Friday, March 26, 2010

Spring into a new season of faith
By Barrett Vanlandingham
March 30, 2010

My daughter, Gracie, brought home a bouquet of wild yellow daffodils a few days ago she picked from the field that sits between the Christian Church and the Church of Christ. The flowers are in a clear vase sitting on my supper table as I write. It’s heart-warming to imagine that those flowers were planted years ago when a house still stood there on the old Wallace and Ludy Huggins place across from the high school gymnasium. And even though all those years have passed and no one lives there anymore, the flowers are no doubt as beautiful today as they were back then. You can drive by and see for yourself. And the smell, as Gracie says, is wonderful. I have to agree.
It’s truly amazing to experience the beauty of God’s creation in something as simple as a yellow flower with a tender green stem that reappears year after year. After all, I can’t even create a dandelion or a blade of grass. Isn’t it fascinating that God spoke into existence every petal and every leaf we see. If that weren’t enough, He also thought into existence every vibrant stroke of color and every dull shade too which provides the perfect compliment.
I guess what really causes me to ponder God’s power is that He not only created the simple as well as the complex things we enjoy, He also designed a way for all living things to stay alive for a period of time. We don’t always agree with God on what that period of time should be. But as God reminded Job so long ago, “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? What is the way to the abode of light? And where does darkness reside? Can you take them to their places? (Job 38:4,19)”
I think I can safely say that would be a great big NO for all of us. And yet, we worry, fuss and fret over so many things when we really just need to enjoy even the “smallest” of blessings.
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, "And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don't work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith? (Matthew 6:28-30)”
Despite the oddity of the last day of winter hitting 70-something degrees and the first day of spring dropping into the 30’s, the sun still rises and sets every day. The seasons still change (eventually), and springtime still makes us feel like breathing in deeply to experience that invisible quality that God so freely gives through nature. Praise Him! Praise Him! Have a great week, and know that our God is alive this spring and always! (end)

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

God rules in the kingdoms of men
by Barrett Vanlandingham
March 23, 2010


One of the most difficult ideas to comprehend in the Bible is that of God being in control of everything. The reason this is hard to accept is because of all the bad things we see happening to people and places here on earth.
The Old Testament tells the story of how Babylon’s King Nebuchadnezzar came to understand this in a very personal, even humorous way. You see, even though the king had come to a point in life where he realized that the God of Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego was greater than the other gods, he still didn’t realize the full extent of God’s power in regard to nations and governments.
In Daniel 4:24-37, King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, or shall I say nightmare, was fulfilled as he walked on the roof of his royal palace. He said, “Is not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence, by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty?” God’s voice then reminded him of the dream. Then, the king was driven away from the people for seven years, he lived with wild animals, he ate grass like cattle, and was drenched with dew until his hair grew like the feathers of an eagle and his nails like the claws of a bird. But at the end of that time, he raised his eyes towards heaven, his sanity was restored, and he praised the God of heaven.
Wow! That’s a tough way to learn a lesson. But if he was as hard-headed as some of us can be today, maybe extreme measures were needed to help the king see the blessings of honoring God with his life. This holds true today, even when you’re being pressured by family, friends, or co-workers to make bad choices. It’s best to live God’s way.
God does in fact rule in the kingdoms of men. Yes, it’s true. Even when we don’t agree with evils that take place in governments of various nations, we must remember that God is ultimately in control. He uses the good and bad decisions of mankind to bring about his will in our lives. Just ask Joseph! He saved his family and much of the known world from famine because he was in the right place at the right time, even though he was sold into slavery along the way. And when mankind chooses evil leaders, and even when an evil power overthrows an existing government and does harm to innocent people, God is still in control.
The Old Testament is full of examples of how innocent people paid severe consequences because of the rebellion of their family members and even ancestors before them. Just one look at the stories of the children of Israel will remind you of this (Exodus 32:27-28 and 34:7).
Let’s pray this week that we all get better at honoring God with our lives and trusting him with the outcome, even when daily occurrences often don’t make sense. In the end, God will reward those who have been faithful to him despite the consequences of living in a broken world. (end)

Tuesday, March 09, 2010

Lessons can be learned one cup at a time
by Barrett Vanlandingham
March 16, 2010

This week, my eyes were drawn to a caption on the Folgers Coffee can I was finishing off that said, “Makes 380 cups!” I thought to myself, “Surely I didn’t drink 380 cups!” Well, after doing some thinking I came to the conclusion I probably drank at least 300 of those cups anyway. But how in the world does one person drink that much coffee? I looked on the side of the can where it tells the net weight of the contents inside. It said 48-ounces (of ground coffee)! And that’s before it was brewed into the 380 cups of eight ounces each.
I began to think, “Wow, if I would read just one verse of my Bible for every ounce of coffee I drink per day, I wonder how long it would take me to read all 8000 verses of the New Testament, or all 23,000 verses of the Old Testament?” The answer? At 32 verses (that’s four eight ounce cups of coffee) per day, it would take me 718 days to finish the Old Testament. It would take only 250 days to complete the New Testament.
These thoughts continued to filter through my mind. That’s when it occurred to me that if I can gradually drink 1000 eight ounce cups of coffee in 250 days without even thinking about it, then just imagine what terror the devil could wreak little by little if allowed to operate without resistance.
Yes I know that took me a while to waft around to my point. But the fact is, end results (good or bad) are often eye-openers even though the process has been percolating right under our nose for long periods of time.
Jesus and the New Testament writers taught the same thing two-thousand years ago. That message is simply this: Lookout! The devil is sneaky. The thing is, if Satan drove up and parked in your driveway with a truckload of temptations, it would be very easy to say, “No!” But cowards don’t typically operate that way, do they?
The good news is that no matter what the devil tempts us with, the Lord always provides us with a way of escape (1 Corinthians 10:13). An even better thought may be that when we set our minds on walking God’s path, we are less likely to even need a way of escape since saying “yes” to God’s way shuts out other options which are really not options at all.
May God bless you this week as you honor him little by little, more and more, minute by minute, and day by day. Smile, Jesus loves you. (end)

Saturday, March 06, 2010

Spend quality time with those you love
by Barrett Vanlandingham
March 9, 2010



Wasn’t Saturday just a beautiful weather day? Well that night my daughters were out of town, my wife was at work, and my 11-year old son said, “Hey dad, can we have some of that real tough steak like we had that one time?” I thought to myself, “Everyone’s gone but me and my son, we can have anything we want for dinner, and he wants a tough steak?!” What’s the deal?!
And then I realized exactly where he was coming from. Last summer, my family had one of the best family nights we ever had, and I happened to grill steak that night. And when I say grill, I mean grilled and grilled. I must have gotten sidetracked or something because those steaks were the worst I’ve ever grilled, no fault of the steak. It was simply (as they say) operator error. But hey, the weather was mild, everyone was in a good mood, and the peach tea and corn on the cob were great. All in all, it was a very special evening, and it didn’t even matter that the steak was a little past, well, a lot past well done.
For most of us, spending quality time with those we love ranks right at the top of the most important things in life. And as my son proved to me, it really doesn’t even matter if the steak resembles flavored shoe leather.
The best relationship building has nothing to do with how much money you spend on someone. It doesn’t even matter if your plans for a perfect day turn out nothing like you planned. As for me, sometimes it seems the harder I try to force a plan to succeed, the worse things turn out.
The thing I like the most about any surprise, good or bad, regarding relationships, is that I’m reminded I’m not in control of everything, or anything for that matter. That may seem like a bad thing at first. But then I come to the realization that we’re all in trouble if there’s not someone smarter than me in charge. In fact, for those times when it seems God reminds me of who’s really in charge, it always turns out to be a faith-building experience. In the end, I am always reminded that putting my faith and trust in God instead of self is always the better option.
Spending quality time with those you love is a worthy and admirable goal. But saving room for God’s guidance in all of your relationships whether personal, professional, family, or friends, will bless your life in more ways than you can imagine. You will soon understand that many of those so-called coincidences may not be chance at all, but rather God working in your life. Have a great week! (end)