When I was in college I used to spend a lot of time thumbing through The Far Side comic strip collections. I know, I know...I should have been studying, but Gary Larson's warped sense of humor by using pictures and words seemed to satisfy my appetite for odd humor. If you have ever observed his work, you know what I am talking about. A few days ago, one of his comic strips came to mind (pictured to the left) while I was entering a public bathroom. Upon walking into the men's restroom (I need to state the obvious for those who may have read an earlier post), an older gentleman was just exiting a stall and walked straight to the exit. For a moment, I stopped and thought (to myself, of course), "Oh no he did not!" Not even a stop at the sink to rinse his hands with water or just maybe an attempt to use a paper towel for some sense of cleanliness. The thing that made it worse was that he was older, probably in his 70's. I would think by this time in his life he would understand the importance of washing your hands after you use the bathroom. I'm not even talking about "What about Bob?" sanitary habits, but just the basic ones.

Some people look at habits as a bad thing, but I believe habits (some prefer the word disciplines) can also be a good thing. Although washing your hands takes a little extra time, it has benefits for you as well as for others and ultimately prevents the spreading of germs. Developing habits in our faith is also important for our spiritual health as well as for the spiritual health of others. If you are a father, your spiritual health affects your wife and children. If you are an employee, your spiritual health will affect your work ethic. If you are a friend to someone, your spiritual health will affect your example before others. So what are some good, spiritual habits to develop? Disciplines such as reading your Bible consistently, seeking God through prayer and meditation, fellowship with other believers, loving and serving others, and participating financially with local and global ministries are worthy of your time. I'm sure you can think of others to add to the list. Don't get out of sorts with me and say, "You are just creating a list of rules. Christians have freedom in Christ and from a list of do's and don'ts." Remember what Paul said in Philippians 3: "I once thought all these things were so very important, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the priceless gain of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I may have Christ and become one with him." Go ahead...develop some spiritual habits



...and wash your hands after you use the bathroom.

Sunday afternoon is usually the only time I feel that I need a nap. After speaking twice and talking to many people I often find myself a little worn out. I know there are pastors who speak numerous times in a weekend and are probably more exhausted than me; however, I always attempt to take an hour or so to sleep. More times than not, I cannot sleep more than twenty or thirty minutes for whatever reason. Sometimes that reason for sleep-deprivation is very obvious…due to the fact that my two kids refuse to take naps. “We don’t take naps” and “we’re not tired” result in Leah and I always allowing them to read quietly in their rooms or find something to do which doesn’t require noise. Normally, we make them stay in their own rooms because once they get together things have a tendency to spiral downward. Yesterday, I was particularly fatigued and I slept an hour, I think. I was brought out of my slumber because Ty and Lexi were coming into our room and then exiting. I knew something was up. I decided that this time I’d allow Leah to sleuth the situation and sure enough, a few minutes later Leah informed me what had happened while we were sleeping. Some of the details are still vague, so I’ll do my best not incriminate the innocent.

When Leah came into the room, she was holding “Baby Alive” which is a doll Lexi received as a Christmas present a couple years back. The doll is supposed to appear real and have skin similar to a human’s. I’m assuming the skin is not real, but I do not take anything for granted. However, this doll had undergone an extreme makeover courtesy of our eldest and only son, Ty. There were a pair of scissors in Lexi’s room (we are bad parents, I know) which Ty used to provide a new “do” for the doll and it looks like he also had enough time for a quick facial reconstruction because her face was cut up. He will never be a plastic surgeon. Lexi swears she didn’t tell Ty to do this, but she didn’t seem to put up much of a fight. My best guess – both of them had a hand in plastic surgery. This doll will never be the same!

It is amazing what can happen when we are asleep. One minute, everything is normal…the next minute, everything is out of control. Nationwide is right, “Life comes at you fast.” To handle these times of change, how is a follower of Christ supposed to react? The obvious answer is that a person must recognize that nothing is outside of God’s control; however, does that always satisfy? Absolutely not. God is invisible and we often feel He is silent during these times of hardship, but John teaches his readers a concept which is profound. He writes, “No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love has been brought to full expression through us” (1 John 4:12). When we love others through their time of hardship or change, that person is able to see God in us.

Does someone you know need to see God today?

Today I went to the doctor’s office to have some blood work done. I arrived about 7:20am on what was a cold, snowy morning. After finishing, I jogged (it was too cold to walk) back out to my car and began backing out of my parking space when something moving in the car beside me caught my eye. I looked a little closer into the slightly tinted windows of the old, beat up jeep beside me. At first I thought it was a person in the backseat moving around, but upon further examination I realized it was a huge dog. It was so big that it may have actually been a small pony. This dog was also old just like the jeep it was sitting in. What in the world was a huge, old dog/pony doing sitting by itself in backseat of a freezing car? Now, don’t get me wrong. I am not an extreme animal lover – the only rides my dog ever gets in the car are when she is going to the veterinarian, going to the groomer to get her stinky body cleaned, or when she is going to the kennel. Marley (my nine-year old German shepherd) gets no Sunday afternoon rides, no trips to PetSmart to smell other dogs’…well, you know what, and she certainly does not accompany me to the doctor just to sit in the car!

There was also another thing that caught my attention about this dog – it was not sitting in the seat the proper way. Instead of facing the front (like a human being), the dog was completely turned around facing the back window of the car awaiting his owner to reappear. Why is it that you never see dogs sitting normally in the seat of a car? Mostly, it is because they have arranged themselves to see when their master is returning from being away instead of being surprised by his arrival. Most people could learn a valuable spiritual lesson from this dog.

Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, You shall be holy, for I am holy – 1 Peter 1:13-16

I’ve never had very good luck with wallets. Usually I opt for the cheap ones at Wal-Mart or Target in order to save a few dollars, but inevitably they end up ripping within a year or so. My latest saga happened while I was in Gatlinburg, TN last week when I discovered a huge rip right in the slot which holds my credit cards. Fearing that one of them would slip out, I determined to purchase a halfway decent wallet and before I knew it I found myself wandering through a little leather shop called The Cowboy Way. Yee-haw! Initially I thought I was on the original set of Hee-Haw! If you know me, I am the furthest thing from a cowboy. I don’t shoot guns, ride horses, wear boots, and I especially don’t listen to country music. Needless to say, I was extremely out of place in this store. At first I was walking around aimlessly through the aisles of flashy boots and leather goods while being serenaded by awful music, but I finally gave in and asked the cowgirl if they had any wallets. She walked me over to a display case where she showed me my options…blah…blah…blah. “Just give me one that will go the distance, ma’am.” I made my purchase and rode off into the sunset.

Although I like the wallet, it really has a strong scent of leather that permeates everything. I actually, kind of like it. In fact, the other day I was in line at my local grocery store and when I pulled out my brand-spankin’ new wallet the cashier thought the smell was coming from the National Geographic Magazine I was purchasing. She put her nose right up to the magazine and said, “This thing has a really strong smell.” She then began telling the man who was bagging my groceries to also smell the magazine. I kindly explained that the smell was not a Scratch-n-Sniff National Geographic, but rather my newly purchased wallet from Tennessee. I then put it right up to her nose so she could take a huge whiff. I wonder what the people in line behind me thought.

Several days have passed and the new smell is beginning to wear off little by little. Pretty soon, I’ll bet you won’t even be able to smell it at all. It’s a shame when something new loses its impact.

You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven – Matthew 5:13-16

There are very few things which made my dad angry, but someone flipping him the middle finger got his blood boiling. I vividly remember two separate times in high school when an ignorant driver flipped him off. Usually those who “shot the bird” were young whippersnappers who thought they owned the road and were too cool for their own selves. Little did they know that sticking up your middle finger at my dad awoke giants in him that you prayed would stay asleep. After the exposing of the infamous middle finger, my dad would begin closely following the finger-happy driver which sent great fear into the acne-faced high schooler behind the wheel. I was always relieved that the drivers would eventually lose my dad through mad driving skills or we would finally talk some sense into him.

Recently, we had to sit down with our own kids and explain to them why sticking up your middle finger is rude and unacceptable. Apparently one of Ty’s friends at school had discussed flipping the bird, but Tyler had no clue what he was talking about so he came home and asked us. I appreciated his willingness to talk to us about his questions. Usually a discussion of this nature will cause our younger daughter to come up with a creative question of her own. Yesterday (several weeks had passed since our last middle finger conversation) Lexi asked, “Is sticking up your middle toe the same thing as sticking up your middle finger?” She was not trying to be funny…she just had a legitimate question.

At this point in their lives, my kids still ask Leah and I about things of which they are unsure. I am truly grateful that they trust us enough to bring their uncertainties in life. I believe we all need people like this. In my opinion, the church (and its leaders) should be a welcoming place where people are permitted to bring their questions and uncertainties without fear of judgment or rebuke. When these questions are asked, it gives the church (and its leaders) the opportunity to expose people to the magnificent character of God and His perfect word.

My son and I just returned from a long road trip (with our high school ministry) that took us through four states and resulted in over one-thousand miles there and back. Along the way we stopped at many places to eat and, of course, use the bathroom. Usually this type of trip will yield some pretty interesting situations as well as thought-provoking questions/observations from an eight-year-old. As I mentioned before, we took our share of bathroom breaks and I am very careful at warning Tyler about the importance of not touching ANYTHING in the restrooms. Many of these places were, how should I say it, dirty…filthy…and had not been cleaned for days. One of those places was a gas station somewhere in West Virginia. I could stop and make some West Virginia jokes but I happen to think the mountains make it a very beautiful state. However, I have a “bone to pick” with the wonderful residents who manage places of establishments along Interstate 77 – please teach your employees to clean bathrooms! Maybe I am mistaken and it is only the men’s bathrooms…it is possible the women’s restrooms were hygienic and decorated with posh sitting rooms, but I doubt it. This particular place was nasty and Tyler was using one of the urinals when he had one of those “why moments.” As he looked into the urinal he was occupying, he discovered that a quarter was lying at the bottom. “Why did someone throw a quarter in here” was his response. In case he was thinking of going for it, I quickly yelled at him to not even think about retrieving it. He had a hard time grasping why anyone would put something of value in such a low place. I said to him, “I’m not sure why people don’t value things which are important.” After I thought about my response, I guess I lied to him. I do know why people, including myself, fail to value that which is valuable – their system of worth is messed up.

This is what the LORD says: "Cursed are those who put their trust in mere humans and turn their hearts away from the LORD. They are like stunted shrubs in the desert, with no hope for the future. They will live in the barren wilderness, on the salty flats where no one lives. "But blessed are those who trust in the LORD and have made the LORD their hope and confidence. They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they go right on producing delicious fruit. "The human heart is most deceitful and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is? But I know! I, the LORD, search all hearts and examine secret motives. I give all people their due rewards, according to what their actions deserve." Like a bird that hatches eggs she has not laid, so are those who get their wealth by unjust means. Sooner or later they will lose their riches and, at the end of their lives, will become poor old fools. – Jeremiah 17:5-11