Where Will You Be Hanging?

My niece was at the house last night. She was born and reared in France so I didn't get to see her much. But as we were conversing, I showed her a picture of her great-great-great grandfather White. It proudly hangs on our wall at home. James H. White, born in 1837 in Frederick County, Virginia. He fought for the South in the Civil War. When he came back to the land after the war, it was so torn up he decided to go West. West he did. All the way to Ohio. It doesn't seem like much of a trip to us, but to them I'm sure it was a long one.
Tess said to me, "I wonder who's wall you'll be hanging on in 130 years?" Wow! What a question. What kind of legacy will you leave for those who follow? Will it be money? Will it be a building or a house? Will it be a good name? It's a question worth pondering. When I was in graduate school I had a professor who made us write our own epitaph. It was a worthwhile exercise and one designed to make us think. Maybe we should do that occassionally. And let's consider our legacy. Have a great day! JW

Pleas(e)

Remember the magic words? Please and thank you. If you ask for something, your mother would say, "What do you say?" Of course, that's when the obligatory, "Pleeeeeeeeeeeaaassee!" came in. Sometimes it was sincere, most of the times not.
Last night I was listening to one of my shepherd's pray and he said something like this, "Lord, hear our pleas." What he was saying was, "Lord, hear our requests, our beggings, our asking." What I heard was, "Lord, hear our "Please." Have we forgotten one of the most important magic words? Have we forgotten to say "Please" when we petition God. If it was important to say that in requests to our parents, wouldn't it make sense that we say it when we petition our God? And so today in this short blog, I ask God to remember our "please." Now that He has heard my "please," I hope He hears my "thank you!" loud and clear. Have a great day. JW

Great Kids

I hope your Thanksgiving was a good one! It was good to visit with family and friends over the holidays. Now it's time to settle back into another holiday. Don't the years fly by?!!??
It was so much fun catching up on what everyone is doing. You know, I'm getting better at noticing God moments. These are just little snippits of time where someone says something or does something that just bowl me over.
This time it was Sunday after worship services. We were visiting a congregation where I once worked. Many good friends still there. One came up to us and I asked him about his family. His son and wife were in the military, but making plans to go to the Czech Republic for 5 to 7 years to do mission work. Tears welled up in his eyes as he talked about them. "I don't know," he said. That's a long ways away. I told him that my brother had been on the mission field for nearly 30 years. He could go see them if he wanted. But I said, "You'll have all of eternity to be with them." Again, tears welled up. "I know."
This gentleman and his wife have two sons, both wonderful Christian young men. I told my friend that he had great kids. He said, "You know, people always ask me the secret of raising kids. There's no secret. You just spend time with them." I added, "And you love them unconditionally." That's what this father did. He spent time. They fished together, hunted together, did everything together. In this day and age of go, go, go, and microwave ovens and instant messaging, it was good to hear that time spent with kids is still an important activity. Important...wow, it's essential. There is no substitute. I've heard people talking about spending quality time with their kids. I contend that you never know when the quality time will show up. You only discover it when you spend quantity time.
There you go. My God moment. I treasure those times. Thank you, Lord, for speaking to me loud and clear. Go out and hug your kids. Spend some TIME with them. You'll never regret it. I read an author one time who said he never saw any man who said at the end of his life that he regretted not spending more time at the office. Have a great day...and welcome back. JW

Happy Thanksgiving!!

The drive is worth it. It's a long way to Searcy, Arkansas from Omaha, Nebraska. But we're set to go. We have CDs to listen to. My golf clubs are packed. (I have a tee time for Friday!) The food is being prepared. And by this time tomorrow, the good Lord willing, I will be spelling the wonderful smells of Mamma Lou's feast.
But, this is the first year that Meredith hasn't been with us. She and her husband are staying in Omaha to work. This is the first year Mom hasn't been with us. One by one, the traditions pass and the people you love are gone either through death or by just plain growing up.
You know what, though? I'm still so very thankful. I'm thankful for knowing the people in my life. I'm thankful that I can still enjoy the journey! I hope you have a great Thanksgiving! I am. I'll see you on Monday. Full report!! JW

A Thanksgiving Lesson in the Most Unlikely Place

I often spend my morning drive to work contemplating the contents of this blog. Today, I saw the big snowmen in the yards, the Santa's being put up, the Christmas lights all over the houses, the trees making their way to the windows. Once again, I thought of how quickly we go from Halloween to Christmas leaving out, in my opinion, the most important holiday--Thanksgiving.
After seeing the icons of Christmas future, I wondered aloud what the symbol was for Thanksgiving. People don't put anything in their yards to celebrate this wonderful holiday. (Actually, we do. It's a turkey that says, "Be Thankful!") At my mother's house, she would put out these candles of Indians and Pilgrims. It was tradition that I build a log cabin from Lincoln Logs. I looked forward to it every year and even built the little log cabin after I had been away and married.
But my thoughts were that how ridiculous we are sometimes in our celebrations. We try to reduce the sublime to something inane. How do you describe the utter gratitude of what God has done for us? With a turkey? By eating ourselves silly? As I contemplated these great platitudes, I was ready to write. But first, the obligatory stop at Starbucks where I received the real LFTD (Lesson for the Day). Isn't it funny, when your mind is somewhere else, God slaps you right in the face with something really significant.
I'm standing in line and Celeste the manager greets me by name as she always does. "Good morning, Jim. The usual this morning?" I smiled and gave her the thumbs up. "This one's on me today," she said. Astonished, and yes, grateful, I thanked her. About that time one of the employees knocked over a basket of brownies on the floor. What do you think my reaction was? Would I sit there and laugh at the foolishness or clumsiness of the employee? Would I say, "If she wasn't in such a hurry, she wouldn't have to worry about knocking things off."? I didn't give it a second thought. I was down on the floor picking up the fallen brownies.
Then it hit me. I just heard the lesson of Thanksgiving in the most unlikely place. God says to me when He sends His Son, His only Son to the cross so that I could enjoy life, "It's on Me." And what is my response? I'm on my knees trying to help clean up the world that somebody else messed up. No complaining.
I carried my free gift to my car with, once again, tears in my eyes thanking God for showing me His glory in the most unusual places. Keep looking for God...and keep being thankful. Have a great day. JW

You Sing Louder

Since this is Thanksgiving week (month, year), I want to dedicate my space to the trait of gratitude. Yesterday, we sang in church a song that I really love. Here are the words:

There is a Redeemer, Jesus God's own Son;
Precious Lamb of God, Messiah, Holy One.

Jesus my Redeemer, Name above all names,
Precious Lamb of God, Messiah, Hope for sinners slain.

When I stand in Glory, I will see His face.
There I'll serve my King forever in that holy place.

Thank you, oh, my Father, for giving us Your Son,
And leaving Your Spirit 'til the work on earth is done.

When we sing the chorus, it gets louder. There's no notation in the music to do so. It just happens. As I stood in front of the congregation and heard those words, tears welled up in my eyes and I couldn't sing. Why did we sing louder? I think it's because you can't truthfully sing the words of gratitude without singing louder.

You've got the blues and you have sad songs and you have dirges. But when you sing of thankfulness, you sing louder. Even today as I write these words, my eyes fill with tears as I think of all the things I'm grateful for. I can't even write them down; they are so many. . .and I sing louder. Thank you, oh, my Father, for giving us Your Son, and leavng Your Spirit 'til the work on earth is done. God is good. Have a great, thankful day! And sing louder! JW

Blah, Blah, Blah, and Coffee

Those of you who read my post often know that I have an affinity for Starbucks Chai. Most days when I walk in, I'm greeted by someone who calls me by name and they look at me with this knowing look and say, "Venti no-water chai?". It's my "NORM!" experience when I walk in (watch the sitcom Cheers if you didn't understand that comment).
Occassionaly there is a girl that works there that wants to knock me off my routine. I don't do coffee. I just don't. My dad tried to get me to "learn" to develop a taste. Yuk! Now don't say, "Oh, if you would try it now you would like it." Wrong again. I've tried it. In the last two months I've tried it again. The best I can do is a couple of sips of cafe au lait from the Cafe du Monde in New Orleans. (Actually, I just go there to eat the beignets. In fact, that's one of the few good things I've found in New Orleans. Just don't breathe in when taking a bite or you'll choke on the powdered sugar. It's not a pretty sight. Again, I know.) or some of the flavored Gevalia stuff. Now, back to the story. So if I don't drink coffee, that kind of limits my choices at Starbucks. Which is fine with me. Anyway, this girl says to me, "Have you tried the blah, blah, blah with a just a little blah, blah in it." Now, I include the language "blah, blah" because once she gets into the sentence of "have you tried," I zone her out. I don't want to try the blah, blah, blah with a pince of blah, blah.
Oh, Jim. C'mon! Try something different. You've got to live a little. You'd like it. See? You've fallen into the trap. It's the same thing Satan does. Peter thought he'd help Jesus out when he told Him to quit talking of His impending fate. Jesus said, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men." (Matthew 16:23) Jesus had the routine down. He knew what was to happen. Then someone came in and said, "Have you tried blah, blah, blah?"
It happens to you all the time. You're following the Lord the best you know how. You journey is going upward. You think you've go it figured out. Then someone says, "Have you tried this?" The rub is in what your reaction is. Then the next thing you know, you're going the opposite direction of what you intended. Oh, Satan's good at it. What we have to do is to learn how to zone him out and only hear, "Have you tried blah, blah, blah." The secret is in knowing the Shepherd's voice. There are a lot of voices out there. But the sheep know the Shepherd. Next time Satan tries to get you to try the other stuff, zone him out. Listen for the Good Shepherd.
And by the way, put that cup of coffee down. It's bad for you. Try some chai. Have a great day. JW

Hot or Cold?

"I know your deeds, that you are neithter cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm--neither hot nor cold--I am about to spit you out of my mouth."
We know those words from Revelation quite well, don't we? I think I understand them even better today. I've read the commentaries--one city had real cold water, another had hot springs. I've read the tepid life stuff. But I have a different insight today.
Friday and Saturday it was in the 70s here in Nebraska. Odd, but it does happen occassionally in November. Yesterday it snowed about 3 or 4 inches and the temperature dropped all day long. This morning I noticed it was 19 degrees. Now I don't mind the 19 degrees so much (what I do mind is the wind blowing hard and the wind chill being zero.) I can't get a handle on what I'm supposed to wear. I put on a sweater and it gets hot. I wear a polo shirt and it snows. This back and forth, up and down is just not conducive to living life. If it got cold all the time, I would bring out all of my sweaters and put them in a closet and put away the polo shirts until the spring. But this back and forth, I can't take it!!
That's why it's so important to know that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. That's why I care that God is consistent. Satan isn't. He moves around. He's sneaky. The only thing that's consistent in our lives is God. No back and forth. Always consistent. Always dependable. Never changing.
God doesn't want us being flighty either. Be consistent. Not one way with one group and another way with the others. Let your "yes be yes and your no be no." In other words, try to become like God. Wow! I've said that before. Maybe I'm becoming consistent! Have a great day. JW

Do You Know Me?

I love the church. I know it has its foibles and faults. But it is made up of faulty people who sometimes do dumb things. Me included. My father, when he was alive, was really one who took criticism of the church very seriously. He didn't like anyone to say anything bad about it because, as he said, "Christ died for it."
But that's not what I want to talk about. I love the church because of its network. I can't go anywhere without knowing someone or knowing someone who knows you or someone you know. Huh? You know what I mean. When I worked at Ohio Valley College back in another life, I would travel to various churches and talk about Christian education. Walking in cold turkey, people would just kind of stare at me suspiciously. I'd say, "Do you know Ed White? He's my dad." The ice would melt and we became quick friends.
My good friend (Hi, Brian) asked me about a missionary in France. He asked if my brother knew this particular missionary. On a side note, my brother is a missionary in France also. The worship leader of Brian's church is a good friend to this missionary. Well, not only does my brother know this missionary, they're best friends. They work in the same city, the same church.
When my wife was working in a Nashville, TN dental office, one of the ladies she worked with wasn't a member of the church. The dentist my wife worked for was. They were always talking about different people they knew in common. This lady commented that it was amazing that the church just had this connection. Everybody seemed to know everybody else.
Isn't it great? One day when we get to heaven, we'll find out even more connnections, I'm sure. That'll be fun. That's the way God intended it to be. "This is how everyone will recognize that you are my disciples--when they see the love you have for each other." (John 13:35, The Message).
"Sing the wondrous love of Jesus, sing His mercy and His grace.
In the mansions bright and blessed, He'll prepare for us a place.
When we all get to heaven, what a day of rejoicing that will be!
When we all see Jesus, we'll sing and shout the victory!"
Have a great day! JW

I Know Why God Invented Sabbath

I grew up thinking that Sabbath was Saturday and it was something bizarre that the Jews observed. However, my father would never let me mow grass on Sundays. Maybe it's just the fact that I'm getting older, but I just can't go at the pace I used to.
This weekend our church hosted a youth rally. We kept 12 (count 'em, 12) boys at our house for two nights. Actually 11 one night and 12 the next. That's not including my own son. The youth rally was Friday and Saturday. I taught a couple of classes on Saturday, no biggie. My son's musical was Thursday, Friday, and Saturday--the same weekend. My wife and I worked the concessions all three nights. The weekend before I had a wedding. So on Friday night we had the rehearsal dinner. After the dinner, I went to a friend's house who was hosting a game night for the teenagers. My son had a friend of his stay at our house the entire weekend. Saturday evening was the wedding after which I ran over to the local Valentino's (pizza place in Nebraska) for a presentation for our teens by the Harding (University) guy. So basically, my wife and I have been going for three weeks straight.
When I worked at Harding, I would travel a lot--up early in the morning and return late at night. I remember being so tired that I sat in the shower rather than stand. It was so hard to get going. That's kind of where I am now.
In my younger years, I owned an MGB. These little cars had little engines. Consequently, when you drive those things at a high rate of speed for extended periods of time, the blocks would crack. They just weren't engineered to take that kind of stress for so long. God said, "Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy." Sabbath simply means rest. There's something holy about rest. In essence, God was saying, "You need your rest. The human body wasn't intended to go 60 m.p.h. for long periods of time." So he told us to guard our rest time. Protect it. Keep it holy. See, my definition of of holy was something pure. Kind of a monk with a robe kind of mentality. But holy simply means set apart for a special purpose.
So, remember the Sabbath. Rest up. Don't get burned out. Even Jesus would go to the mountains to pray and to rest and relax. That's why God invented the Sabbath. Don't ask us to do anything this weekend. I have blocked it off of my calendar. It's time to rest. ZZZZZZZZZ JW

Smoothies and God

I was a pretty obnoxious kid when I was young (now I guess I'm just an obnoxious adult!). But last night took the cake. My son is in a musical at his high school and my wife and I are doing the obligatory work in concessions. We're in charge of the smoothie machine. This little kid comes up and helps himself to a straw(s). Then he asks for a napkin. By this time, my wife is curious and asks what he needs it for. Of course, he doesn't answer. But I find out the reason. He and his buddy are shooting spit wads at each other. The stuff is all over the place where they have adequately moistened it in their mouths and then shot it at each other through the straw. I admit, I'm getting old and cranky. Not necessarily in that order. I saw what they were doing and had pity on the poor maintenance guys who work there. "Who's going to clean that up?" I asked. They looked at me and said, "Oh, we'll clean it up." Now I didn't fall off the turnip truck yesterday. But boy, did I scare them.
Next the boy comes to the machine and asks for a free smoothie. We're selling these things for $2 each, we're paying for the mix personally and we're trying to make money for the drama department. "C'mon! Why can't I have one." He was a persistent little buggar. He left and came back with a $5 bill. Now we're talking. I sold him one and his friend wanted one, so out of his generosity he bought two. He offered to keep his $5 for my generosity of making him two smoothies. But once again, I'm too perceptive and grabbed the $5 and gave him his $1 of change.
The same little boy goes to the table where all the brownies, cookies, etc. are. These treats are only 50 cents. He demands a free treat. Now I know he has at least a dollar. The workers politely decline. He then says, "I know you have a play going on and I'll yell." Our workers were much more nice than I would have been.
Then he comes back to my table a little while later and asks for a free refill. By this time this kid is really getting on my nerves. "Please?" "No." "Please?" "No." "Please?" "Where's your mother?" "I don't know." He finally walks away. Then he comes back and asks again. "I want to get one for my mother. So I'll get it and take it to her." Once again, I didn't fall off the turnip truck yesterday. This time I said, "Until I have my grubby hands on two dollars, you're not gettin' anything." My wife said, "You need to go now." And he did need to go. He was bothering us and he was hurting business. And he wasn't going to get anything. In fact, I told him the more he pleaded, the harder my heart got.
"While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Yes, you heard it right. While I was an obnoxious, persistent, rude, boring jerk, Christ died for me. When I kept pleading for more, just like this little boy, Christ gave.
I still wouldn't give the boy a smoothie for free. But he helped me to learn a lesson about God. He didn't wait until I got it right. He overlooked my boorish ways. And he loved me and gave and gave and gave. Wow! That makes my day. I hope it does yours, too. JW

She's Dying

I visited this morning with a lady who is dying of cancer. We had a nice visit about her life. She was perfectly healthy until diagnosed several years ago with this nasty disease. Her life right now is her dogs. She has three. Believe me, I know. I have smelled all of their breaths and petted all of them. One of them, Molly, was in my lap with her snout about 2 inches from my face and I asked, "What kind of dog is this?" "Well, I call her a big daschund, but the Humane Society says she is a Rotweiller." Okay, the dogs teeth are right at my nose. With a name like "Molly," she has to be a good dog. Right?
I asked this lady about her religious background. She said, "Presbyterian, Catholic, Baptist..." It was a telling statement. And when I asked if I could pray with her, she said, "No, not today." I asked if I could read a Scripture to her. Once again, the answer was negative. Her time on this earth is limited. I worry about her relationship with God. Maybe I'll have another chance. But for today, we visited about life, about her job, about retirement, about her cancer. But she didn't want to talk about God. She'll be there soon. Pray for her. JW

Tired of T.O.?

Is it just me or is anyone else getting tired of Terrell Owens? Back in my day (I just heard a collective groan from anyone who reads this blog) that would not have been tolerated from the very outset, let alone after several months (years!) of moaning.
Example. I played a little basketball in high school. I wanted to know how many points I had scored, etc. My coach wouldn't ever let me see the score book. The important thing was the total points of our team compared to the total points of their team at the end of the game. If our total was greater, that's what mattered. I remember one game I broke the single game scoring record for our school. (That has since been broken) But at the end of the game when coach took me out, he leaned over to me and said, "If I'd have known you were that close to the record, I would have taken you out sooner."
Now my coach wasn't a mean tyrant. He was not an egotistical man who jumped up and down and screamed from the sidelines. In fact, to the contrary. He rarely said anything. I never saw him get a technical foul. And by the way, we weren't allowed to get a technical foul either. He demanded class from us and he expected us to be controlled on the court. AND, we were to be an example in school outside of basketball. What mattered to him was that we were Christian young men first, the team was far more important than any individual, and he cared more about effort and hustle than he did winning. I would do anything for this man...even today.
One of my favorite comments from him was after I had won a sportsmanship trophy in a tournament. He said, "I'm more proud of that than I would be if you won the MVP trophy." And he meant it.
So, I'm fed up with T.O. Go back and learn to be a man. And once you learn what it means to be a team member, then maybe you will find some team who will take a chance on you. But you won't get any sympathy from me.
And Coach Martin, thank you! You taught me more than just about anyone I know. About basketball, about life. Have a great day! JW

God's Heart

When Saul didn't wait for Samuel to offer the sacrifice at Gilgal, Samuel asked him, "What have you done?" Samuel was disappointed with Saul to say the least. It's like the scene from the Indianana Jones movie, he said, "You acted foolishly."
What he said next was what moved me today. He said, "...the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him leader of his people, because you have not kept the Lord's command." A man after his own heart. That's what I want to be. I hope that's what you want to be, too. Someone after God's own heart.
I pursue too often my own heart. I want my way, my things, my will. So for today, I will try to seek God's heart. And maybe I can make it a habit. Have a great day. JW

Just When You Think

I opened up our phone bill this month, much to my dismay, and noticed that our bill was more than seven times more than usual. Okay, my daughter's out of the house since she's now married. All she does now is eat my food. It's not my wife's cell calls. Aha! There's the varmint. He's getting hairy on the face, the legs, the arms, his voice has changed and he had (not the emphasis on had) a cell phone. He got in the car singing, And I'm feelin' good." "You won't be feeling good for long," was my retort. So follows the tongue lashing, the confiscation of the phone, the threat of bread and water for the next six weeks, and the possibility of a greatly reduced Christmas since we could have bought two or three of the one item he wanted. GRRR! You blood pressure increases. Your wife blames you for that son of yours!
Then last night we go to Caberet Night, a musical revue at his school. He sings with the choir, he sings a beautiful duet, he sings a song from the upcoming musical, he performs with an unbelievable show with his high school's show choir. Wow! I was so proud. Tears welled up in my eyes as they are as I write this. I told him on the way to school how proud I was of him. But in the next breath I told him I was proud of him when the phone bill was extravagant. And the only thing I care about right now is, I hope he heard me. I'm proud of him even when he does dumb things. He's my son. That will never change. And just when you think you want to cut off his ears, he goes and does something like that. Amazing. Y'all have a good day. I am. JW

The Month of Thanksgiving

Even though I have no authority, no particular position to do this, I'm officially declaring November as Thanksgiving month. As you read that statement, I'm sure there was a trumpet blast in the background suitable for such an announcement. I'm may be bold and declare next year the year of Thanksgiving. Or better yet, how about the life of Thanksgiving?
Those of you who know me have heard me rant on this subject, and yet I often don't take my own advice. Let me take you the the book of Colossians. I know you'll recall it as the book proclaiming Christ's pre-eminence. But let me boldy proclaim that it's a book on thanksgiving. Don't believe me?
Colossians 1:3, 4--"We always thank (all the emphasis will be mine) God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ when we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for the the saints..."
Colossians 2:6, 7--"So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness."
Colossians 3:15--"Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful."
Colossians 3:16--"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing spalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God."
Colossians 3:17--"And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."
Colossians 4:2--"Devlote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful."
I think my favorite passage in Colossians is 3:15. Paul talks about everything quality that we are to have--humility, compassion, kindness, etc.--and at the end of the last, almost as an afterthought, he says, "and be thankful." Not an afterthought of, "Oh, I guess I should put this in there, too." But an afterthought of "of course thankfulness is a given."
So this morning as I walked out into the beautiful morning of a Nebraska fall, I gave thanks for the wonderful day. And I'm trying to be thankful all the time, at least for this month. Maybe I'll get good at it. I hope so. My attitude is so much better when I have that attitude. I'm thankful for you! Have a great day. JW

God's Love and Goodness

When you look in the dictionary to find the word "love" God's picture should be by it. Max Lucado said if God had a refrigerator, your picture would be on it. A. W. Tozer said, "The goodness of God is that which disposes Him to be kind, cordial, benevolent, and full of good will toward men. He is tenderhearted and of quick sympaty, and His unfailing attititude toward all moral beings is open, frank, and friendly. By His nature His is inclinded to bestow blessedness and He takes holy pleasure in the happiness of His people...The whole outlook of mankind might be changed if we could all believe that we dwell under a friendly sky and that the God of heaven, though exalted in power and majesty, is eager to be friends with us."
I love what Chip Ingram says in his book God as He Longs for You to See Him, "Put in simple terms, if someone paid a million-dollar ransom to free you from a kidnapper, do you really believe you'd have to worry about who's going to buy lunch the next day?" Such is the way we many times view God. God poured out His love. He lavishes His love. The psalmist calls it God's unfailing love.
When we understand God's love and His goodness, surely our lives are changed. And as Tozer said above, God is eager to be friends with us. "For the LORD God is a sun and shield; The LORD gives grace and glory. No good things does he withouhold from those who walk uprightly." (Psalm 84:11) Wow! Have a great day! JW

How Do We View God?

I'm reading a new book on God. I'll give you the title later if I end up liking the book. So far, it's really good. The author says the way we act and live our lives is dependent on our view of God. If we think God is harsh and punishes at the drop of a hat, we'll live our lives on egg shells. If we think that God is just like us, we'll be glib and trite in the way we live because, "God is just like us!" Think about that thought for a minute. Isn't that true? Don't we live our lives in the way that we view God? I'll reserve my thoughts for later. Today is your day to speak. What do you think? (By the way, have a great day! JW)