. We all have ideas; we all think we know what should be done (I know I do) but not a single one of us carries the responsibility for taking actions. I don't know about you but so far no one has called me and asked me, "What would you do?" And it is just as well because in the end I'd have to say, "Mr. President,  it matters little what I think or would do. It is not my decision to make. What matters is what you think and what you decide."

So here is some advice that I can give. First, to the President: Listen to your counselors, weight the evidence, select what you believe to be the least destructive and yet most effective course of action and act boldly. Heed Martin Luther's advice that when confronted between a choice between two competing evils chose the lessor and sin with boldness."

To the rest of us I would say:
➤ Keep doing all the good containment procedures. Don't use any lessening of the rules for containment become and excuse for doing needless travel and attend large public missions.
➤ Pray for the President and his advisors. After all, as Christians, we have been commanded to pray for all that are in authority to the end that we may all lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.
➤ As long as you are self-isolating look for some way to make a positive impact on your own community.

What You Need To Know About Travel Insurance

I am not an insurance salesman nor do I work for an insurance company.  However, I have been around the block a few times and have learned a thing or two about buying insurance. This is especially true about buying “Travel Insurance” and that is what I want to talk to you about.

First you need to know that there really isn’t anything such as Travel Insurance. What we call travel insurance is in reality a cross between travel protection plans and an insurance policy. Suppliers offer Travel Protection Plans that are usually underwritten by a third party insurance company. Travel (trip) Insurance are a travel product offered by an insurance company. Most Travel Insurance companies sell only Trip Insurance.

Trip Protection Plans from Suppliers usually cover the immediate cost of the trip with that supplier. So, if you spend $2000 with a cruise line and purchase their trip protection plan you will be entitled to up to the amount you paid the supplier up to the $2000. They rarely cover repatriation cost, emergency medical cost, any transportation they did not arrange etc.

Travel Insurance does everything that the trip protection plans do but also will continue all other expenses associated with your travel. Things like medical expenses, repatriation and cost of all services for which you pay money.  In both cases the plans will have conditions, limitations and exclusions.

We recommend that you take advantage of these opportunities to protect your travel investments. At the very least you should avail yourself of the supplier plans but we think you should really look at the Travel Insurance plans if you want the maximum coverage.

Now a few points when buying all types of trip protection:

1. Timing is everything . . . . . There is nothing more important than timing when it comes to any type of insurance. When you buy is often more important than the what you buy. Timing allows these companies to offer incentive coverage. Things like covering a Pre-Existing Conditions Waiver; Supplier Bankruptcy, Default, and  Cancellation coverage; or even “Cancel For Any Reason” (CFAR) benefits to clients who purchase coverage within a set number of days of initial deposit.

Keep in mind that if your are reading, watching or hearing about something happening it is probably too late to cover that item.  For example, a hurricane has entered the Caribbean will make it too late to buy coverage for your cruise. It works just like flood insurance and you know what they say about that . . . . “It's too late to buy flood insurance when the flood waters are rising!" Not only is this true for hurricanes it also applies to terrorist attacks, winter storms, and any major event that would normally be covered.

2. Insurance only covers the unknown and what if’s. What I mean is - there must still be an unknown element to your travel. If there is not, then it cannot be  insured it because the issue has already been resolved.  For example, no one would try to get auto coverage after they have an accident and expect that accident to have coverage. The same applies to travel insurance. If you know you need to cancel, then it’s probably too late to get coverage.

3. Documentation is never personal.  A request for 3rd party verification is not a question of the agent or customer's integrity. It is simply a condition of coverage.  In every instance of a claim there must be verification by another source. Think of it this way, the claim is a non-fiction story but until verified that is all it is, a story. one, but still a story. When all the facts check out, the process is quick and painless. It is when documentation is nonexistent, or doesn't match the story, that we will see complications.

4. No insurance covers the fear of something happening. We are living through a terrific example of this, the Coronavirus.  I is covered if you catch the prior to the trip’s departure date or while on the trip. However, it will only be covered through a “Cancel for Any Reason” policy and even then you better read the Exclusion section of the policy. Fear of catching something is not covered and will not get you a refund of your trip cost.  No one is eligible for trip cancellation if they are simply afraid of what may happen.

5. Exclusions always apply. The single most imporatantpart of any trip protection plan is the section entitled EXCLUSIONS. The most important information in any kind of insurance or protection policy is the list of what is not covered or included.

This section lists everythiing the carrier refuses to cover because they don’t feel that the premium they are collecting is sufficient to the risk. Some standard exclusions are war, crimes, and the most infamous of, all acts of god. Additionally, all travel insurance policies in the market today, exclude pre-existing conditions. The only way to get them covered is to get a waiver usually at an additional premium. This is why it is important you are familiar with the exclusions of the product you are buying 
 
As a Travel Agent I have seen a lot of third Party Coverages. My first recommendation to clients is a company that has the fewest exclusions. Companies that have hidden exclusions in their policy and use words, such as "Act of God" is not a plan I would recommend to those who are not insurance experts. And let's face it, most people aren't. Consequently we recommend TravelSafe for all your travel needs