Category: Spiritual

My thoughts on God and his love for us

Two Boys, One Bear, One Horse and God

black and white photo of bear on wood

Some of my favorite memories comes from camping with my children when they were young. My memories are not all good ones though. I remember one time when each of us rented a horse, even my little Ronnie, but the guy who ran the place promised that his horse was as slow as a grandma, so we took him.

We forgot to mention that Ronnie was nothing like a grandma! He said “Gyddayap,” or something like that and the horse took off running! Of course, Ronnie was loving every bit of it!  His parents were scared stiff, but our horses were walking just as they were taught, and we couldn’t catch him. We thanked God that He stopped the horse and Ronnie could do nothing to make him run again. We caught up with him and were so happy, we forgot to scold him!

Another time and another place. We were at Yellowstone. My oldest son Jimmy and Ronnie decided to take a hike on one of the prepared trails. On the way they met a big black bear who was very interested in whatever was in the garbage can sitting there. I don’t know why the bear decided to chase after the boys. I’m quite sure Jimmy didn’t do anything, he was the quiet one, one who just wanted to get away. Probably Ronnie thew a rock or something at the bear, Anyhow, the boys ran hard and fast back to our campsite. Again, God caused the bear to stop! I figure the bear missed something back there at the garbage can.

You think that God wouldn’t stop a horse or a bear? Well, you are wrong.He really does things like that. It’s us who think God isn’t involved in everything we do. We chalk it up to something that just happened. Therefore, we never think to thank Him.

Let Our Lights Shine!

Matthew 5: 14-17 reads: “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Let your light shine before men in such a way that  they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” (NSA)

I don’t think any of us are letting our lights shine. If we had, there would still be prayer in school and manger scenes would be welcome everywhere at Christmas. What’s wrong with us? We want to blame others for everything, but we who are Christians are still the largest group in America, Why do we watch our culture go down the way it has? Certainly, all of us see that the morals have really changed here in the country we love.

I don’t like to blame our pastors, but when was the last time you have heard a sermon on abortion? Yet Jesus said “Do not hurt one of these little ones. If you do, it would be better for you if a millstone is hung around your neck and you would be thrown in a lake.” I’m paraphrasing a bit, but He did say that. Should we all have a millstone tied around our necks? That would be awful!

Or, when was the last time you heard a sermon on homosexuality? The Bible says it’s wrong. In fact, God calls it an abomination. Shouldn’t that stop some of us? Yet now men are marrying men, and women are marrying women. Marriage is sacred, so the Bible says. We surely haven’t turned on our lights against that, have we? Boys and girls are living together before marriage.  We aren’t even thinking that marriage is sacred and between one man and one woman.

I believe that pastors are worried about our culture too, but they are afraid they might step on someone’s toes. Why should this matter to them or to us? If we have our lights burning, as we should, we would gather together and things would change. It would take a while, but we could change the world. It sounds impossible, but God loves the impossible!