Golden, Medicinal Words

Coach Jon Ginn is the worship leader at Hope Church in Tupelo MS and he is also the lead worshipper. I am blessed every week by his worship and by his life and that of his sweet family. When I received this weekly "letter to the choir", I immediately asked to use it for Friday night with Friends. (He had written about words the week before. Rather than change his article, I've reprinted it just as it came to me.) I think you'll be blessed. This is Jon's first blog post, so be sure to give him lots of encouragement and love, because I hope it won't be his last.
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A word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver. Proverbs 25:11

 I know, I know, we just talked about the power of words last week, but I don't think we can be reminded of this fact enough. Being in Proverbs 25 today (today being the 25th) once again this principle stood out. Let me give you a quick word picture from my study Bible.

The apples refer to a decorative motif in jewelry, similar to the more familiar "pomegranate" pattern. (Ex. 39:24-25, 1 Kings 7:18) The image represents godly speech (a word fitly spoken or suited for the occasion). A wise reprover to a listening ear (Prov. 9:8b-9) is like gold jewelry; that is, stunningly beautiful and valuable (possibly because of its rarity).

When someone says the right thing at exactly the right time, it is a thing of beauty. Just like seeing a rare jewel or work of art gives us deep appreciation for God's creation and craftsmanship of man, a word spoken in this manner feeds our soul with godly instruction and hope.

Our words become medicinal when spoken through the prompting of the Holy Spirit. He gives us the words we ought to say at the time we should say them (if we are in tune with Him - Matthew 10:20). Yes, some medicine is bitter when first tasted; this is true. However, the end result of healing and that is a beautiful thing.

May your words be beauty to those to whom you speak this week. 

#applesofgold #words 

Friday Night with Friends: Food and Faith by Brandy Bruce

Brandy Bruce

Food and Faith

More than eleven years ago I was a young new editor working for a Christian publishing house. Having only been married a year or so before, I was still settling into my role as a wife and homemaker. Thankfully, my husband wasn’t very picky when it came to meals, and with both of us working full-time, we often shared the task of cooking. As much as I enjoyed cooking, and food for that matter, the fact was that I was not a great cook and had much to learn.

Christmas was coming and I wanted to give my boss a gift. Loving food as I do, I thought a gift of banana bread would be perfect. I made two loaves, one for the director of book publishing and one for my husband and me. I wrapped up the banana bread in cute, red cellophane and gave it to my boss before he left for his holiday vacation. That same night, I sliced a piece of bread for my husband, Jeff.

My heart sank.

Because while the loaf looked perfect on the outside, when I cut into it, I found a doughy—almost liquid—center! How embarrassing! I’d cooked the loaves side by side, so I had no doubt that the loaf I’d given my boss was just as un-cooked as the one I’d kept. Jeff tried to comfort me as I cried over the situation. It’s the thought that counts, he’d reminded me (which was not very comforting at that moment).

More than eleven years have passed, and to this day, I’ve never given out banana bread without pricking it with toothpicks to make sure the bread is cooked all the way through.

Still, Jeff was right. While my boss may have chuckled when he realized that his new editor was not a great baker, I know he appreciated the effort.

I’ve given birth to three babies, and every time, friends and family have brought food—casseroles of all kinds, zucchini bread, cupcakes, even breakfast!  

A friend of ours passed away recently; all I could think to do was make a pot roast with vegetables and take it over to the grieving husband.

I had foot surgery several months ago, and the women of my supper club bombarded my family with amazing meals.

There’s just something about sharing food with each other. It’s how we show how much we care. When someone is weak or going through a difficult time, showing up with food meets an immediate need. I love the passages in Scripture that mention food—Jesus cooking fish for the disciples, turning water into wine, breaking bread at the Last Supper (just to name a few). One of my favorite Bible verses is John 6:35: Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”

I love that Jesus calls himself the “bread of life.” When I think of bread, I think of something warm, nourishing, soft, delicious . . . satisfying. Isn’t that so like Jesus?

When an opportunity arises, I’m very happy to provide a meal for a friend in need. But Jesus tells us that whoever comes to him will never go hungry again. It’s a different kind of contentment. Faith can fulfill us in a way that nothing else can.

My love of food and cooking has grown over the years (though I’m still not an expert by any means!). There’s nothing I enjoy more than setting plates around my table and feeding my family or hosting a dinner party for a group of friends. Food is a blessing. But Jesus . . . well, He’s the bread of life and He meets the deepest need in all of us.

Brandy Bruce is a wife, mother, writer, and book editor. And she’s someone who really loves dessert. She’s the author of the novels Table for Two, Second Chance Café, and Recipe for Love. Brandy makes her home in Colorado with her husband and their three children. You can connect with her online at www.brandybruce.blogspot.com.

#brandybruce #fridaynight withfriends #linesfromleanna

Friday Night With Friends: Between the Frying Pan and the Fire

Tonight's Friday Night with Friends guest blogger is Michelle Shepherd. She's a wife, mother of two, and a wonderful writer. Michelle is the granddaughter of my friend, Sue Freeman. I think you'll love this article. Be sure to share lots of love with her. We'll want to hear from her again.

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Between a rock and a hard place, or a frying pan and a fire, or maybe just, some soft grass and the busy street

Friday, I had to go to my office for a quick meeting.  I decided to take Maggie and John Deacon with me.  It was a beautiful morning, sunny with a slight breeze, just a little chilly, but still comfortable.  Maggie insisted on wearing an outgrown owl costume over her clothes, but it was adorable.  

We parked around the block.  The thought of the double stroller passed through my head, but I dismissed it quickly.  I thought this would just be a brief, pleasant walk anyway.  So we walked into the office, John Deacon in my left arm, diaper bag on my right arm, and Maggie holding my right hand. 

She skipped the whole way, even singing.  Passers-by stopped and smiled at all of us. If I had a theme song, it would have been playing as we walked along the cobblestone.  It was really all quite idyllic. 

After the meeting, we gathered up all of our things.  Two small children require carrying a lot of stuff. We walked down the stairs, in the same formation as before, but something was different.  

In my parenting, there is an uncontrollable variable, and it’s my 2.75 year old’s behavior. Maybe not totally uncontrollable, but my grip on it is tenuous at best.   Her father and I can teach her what we think is right or appropriate, but whether she does it or not,well that’s up to her.  Her behavior is dependent on her 2.75 year old view of the world (which is more than a little frightening). 

So, when Maggie decided that holding my hand was so 45 minutes ago, the potential consequences never seemed as dire to her, as they did to me. 

Just picture it.  A frazzled mama with a baby in one arm and diaper bag slung on the opposite shoulder chasing a small sprite of a girl down a sidewalk.  The little, beautiful angel shouting at her mother, “NO! I said, No! Don’t hold my hand, mama.  Don’t. Hold. My. Hand.” 

I was at a loss.  I couldn’t run as quickly as she was because I didn’t want to drop John Deacon.  Then things got worse, she started veering towards the street.  

In a moment of clarity, I saw my two choices, the rock or the hard place.  The frying pan or the fire.  The small 2X2 bed of grass in the middle of the sidewalk or the busy road.  I’m not really proud of what I did.  My husband says that I made a combat decision.

I took the diaper bag off my right shoulder, swung it, and knocked my precious child into the soft bed of grass. She fell on her hands, and she wasn’t hurt.  But she was stunned, I took advantage of that moment to hold her by the arm and walk to the car.  

The rest of the walk/drag to the car she screamed. 

“Don’t Hold My Hand!!!!” 

“No, Mama!” 

She was caught in a loop. She made her whole body a limp noodle, the way only 2.75 year olds can be.  

Y’all, we got to that car and my keys were back in the spot where I knocked her over with the diaper bag.  We had to go all the way back and get them.  She just kept on screaming.

Finally, we made it back to the car with keys in hand.  I waited until Maggie calmed down, and we had a real discussion about why holding hands on the sidewalk was so important.  I had to put a little fear in her, which broke my heart.

The whole event, while funny, was also sort of traumatic for us both.  I hit my daughter with a diaper bag and knocked her down on a busy sidewalk where anyone could have seen or judged me.  Maggie never even realized her own mother had done that to her.  She thought she fell down. 

And after talking to my husband about it,  the story became something else to me. 

Lord, how many times have I been my daughter? 

I can’t even count the number of times I’ve been walking with the Lord, holding his hand, but then deciding to run ahead alone.  

And what if some of those hard places I’ve been, some of those frying pans, were really the Lord knocking me down to keep from the fire? 

Maybe, when I thought I was going through something awful, I was just facedown and humiliated in the soft bed of grass, and God was keeping me out of the dangerous, deadly road.

Hebrews 12:6 tells us “the Lord disciplines the one He loves…”

Lord, how many times did you have to drag me lovingly to a safe place, while I fought and told you no?  For your thoughts are not my thoughts and your ways are not my ways. (Isaiah 55:8)

How could I ever thank God enough for choosing the bed of grass over the road for me? 

Someday, Maggie and I will talk about Friday again. Someday, I will tell her the whole story.  I can only hope to know all the ways God has delivered me.  Even if I never know all the small ways He saved me, I know that if there’s an opportunity to work things for good, He does. 

“For now we see indistinctly, as in a mirror, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, as I am fully known.” 1 Cor 13:12 

Today, I’m praising the Lord for working things together for good, even when my small, human perspective says differently.

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You can read more by Michelle at her blog: http://mvshepherd.tumblr.com/
#fridaynightwithfriends #michelleshepherd #leannahollis #linesfromleanna

Friday Night with Friends:

Our guest blogger tonight is Sara L. Foust. She's a fellow writer. We met in an ACFW online writing accountability group. I've come to love her and her writing, and I think you will, too. Be sure to leave her some encouraging comments and thanks for taking time from her blog to visit with us. Thanks in advance for loving on my friend.

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James 1:3- (KJV) Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.  But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

This week in Sunday School our women’s class teacher gave each woman a gift bag containing a few goodies.  One of the things in each bag was a rubber bracelet, each with a different word on it.  She had no way of knowing who would get which bracelet.  

When I pulled mine out, it said ‘FAITH’ and I immediately knew that the bracelet that was meant for me had indeed found me.  

Some of the others said strength or courage or hope, but I have no doubt God knew I needed the one with faith written on it.  Tears sprang to my eyes and I was reminded yet again of the trials I am facing right now.  There are constant worries as a parent, wife, home-owner, teacher of my children, and foster-mom, yet there are also constant blessings.  

There are two ways to look at a trial of life:  as a burden or as a blessing.  

Sometimes God intentionally gives us a trial in order to help us grow our faith, for often in our weakest moments, our moments of greatest fear and anxiety, it is then that we are able to fully surrender and humbly give our future to God.  

It is in those times when we feel that we cannot take one more step that God is able to swoop in and lift us up, plant us on our feet, and help us walk forward.  

Each time that we stumble and God comes to our rescue, it forges a stronger bond, a stronger faith in our belief of His ability.  Each time that our faith is tested, and God proves He is in fact still there, it strengthens the very fabric of our faith.  

Each time our faith is tried, we gain a little bit more ability to be patient for the next trial.  And, once our patience has been added to, we are more perfect and entire.  Patience performed by us in the face of turmoil fashions a more perfect being, a more complete version of ourselves.  God wants us to learn to be patient and run (Hebrews 12) the race for Him.  

He wants us to have enough faith in His omnipotent power that we can wait on Him to move!  

Once we gain the ability to be patient, our faith will be tremendous, and we will be perfect and whole and feel that we lack nothing.  

I may never get to that point, but I am going to try.

I am going to wear this bracelet for a while (even though I don’t normally wear jewelry) because I want to be reminded when I look at it that my faith is being tried, not broken.  

I want to be reminded that when I look out and see the next mountain of a trial looming, God going to help me through it and become a better servant for Him.  

I am going to wear it to remind me that because of my faith in Him, each trial can become a blessing rather than a burden.
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You can read her blog at: https://findingthesilverliningsdaily.wordpress.com/
Follow Sara on twitter: https://twitter.com/Sfoust25

Friday Night with Friends: Careless Christian or Christ Follower by Rev. Doug Spires

I'm so excited to share this tonight. Doug is worship leader at my church. He's a great musician and composer but the best thing about Doug is his love for Christ and his heart for worship. I'm blessed to call him my brother and my friend. 

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Careless Christian or Christ Follower?

I mentioned last week that I heard Dr. Bryant Barnes refer in a message to “careless Christianity,” a lifestyle he described as living, not in full surrender to the Lord, but instead giving Him as “little as we think we can get by with.”  As I’ve pondered that statement throughout the week, I’m really thinking folks who subscribe to careless Christianity just may be surprised one day when they hear Jesus say, “I never knew you; depart from me.” (Matt. 7:23)   

     Christ-following is a really big commitment.  It’s most definitely not a one-time salvation encounter with Jesus and then back to the business of living your life.  Not even close!  Once we meet the Savior, everything changes – literally.  2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”  When a person accepts Jesus as Savior, they are changed from the inside out, beginning with a necessary heart transplant.  Then the discipline of following Jesus really begins, along with the daily dying to self and constant surrendering to His Lordship. And that’s not easy, is it?   

     When I accepted Christ as my Savior, He forgave me for my sin and saved me from it, but my inclination to give in to my sin nature was (and is) still very much present. The flesh and the Spirit are in a perpetual tug-of-war (see Gal. 5:17) and we find ourselves constantly having to choose between “what I want” or “what God wants.”  Let me just go ahead and say for the record, the right choice is always God’s way as opposed to my way every single time.  In fact, therein lies the secret to the abundant life Jesus promised us we could have, although it’s not really a secret at all. Come on, honestly, how many times and how many different ways does Jesus have to say it? – “If you love Me, you will obey my commands.” (John 14:15) Apparently, a few more times since I don’t seem to always get it.  Are you the same way?

     Let’s chew on that for a minute because it’s one of the many conditional “if-then” statements in scripture.  “IF you love Me, [THEN] you will obey what I command.”  I wish I could think of any other interpretation here, but I can’t.  Clearly, according to Jesus Himself, IF I love Him, I will obey Him.  Period!   I will want to obey whatever He asks of me because I love Him.  It’s the same in a marriage relationship.  When my wife asks something of me, I want to do it for her because I love her.  That is my motivation.  And so it is with following Jesus – we follow Him because we love Him and because we trust Him.  We have only to look to Calvary for a permanent reminder of His love extended to us.

     In closing, consider these words from Henry Blackaby:

 

It is hard to obey in this world. A person living an obedient life will have to swim upstream against the tide of the world but any dead fish can float downstream. It takes dogged determination and will to go against the culture but we cannot say we know God and not obey Him. We are deceiving ourselves if we do. We must not discuss it, we must not debate it, we must not question a directive from Him, but we must go where He tells us to go and follow Him…wherever that may take us.

 

     I don’t want to be a careless Christian; I want to be a committed, fully-surrendered Christ follower.  Let’s take that journey together this week, not neglecting a single opportunity to spend time in His Word, in prayer, in worship privately and corporately, in fellowship with other believers, and in ministry to a lost world that is desperately seeking a savior.  May they see in us that we know Him, we follow Him, and that His name is JESUS!

Friday Night with Friends: the Dickey Band

The Dickey Band is playing at Friday Night Jam, Blue Springs MS. They are awesome. Dennis and Sunny Dickey and Kerry and Brenda Lynch. 

Here's the link. http://youtu.be/gkB5IJxsm7U

Friday Night with Friends: Hear God Speak When You Read Your Bible by Aletha Hinthorn

Aletha Hinthorn is a dear friend of mine with a deep walk of faith.  She is the founding director of Come to the Fire women's ministries.  Their vision is to bring the holiness message to women around the world, challenging them to live wholeheartedly for Jesus.  Be sure and stop by her website with the link above.  Her devotional is a perfect accompaniment to the one this morning.  
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Having a notebook and pen beside me as I read my Bible has become one of my ways to say, "Lord, I am expecting to receive something too good to forget when I read today. I want to demonstrate my love for You by caring for wisdom when it comes." If a verse strikes me as one I would like to better understand or I simply like what it says and want it to be lived out in my life, I write it down. 

When the burning bush appeared to Moses, Moses did a significant thing. He "turned aside to see" (Exodus 3:4). The way I "turn aside to see" is to write down a phrase or a verse that I'm interested in. 

When David was giving his son Solomon the instructions for the temple he was to build, he said, "All this the Lord made me understand in writing by his hand upon me" (1 Chronicles 28:19 KJV). I understand this verse to say that as David wrote, the Lord gave him understanding. 

I've discovered that is often the process. New insights come as I write down a verse, perhaps because writing slows me down so I can consider carefully each detail. Recording what I'm reading becomes my way of saying to God, "I'm looking to You to teach me what I should hear You say through this verse today." He responds to this desire.

The simple process of recording what I've read also insures I am more likely to recall those words. One study showed that when we transition from being a passive listener to an active listener by doing something such as writing down what we've learned, our retention changes from 10 percent to 40 percent. 

Dear Lord, help me to carefully protect the treasures You teach me as I read Your Word.

"Wise men lay up knowledge" (Proverbs 10:14).

Friday Night with Friends

Our Friday Night with Friends treat is a You Tube video of the Rocky Ford String Band playing at the Toyota Blue Springs education Garden and Park for Friday Night Jam. Great blue grass band!
Here's the link: Rocky Ford String Band

Friday Night with Friends: Checking the Numbers by Pastor David Foreman

David Foreman is pastor of First Christian Church in Aberdeen.  He wrote the following article for his church newsletter just before Eight Days of Hope - Tupelo.  It was so very good that I asked for permission to share it.  Prepare to be challenged and convicted.
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This next week is going to be a "big" week for Tupelo.  They are expecting around three thousand volunteers from forty-three states to converge on Tupelo.  These people are all spending their time to help others who are in need.

Let us look at a few calculations.
     1.  Man Hours per day - 3,000 x 8 = 24,000 man hours
     2.  Man Hours in eight days - 24,000 x 8 = 192,000 man hours

Think about how many lives can be touched in some way in just a week.  This is only one event where people help others in need.  Just think of how much time each year is spent volunteering to help others.
Think of how many lives are touched each year by these efforts.

Daniel, our son, and others volunteer with AMBUCS in Illinois.  AMBUCS is an organization that helps mentally challenged individuals.  For the last three summers, Daniel has helped with the softball "season".  He told me lat week that he was looking forward to next year.  It is usually the same people volunteering every year.

These are just two instances of volunteering.  Just imagine the number of man hours that are freely given for "good" causes.

Let me get personal for the rest of this article.  How many hours do we give to God weekly, monthly, and yearly?  Dr. Ray Trantham hinted towards this in his sermon.  He talked about the mission field and what has happened and is happening there.  These missionaries and their families given many man-hours to God.

Let me do some calculations.
     1.  Sunday Morning - 2 hours
     2.  Sunday Evening - 1 hour
     3.  Wednesday Evening - 1 hour

These are the normal amounts of time many people, which is what I am going to call "average", give God in a week.  So the "average" person will give God four hours a week, at the most.
     1.  4 x 4 = 16 hours per month
     2.  16 x 12 = 192 hours a year

So, how many weeks would it take "average" people, giving the "minimum" amount of time to God, to equal the 192,000 hours given in one week through Eight Days of Hope?  There are a couple of ways to look at this.
One is by the number of people.  192,000/4 = 48,000
It takes 48,000 people each Sunday to equal what 3,000 people will do in a week.

Another way to look at it is in years.  How many years would it take a church of 100 to give God 192,000 hours if they only did the minimum?
1.  100 x 4 = 400 hours per week
2.  192,000/400 = 480 weeks
3.  480/52 = 9.23 years
It would take almost ten years for a church of 100 "average" people to give the amount of time that will be given in one week.

What if we look at how long it would take one person to given 192,000 hours to God if they only spent 4 hours a week with Him?
192,000/192=1,000 years
I know I will not live that long.  How about you?

Now let us look at how many hours God invested in us in a year.
1.  24 x 7 = 168 hours per week
2.  168 x 4 = 672 hours per month
3.  672 x 12 = 8064 hours in a year.
Let's say that you live to be 70.  How much time does God have invested in you?
8,064 x 70 = 564,480 hours

We can never "outdo" God, but let us not be the "average" either.  Let us give of ourselves with the same generosity that God does.

Friday Night with Friends: Whose Want do I Want? By Sam Pennell

Our Friday Night with Friends guest blogger is Sam Pennell. He is a fireman and will be heading to Antarctica soon to work for six months. He is also my very dear nephew, and a wonderful writer. He shares from his heart on a very pertinent topic. Be sure to share some love with him. 

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Today I am going to touch on a subject that is, well, touchy, and it is one that has affected me recently. I am going to talk about prayer. This is a touchy subject with many of us because we simply don’t do it enough, or we don’t do it like we should.

My problem was that I wanted something, but I didn’t know if it was God leading me to want it or not. Even though we don’t like to admit it, the Devil can do great and powerful things to lead us astray. That is why we must maintain our prayer and focus on God. 

One thing I learned from my upbringing was that though the Scripture says, “Ask and ye shall receive,” asking God to make your plans come true is not what is meant. I am not saying that doing so won’t get you the results you seek, but you may find it’s not really what you wanted. I was taught to ask God to guide me along His chosen path for me and to seek His will on the problems I had. This is the key to the “Ask and ye shall receive” verse.  If you seek His will in your life and you want what He wants for you, you will find it. Our focus should be on God and His plan, not on our worldly wants, and then we can trust that He will provide for us the things we need.

Perhaps you are in a situation like I was in and feel drawn to something, but you aren’t sure that it is God leading you there or not.  In that case, what do you do? I did what I was taught. I sought God in prayer, opened up my heart, and told Him everything I felt about the situation and where I felt I was being drawn, then I asked Him to guide me according to His will in this situation. If it was what He wanted me to do, then remove all doubt and make it known to me, and if this was not the path I should take, block my path there.  Turn me away from it. 

Now, I am going to put this out there because I was stupid and thought I knew it all, but when you ask this of God, be ready for any possible outcome. I was not ready for what He did in my life, and I allowed myself to get hurt. I eventually realized what was going on, and accepted it as His will and stopped bucking it. 

When you ask, be sure you are ready to receive. He gives us nothing but blessings, whether we recognize them as blessings or not when we get them. I can name so many instances in my life and all of my friends lives that we thought at first were horrible things, yet they all turned out to be wonderful blessings. 

Now is just the time for me to wait and see what great blessing He has given me that I can’t see yet. It may just be time till the time is right or it may be a whole different set of possibilities I can’t even fathom at this moment. Just remember, pray often and honestly, and when you are truly lost, it is best to fully humble yourself before God and literally get down on your knees and talk to the Lord. I hope this shines a bright light into someone’s soul today. 

Friday Night With Friends: Lost and Found by Mrs. Sarah Haggard

I met Mrs. Haggard at my cousin's 50th wedding anniversary.  Although my cousins were the focus of the event, Mrs. Haggard (or Aunt Sarah, as everyone called her) was quite a treat.  She told wonderfully funny stories (like the time her preacher husband mistook her for a prostitute, which I could not convince her to write.  Yet) and was gracious and kind to everyone there.  I begged her for a guest blog, and much to my surprise, I received a beautifully handwritten letter (complete with envelope and stamp!) with her guest post. You will enjoy this delightful lady's offering!
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The challenges of a nonagenarian's life, for me, are not creeping wrinkles or a shrinking body, but losing objects, such as teeth and hearing aids.  These items are not only costly, but also essential to your health!  Such challenges have become opportunities for our Awesome Holy Spirit to miraculously expose the lost and found!

Recent examples are:
- After desperately searching high and low, I ended up finding my lost teeth, wrapped in a napkin, and inadvertently thrown into the waste basket.
- My hearing aid was mysteriously lost in my bedroom.  After days of meticulous searches, I told the Lord my ear and hearing aid belonged to Him, only He knew where it was, and only He could find it!

Days later, I went to the bookcase to get an address book.  As I took it off the shelf, something fell to the floor.  My hearing aid!!  I thought I was seeing a vision!! I have no clue how it got into the bookcase!! I lost no time in giving thanks and praise to our God with Whom nothing is impossible.

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Aunt Sarah signed her guest blog:
Sarah Haggard
12-21-20

Friday Night with Friends: Greedy Chicks by Dr. Walter Downs

Dr. Walter Downs is a retired educator, now serving as a Methodist minister. He also raises chickens. This is his first guest blog, so be sure to share some love with him.   

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(Based on Luke 9 & John 15)

We have begun a new venture at our house.  My wife and I bought nineteen baby chickens.  They are fun to watch, but all we really get to do is either watch them eat or put them up at night if one or more of them fail to go into the coop after the door closes.  Oh yeah, we have an automatic door and it's set to open at 6:30 am and close at 8:30 pm......fancy aren't we?

Did I mention that they are fun to watch?

Early on, just for fun, we would dig up an earthworm and throw it in amongst them.  It was ON then!  One would grab that worm and run, trying to hog it all up them self.  The others chicks would see that  hoarding action and the running away.  Those are clues that "I have something good and I am not going to share".  Well, then the chase was on!  Another lucky chick would grab the loose end of the writhing worm and pull against the original culprit that was hoarding the prize!  Then we had a tug of war.

Did I mention that they are fun to watch?

All of a sudden the worm would break half in two so now we had two chicks with only half the prize!  But that is not the end of the story.  Two more chicks wound grab the loose ends of the now half worms, and the tug of war would ensue yet again.  It is hard to watch the action when you have two or three tug of wars going on.

Funny thing is:  They do the same thing with catalpa worms, or corn ear worms, or blades of grass, or even a useless corn shuck.  They know no compassion for the hungry or the weak.  It is all about me in our chicken pen.

As a pastor I look for simple truths to share with my congregation each week.  Some are better than others!  The truth is that chickens and folks are a lot alike. The Bible even speaks about our human condition.

Luke chapter 9:  ²¹ Jesus strictly warned them not to tell this to anyone. ²² And he said, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.”
²³ Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. ²⁴ For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. ²⁵ What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self? ²⁶ Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.

Matthew, chapter 16 records a similar passage:  ²¹ From that time on (after he fed the 5000)  Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.
²² Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”
²³ Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”
²⁴ Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. ²⁵ For whoever wants to save their life^[f] will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. ²⁶ What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? ²⁷ For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done.

As humans we have been conditioned to think that more is better!  Much of the time we act like those baby chickens.  Corporate America, the capitalistic empire, even drives us to think that way.  The key questions become how big is your portfolio of stocks, bonds, etc.

In Agrarian America, we desire more land, more livestock, more offspring, more this, more that.

Regardless of where you work and reside, how much is enough? 

Pause and consider that for a bit.  

I am reminded of a young entrepreneur who had just gotten out of the service.  His name was Forrest Gump.  Forrest befriended a fellow soldier named Bubba.  Bubba hailed from Bayou La Batre.  He grew up in and knew everything there was to know about shrimping and he convinced the simple minded Bubba to go into the shrimping business when they get out of the service.  

Despite Forrest saving Bubba in the jungle of Vietnam, Bubba died.  During the recuperation period, Forrest learned to play ping pong, and traveled on behalf of the Armed Forces to play ping pong.  He even won a ping pong equipment endorsement.  With that healthy check he still thought of a friend, old dead Bubba.  He could not get that shrimping plan our of his mind, so, for lack of a better plan, when Forrest mustered out of the service, he headed to shrimping country, took the endorsement money, and bought an old shrimp boat.  

At first he nearly starved but, due to several blessings that come his way in the form of a hurricane that wipes out the shrimp fleet, and one certain Lt. Dan, he finally enjoyed immense success.  The Bubba Gump shrimp company was formed.  He named his shrimp boat Jenny.  Lt. Dan took the money and invested the extra dollars in Apple Stock. They both become richer than kings!  

Lt. Dan mailed Forrest a letter declaring that they never have to worry about money again.  The classic line in the movie is this:  "Lt. Dan said we don't have to worry about money ever again."  To which Forrest replied, "That's good.....one less thing to worry about!"

Why did I share that illustration? Because Forrest and Bubba, since they are friends,  made a covenant to go partners, Forrest gave half of the company proceeds to Bubba's surviving momma.  An element of trust weaved its way through the movie.  Forrest trusted Bubba.  He even followed Bubba's dream.  Then, Forrest trusted Lt. Dan with managing of millions.  Forrest's trust even extended to Bubba's momma.

The bible talks about this business of friendship, too.  ⁹ “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. ¹⁰ If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. ¹¹ I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. ¹² My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. ¹³ Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.

Folks,  friendships are precious and we must work at them.  That last passage from John 15 is Jesus' third major teaching about love.  Let me repeat it:  ¹² My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. ¹³ Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.

Back to those chickens.  I can tell you this with certainty!  Those chickens will not lay down their life for each other.  They are greedy guts!  They rob, steal, fight, peck, and hoard.

Which will you be this next week as you face the week?  Will you be like simple minded Forrest who gave up half of his assets?  Or will you be like the chickens who stingily fight for anything of value, hoarding it from your friends?  It's your choice.