Ken Roesler - continued

During the memorial service for Ken Roesler the following, from his two daughters, was read by one of the pastors of their church. Both Michelle and Jenny and their children have OK'ed my sharing this with you. This is a further insight into a man who believed and lived what it means to be a leader according to Jesus. "If there is one thing that we inherited from our Dad it is the ability to make lists! He loved to write down what needed to be done, bills that needed to be paid, calls he needed to make, or items to be purchased. Every day was an opportunity to make a new list! For you to see with lists, you need never lose track of what needs to be accomplished. So, as we share our thoughts with you today about our dad, it would be fitting to share them in list form. It is a list of what scripture says about being a dad and our thoughts about how dad accomplished each one of these references Scripture says: 1. Don't provoke your children (Ephesians 6:4) Dad did the alternative, he taught and raised us to be young people of faith. 2. Be your child's 'First Teacher' (Proverbs 2:2-6) Dad trained us in the way we should go. not the school, not the government. HE did the teaching, the teaching according to scripture. 3. Dads need to exemplify a good life (II Cor. 3:2-3) Scripture teaches that who we are and how we live is like a 'letter from God', We read that letter, every day, by the way that dad lived his life. 4. Provide for your family (I Timothy 5:6) Dad made sure our family's needs were addressed across the board and beyond. 5. Good dads discipline their children (Proverbs 13:24) The one who loves their children, scripture says, 'is careful to discipline them.' This is also about proactive leadership in our homes. Ok, maybe mom got first crack at the discipline, but dad saw to it that we understood why we were punished and that above it all he still loved us. 6. Dads spend time with their children, and not empty time (Duet. 6:6-9) Dad engaged us in the kind of deep, heart-to-heart conversations that impart more than facts, but dad taught wisdom. He made family time that counted. 7. Compassion is a 'dad' characteristic (Psalms 103:13) As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion.' Dad showed us his compassion as he exhibited kindness in many forms to so many different people. And it was genuine... 8. Put your money where your mouth is. (James 2:22) Well, not in those exact words. But,James instructs us to not be 'hearers' of God's word, but "doers' also. Dad showed us what it means to go out and live Christ to others. Whether to be supporting a missionary or standing on Grand River holding an anti-abortion sign. 9. Dads never give up on their kids (Luke 15:20-24) The story of 'The Prodigal Son' is the story of a father who never gives up hope and is ready to receive his child back with open arms. Dad could discipline and hold us accountable, but he never gave up on us. His arms were always wide open. 10 Dads pray for their children (I Chronicles 29:19) We know without a doubt that dad prayed for us every day, because we own such a deep sense of love and security. "There is our list. And dad accomplished every one of these scriptural requirements. The two of us Roesler girls know that we were not only fortunate ones to experience these qualities that dad expressed through his life. Dad lived this list out with our husbands, with his grandchildren, and we are sure with some of you sitting here today. Dad showed us just a taste of who our heavenly Father is and that is why he was the BEST earthly DAD to us. Oh, the love of a father. And this is why we will miss him more than any list could ever keep track of ..." I had the honor of going to Ethiopia with Ken and Michelle, and several others, and to watch all the above happen! Ken, daughter Michelle, Michelle's son Ian and Ian's 2 month old son David --- all one family, four generations --- I am so deeply honored with the opportunity and the responsibility to still help to mentor! .

On Saturday many, many of us will gather for a Memorial Service in honor of a good and great friend Ken Roesler. In gathering we will get Ken "back".  In his book "ONE HUNDRED MUSINGS - From a journey with Jesus" by Kent Hotaling. He  wrote about two of his very close friends, Kelly and Bill.

"In these times of great loss being together brings renewal of life.  We remind each other that death is the grace of God that allows those he loves to move fully into his presence with out all that we have to deal with on earth - so that is a partial comfort.  It is a comfort to hold each other and to weep together but the surprising thing to me is:  We get them back.  It takes time, but eventually the memories that initially cause such pain become a reconnecting with this person who means so much to us. I don't need the question, "What would Jesus do/"  Because I have often thought, "What would Kelly say?" Or what would Bill or John or Shari on on and on ... do or say?  In September of 2014, a group of us gathered in Arnprior, Ontario to remember Bill Bussiere who had been died 20 years before.  We told stories with humor and pathos and of wisdom imparted as we celebrated the way God had use him in each of our lives.  We got him back!" p86

Ken was a companion for 35 years.  He and Nancy helped to shape our lives, and we theirs. Ken and I "walked together", respected each others and loved the same Jesus.

I watched  Ken in his professional and personal life.  Worked with him on a couple of  non-profit boards, traveled with him to China and Ethiopia. When in China one of our friends asked, "What position did Ken have in General Motors?" So, we asked Ken.  His very humble response was,"Of the 800,000 employees of G.M. I was in the top 1500."  Ken served people who needed Ken's expertise.  He did not covet their jobs. He helped them to be successful, to climb the corporate ladder! In his book WE by Robert Johnson, he wrote, "When two things are muddled together they need to be separated so that they may be rejoined in a workable synthesis... analysis must always serve synthesis in order to serve life.  What is taken apart must be put back together."p.49

Even when he thought a "lateral move" inside G.M. was the end of his career, the move turned into a even greater career - a career of true leadership in the corporate world.

In his church the influence of his life sheltered and helped pastors, shaped whole mission philosophy and practices. On boards he guided agenda and brought wholeness to the endeavor. Ken could analyse but he never stopped there, he knew that bringing back together was the role of analysis.  So many lesson he taught me in this regard!

I learned many lesson during our journey together as disciples of Jesus.  Wilma and I were drawn to tears when we saw this picture of Ken. A gentle, confident, complete person.

Ken was a "Kingdom of God"  person - maybe this is his real title!  .

EGYPTIAN BIBLE SOCIETY - February 19,2015


Subject : Two Rows by the Sea

An English adaptation of the poignant poem which is on the back cover of a tract published by the Egyptian Bible Society.

                 Two rows of men walking the shores of the sea,
               On a day when the world's tears would run free,
             One a row of assassins, who thought they were right,
                 The other of innocents, true sons of the light,
                     One holding knives in hands held high,
              The other with hands empty, defenseless and tied,
                  One row of slits to conceal glaring-dead eyes,
                   The other with living eyes raised to the skies,
                    One row stood steady, pall-bearers of death,
               The other knelt ready, welcoming heaven's breath,
                 One row spewed wretched, contemptible threats,
                     The other spread God-given peace and rest.
                                                           
                                         A question ...
                                    Who fears the other?
         
                    The row in orange, watching paradise open?
                   Or the row in black, with minds evil and broken?  

Carl Eicker - Birmingham, MI.another very special man

Carl's memorial service was on December 27th - he would have 93 on December 19 - just did not quite make that magic number although he tried really hard to do so. As he said just 3 days before his death, "There is just too much sickness here!" Having known Carl for at least 40 years there are hundreds of issues I could share. The most important was his relationship with Dorothy "Dottie" to me and so many others in his church and in the Tuesday morning group in Birmingham. We had a picture of the two of them on the brochure which was given to the people who came to the service. I wish I knew how to send a picture with this blog. During the planning for the service one of his daughters brought dozens of picture and one of them, more than all the others showed the relationship between he and Dorothy. Carl was absolutely focused on Dorothy and She on him. I asked a friend, who did not know Carl, to look at the picture, his response was so interesting, "I don't want to look at it, it makes me feel guilty!" A woman who was helping me to put the service together, also did not know Carl, commented, "I wish I had a man who looked at me that way!" This picture has been sent to each of his children and grandchildren and has become one of the "healing tools" throughout the whole family! In the Tuesday morning group Carl was the person who reached out to every man. He was brought by a mane named Bob. Then Carl brought Murray and Murray brought John - something like Andrew bringing Peter to Jesus - and the story still goes on and on. Carl was a part of chain web that circles our globe. It is said that there is only a 6 degree of separation from one person to any other person on the whole planet. With Carl that degree of separation has to be 3 at the most. He is related to people all over the world through just the Tuesday morning group and his church, the First United Methodist in Birmingham. Ethiopia, Croatia, China, Costa Rica, India just to name a few. This chain of relationships is so huge, so personal, so much bigger than any group or even one church. Carl was an attractor to Jesus. Many people came to the group with a great logging chain weighing them down and Carl was often the one who lifted that chain and secured a person to Jesus - even a person whohad a 20 year struggle with marriage, the church, business etc. I received a letter just today sharing with me how their inner life has been changed and the outer life,reflected in their home, has now been changed so much so that they are no longer afraid to have someone come to their home - it has been cleaned up! Sometimes a memorial service can be used to change lives in very real ways. This is how Jesus has used Carl even today --- just wonder how the fellowship is in heaven. I'm a few years behind Carl - by birthday is on 12/20. Bob Sayed's birthday was on 12/21 - Bob is the one who brought Carl to the group one Tuesday morning and Carr brought others and stayed around for 40 years. Influence ---- absolutely!!!

Two very special men

Two wonderful memorial services were held&in the last 3 month -- Sam Carpenter of Battle Creek, Michigan and Carl Eicker of Birmingham, Michigan. Both men were leaders of a group of men who met in those two cities - both groups gathered for over 40 years. The Birmingham group is still meeting on Tuesday mornings. Sam was lawyer for over 50 years - but he was really more than even that - a "music man" for the whole of his city! Wherever there was a piano available Sam would play and people would listen, call out songs, hum a few bars, and Sam could play! At his memorial service a few hundred people heard from family and friends about Sam's life, public and private, from his partners in the law firm and from his quiet work serving all over the city.For me the remarks of his pastor Bob Zuhl of the Weslyan Church,when he opened Sam's bible and read a few passages... in the margins of the bible were written the words WOW and WOW,WOW!!! Chris Christ Sam's friend and law partner shared one of Sam's mottos, "When you are wrong, admit it. When you are right, shut up!" Sam did pro bono legal work for seniors at Burnham Brook and several other places, he was a man of great faith working in his church and the Gideons and numerous service clubs. Sam taught the Wednesday morning group for a number of years, even when driving to the group was a slow drive. That was a thriving group until the drive became too much - another group leader or teacher has not shown up - yet! For Sam and the other men Wednesday was a time for understanding those WOW passages and discovering even more how deeply Jesus can and does influence our life! I'll write about Carl Eicker's memorial and about his life in another blog Bill

Sometimes we receive something in the mail which should not immediately be thrown into the trash.  Year end solicitation, in our house, usually are thrown away with all there mailing labels - our address was recently changed so the throw away has been easy - we have a couple of thousand left over from the old address anyway - but one arrived which has lain around for a week or so.  It is the annual Art Calender 2015 from the Mouth and Foot Painting Artists organization,  How they got our names I don't remember but this years calender did not hit the trash.

Each month of the calender has a reproduction of a painting with the artists name and a quotation from some famous person.  January 2015 artist Trevor Wells, the quotation by Ralph Waldo Emerson. "Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year."   The painting that  prompted this blog is from a reproduction of "Spirit Of The Season" by Tony Ryals.  The quotation by W.T. Ellis, "It is Christmas in the heart that puts Christmas in the air."

Maybe this is the challenge for 2014 as well as 2015 ---- a whole year in advance!    

A WORKING MAN'S CROSS

The last time I saw Clint, a year and a half ago, was at the family farm - Bolton Ornamental Grass Farm - just south of Battle Creek, MI.  M66 to H road S and about 2 miles west.  Clint was working, running a front loader mixing dirt with cow manure to spread on his ornamental grasses. But, I'm getting ahead of myself...

Clint's funeral was yesterday at the North Athens Baptist Church. I believed that I had given myself enough time to get to Athene and to find the church. Driving south on M66 I began to wonder if Clint and Arlene would drive that far on a Sunday morning.  Athens is really not that large but there was no Baptist Church sign.  Getting through town in a couple of minutes, it was time to stop and ask for directions. I went into a small restaurant and asked the young lady if she knew the directions to North Athens Baptist Church? "Yes, it is north on M66 to M road S, then turn left." Thanks you, I still had time!

North on M66 - pasted N road S and the next sign I saw was L road S. I must have missed my turn.  Back down M66 and turned into M road S just in front of 2 or 3 other cars with 2 or 3 other cars in front of me.  This must be the right road!  Two miles later I see the spire of a white church.  As we neared the church we could see what must have been a couple of hundred cars and the hearse at North Athens Baptist Church.

I was dressed in my black suit, light blue shirt, dark blue tie and dress shoes and was completely over dressed.  I go to city funerals.

Clint and Arlene's church is a country church. A group or 200 plus people who gathered as a community of believers had come their building for Clint's funeral.  There were 3 generations of the Bolton's with their friends. Friends with whom they had lived their whole lives together. Clint and Arlene were married in the church with the white spire which was across the street, having been replaced by the new building several years ago.

Jonathan Bolton's remarks about his dad were incredible.  He told about the wooden cross which hung back of the pulpit. Jonathan called the cross, "A WORKING MAN'S CROSS"! It had been hewn from a tree on the family farm and had been put together by his grandfather and his dad. The cross has been hanging in the church for over 25 years now.  Four generations or more of the Bolton's have now worshipped under that cross, been part of that community of believer.  Clint's grandchildren know about this Jesus whom grandpa served since he became a disciple of Jesus as a 14 year old boy.

In the biography they called Clint an agriculturist but he was really a farmer. .Farmer Bolton@ was his email address  He was given the opportunity. to work with farmer and volunteers in over 25 nations. He was part of the Peace Corp in Cyprus and head of the Peace Corp in Sierra Leone West Africa. At the American University in Beirut, Lebanon Clint taught  Farm Mechanization.  It was at this school that he taught Jose Zaglul who is now the President of Earth University in Costa Rica.  This agricultural school has students from all over South and Central America and, when I was there, from 9 countries of Africa.

For the past 10 or 12 years Clint and Arlene have gone to be a part of Earth University and to serve Jose in any way that he needed. True to himself,  Clint was able to have a regular bible study with some of he students while he was on the campus.  And now, after 10 years, some of the African students have picked up the vision to carry on - they now have 38 students with whom they now keep in touch for encouragement and discipleship!

Clint was a quiet, gifted, humble and dedicated student, teacher and disciple of Jesus until he died last Sunday.  His community gathered yesterday.  They sang, they spoke of Clint, they spoke of his work but mostly they gathered because he and Arlene are part of Clint's family!

From the grave site the people came back to their home building to talk and to eat. This was no ham and scalloped potato dinner.  This was a family dinner from dozens of kitchens, family receipts, and  loving hands who made salads and pies and loaded the tables!  I entered the Fellowship Hall through a side door - a lady who was cutting a cake into squares was blocking my way, so I said to her, "You don't need to cut that cake, I'll just take it home as it is!" She had already heard that line so I  too late. Besides, there were strawberry pies, brownies, berry cobblers, etc. I could not have decided any way,.

Lee, Joe and Gordan, men from the Battle Creek group were at the funeral to honor Clint's life.They were also there as a part of the Gideons and as a part of a 25 year old fellowship with Clint and Arlene - to encourage and to continue this community centered in Jesus Christ - the person whom Clint had worshipped since he was a 14 year old boy.

Because of Clint I had been introduced to Earth University and Tillers International.. Interacting with students at Earth I now share something of Clint's dream and hopes that Jesus will open the door for someone to fill Clint's shoes. I'm not an agriculturalist, but I'd be willing to try --- especially in February and March.  Michigan winters don't need Wilma nor me and Costa Rica is far enough south ----- but more than that, the kids (students) at Earth are so open!                  

Idoltry - so easy

Please forgive the earlier Post, I hit the wrong button and don't quite know how to recover.  I'll send the whole and finished post a little later - after I recover from my digital, spelling and other woes!

 Recently a republished book by A.W. Tozier, The Pursuit of God -was given to each of us in our Tuesday morning group. First published in 1948 this book has become a classic i.e. challenging, deeply penetrating, gift for me and I hope for the others in our group.

In 1949 I first heard about Jesus, really heard, that is, and have believed in Jesus sense that evening in  LaJolla, California..  By now dozens of books, including the Bible, have shaped and reworked my thinking and my life. Tozer's many books have sat on my bookshelf for many years, The Pursuit of God  from at least 1980. My latest reading has again provided application challenges!

Chapter two titled, "The Blessedness of Possessing Nothing" provided the title for this blog. While leading discussions on the book of Genesis and re-encountering Abraham and Issac Tozer's insights into the impact of things and even people in our life is what has struck me.
"Our Lord referred to the tyranny of things when He said to His disciples", "If and man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall his lose his life: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find his life." (Matthew 16:2-25)

Copyright laws prevent me from copying the next 2 or 3 pages of the book but I can copy the verses in Genesis 22: 1-2. "Some time later God tested Abraham. God said to him, Abraham!  Here I am, Abraham replied.  Then God said, "Take your son, your only son, Issac, whom you love , (my emphasis) and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice Isaac  there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about."  Sacrifice "whom you love" !t of his little sister a few weeks ago and remembered what a 6 year old felt like at her funeral.   

  

Prayer Breakfast - Livonia,Mi Thursday A.M.

Thursday morning was the 40th annual Livonia PB. After all these year I have become a little jaded with another community breakfast.  We have had some truly great speakers and some who were "marginal' and one or two who could have stayed at home and let us eat our quiche in peace.  This was not one of those breakfast!  Yesterday General Charlie Duke was the speaker. Humble, articulate, candid and really well received!  "Charlie", as he prefers to be called, was the10th man to walk on the moon. He spent 72 + hours on the moon in 1972.

 He and his wife Doris have written a book titled Moon Walker.  A delightful conversational style of writing with candid details about what it take to become an astronaut and also how a marriage ultimate survived that quest.  Are all we American males the same - really? I'm beginning to think that we are! The book is a great read and Doris' story within the total story can give hope to any one of us.

I share this blog because I've been around the Prayer Breakfast world for quite a long time 1959 - 2014 - another one comes up next Tuesday and then another on May 21st here in Michigan and who knows how many more will there be around the country. I'm forced to believe that each of them will be great - but I know better.  Sometimes a "life of their own" just isn't that good and how many GREAT speakers are there ?.  It also seems that the truly great speakers now charge and arm and a leg to make an appearance. So I carry on dreaming and hoping that Jesus will be, in some way or another, the focus of each PB as Jesus was the gentle focus of the Livonia PB.  I was warmed and deep;y blessed by Charlie Duke and his book

A day and a time really worth while!

Easter Sunday - 2014

My first Easter -  like nothing else ... first sunrise service - first alleluia sung by a choir - first ALLELUIA sung by my own heart and mouth ---- so long ago now, 64 years, but more meaningful now than ever! To each of you who receive this blog or email - may Jesus bring you deep inner peace, no matter your external circumstances.

This morning my heart and thoughts have gone around the world thinking of those with whom we have "walked" in and through Jesus of Nazareth. So many faces from so many countries - over 50 for sure - each of us have sung Alleluia because there is no inner peace without Alleluia some place in our lives.

Jesus Christ has risen - Alleluia --- may the whole world come to know and accept - then there WILL be peace in every nation and among every nation.  When we lose Alleluia as the center of our life then we must find a substitute center - to quote Helmut Thielicke p 281 "...if he (a person) is no longer subject to God, then he is under the domination of his instincts, his opportunism, his ambition, his will to power. The day may come when he will stick to nothing if it seems opportune to him. For every one of us has some kind of lord, we are all driven by something - if not God, then an idol, if not from above, then from below."

EASTER SUNDAY  - Jesus Christ is risen today ALLELUIA, ALLELUIA, ALLELUIA

Thank you Jesus that "You Know What You Are Doing!"

Two gifted historians, theologians and good friends wrote a book titled - The Meaning of Jesus.  I found the book in a used book store autographed and dedicated, "For Cathy with all good wishes" Tom Wright, Marcus Borg - May '02  I would like to share the concluding paragraphs of Tom Wright's writing on the resurrection. (my editing - by replacing pronouns with proper nouns and the word "it" - the legacy of a college professor who would not allow us to use the word "it" - "No one knows how to use the word it properly!"

In his concluding paragraphs of chapter 7 "The Transforming Reality of the Bodily Resurrection" page 126 Dr. Wright wrote,
"The deepest meanings of the resurrection have to do with new creation.if the stories are metaphors for anything they are metaphors for the belief that God's new world had been brought to birth. When Jesus emerged, transformed, from the tomb on Easter morning, the event was heavy with symbolic significance, to which the evangelists drew attention, without wishing to detract from the historical nature of what they were talking about. The resurrection was the first day of God's new week, the moment of sunrise after the long night, the time of new meetings, new meals, of reconciliation and new commissioning. The resurrection was the beginning of the new creation.

"The resurrection was, therefore, the sign of hope for the future, not only for individuals but for the whole world....

"Because of this hope, the resurrection of Jesus means that the present time is shot through with great significance.  What is done to the glory of God in the present is genuinely building for God's future. Acts of justice and mercy, the creation of beauty and the celebration of truth, deeds of love and the creation of communities of kindness and forgiveness - these all matter and they mater forever.  Take away the resurrection, and these things are important for the present but irrelevant for the future and hence not at all that important after all even now. Enfolded in this vocation to build now, with gold, silver, and precious stones, the things that will last into God's new age, is the vocation to holiness: to the fully human life, reflecting the image of God, that is possible by the victory of Jesus on the Cross and that is energized by the Spirit of the risen Jesus present within communities and persons. "If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above"; get rid of all the dehumanizing behavior that destroys God's good creation and the creatures made in his image, all anger and lust, greed and pride." The resurrection thus opens the door to a new world: a new mode of life for the whole cosmos and all who will dwell in this new world here and hereafter."
 
Where any of us are in this world -  from any nation or with any worldview - the resurrection of Jesus brings hope for almost unheard of new beginning!  Which our world truly needs as do each of us.

HAPPY EASTER          

Beryl Markham --- West with the Night - page123

"The trail ran north to Molo; at night it ran straight to the stars. It ran up the side of the Mau Escarpment until at ten thousand feet it found the edge of the plateau and rested there, and some of the stars burned beneath its edge. In the morning the plateau was higher than the sun. Even the day climbed the trail to Molo.  I climbed it with all that I owned.

"I had two saddlebags, and Pegasus ( the name of her horse). The saddlebag held the pony's rug, his brush, a blacksmith's knife, six pounds of crushed oats, and a thermometer as a precaution against Horse Sickness.  For me the bags held pajamas, slacks, a shirt, toothbrush, and a comb. I NEVER OWNED LESS, NOR CAN I BE SURE THAT I EVER NEEDED MORE."  (my emphasis)

How to travel so light and need so little, today!  

 

 

Thoughts from the book WEST WITH THE NIGHT by Beryl Markham 1902-1986

About Beryl Markham, Ernest Hemingway wrote, "...I knew her fairly well in Africa and never would have suspected that she could or would put pen to paper except tp write in her flyer's log book.  As it is, she has written so well, and marvelously well, that I was completely ashamed of myself as a writer. I felt that I was simply a carpenter with words, picking up whatever was furnished on the job and nailing them together and sometimes making an okay pig pen. But {She} can write rings around all of us who consider ourselves as writers."

For those of you who have ever dreamed of flying, I used to skip High School classes to take flying lessons - charging them to my Dad  until he found out - end of my flying career until years later ----- this is a great book to read!

Beryl who grew up in British East Africa on her fathers farm - a great part of her story. She later became a pilot and was the first person to fly east to west across the Atlantic, in 1936, thus the title of her book.  She was honored all around the world for that feat.
 
In her book she described that when the rains did not come to East Africa for three years her father lost his farm and business and moved to Peru to train race horse. Beryl at age of seventeen and several month went north to Molo East Africa to train race horses.  Their conversation about her move went something like any father would advice a teen age girl - in those days.

"Go to Molo,' said my father. 'There are stables at Molo that you could use.  Remember that you are still just a girl and do not expect too much --- there are a few owners here and there who will give you horses to train. "AFTER THAT, WORK AND HOPE. BUT NEVER HOPE MORE THAN YOU WORK" (my emphasis) In today's world, we only seem to tell our kids about "Hope and Change" without the advice of never hoping more than the work required. I hope my 17 year old grandson, who loves football and hopes to play for a college will work harder than his hopes! Will he do the work required ? My hope!   

This book is a great recreational read - especially if you love flying, early Africa, and wonderful accomplishments! 

More from Thielicke - How The World Began , chapter 18 "The Fear of Our Fellows"

"Let us build ourselves a city, and a tower with its top in the heavens...lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.." Long before the judgement of dispersion fell upon them, men already had a premonition,  dim fear that they might break apart and that their languages might be confused. They sensed the hidden presence of centrifugal, dispersive force.

"This arises from the fact that they have suffered something that might be called the 'loss of center' and that now they have banished God from their midst they no longer have anything that binds them to each other. Always the trend is the same: wherever God has been deposed, some substitute point has to be created to bind men together in some fashion or other...

"All of these are substitute ties, conclusive attempt to replace the lost center with a synthetic center. But this attempt --- is doomed to failure ...

"... In other words, if man is no longer subject to God, then he is under the domination of his instincts, his opportunism, his ambition, his will to power.  The day may come when he will stick to nothing if it seems opportune to him.  For every one of us has some kind of lord, we are driven to something - if not God, then an idol, if not from above, then from below.  That's why I (Thielicke) am afraid of a man who has no ties and am on my guard against him.

"I believe that Hitler was just such an unbound, authority-less person and that we can apply to him (Hilter) Jacob Burckhardt once said of Napoleon, that he was the personification of absence of guaranty.  For him (Napoleon) there were no binding ties, humanitarian, legal, or religious  The very moment he signed a treaty he was prepared to break it, if this served his interest.  For Napoleon thought only of interest and not of any tie of loyalty. of any obligation or authoritative court of appeal."

"All of these are substitute ties, conclusive attempts to replace the lost center with a synthetic center."
How much of our political energy, international relations, our political party pandering, egocentric maneuvering is due to the loss of our subjection to God and thereby placing us on the domination of our instincts etc.

Hitler, Napoleon, Stalin, you name them, even some of the current people who live out opportunism, will to power, ambition, instincts ---- no ties, no loyalty except to their political philosophies and party line!  

.



 

Two Beautiful Ladies

In the past 2 weeks I've attended services for two beautiful Ladies - Josie Babcock and Kay Velker.

Josie the wife of Bryce and the mother of Matt and Mike - grandmother of  3 year old , one of the absolute joys of her life.
Mike and his wife are missionaries in Romania.

Matt and Sharon live in the Seattle area where Matt is now an artist working with iron - gave up that architeck stuff.
 At the funeral service Mike, Matt and Sharon wonderfully spoke about Josie.  Sharon, the daughter-in-law, opened the door into Josie's heart. Sharon found freedom in being with and around Josie. The freedom to really call her Mom - not out of duty, but for the joy of Mom!

Mike hugged his dad all through the service - only later did I realize the hugs were as much for his own sake as for his dad. The lose of Mom hits everyone so differently!

During the reception I saw a young lady standing off to the side so Wilma and I with Patty G. engaged her in conversation. This conversation also gave us a glimpse of Josie's heart.   Having been diagnosed with cancer the young woman (I'll call her Ruth) contacted Josie and they developed a friendship out of their mutual struggle with cancer - they never had the chance to meet. This professor at the University of Michigan, born in Germany, lives just around the corner from Westminster Presbyterian Church so she came to the service in order to honor her friend whom she only knew via telephone or email..

Josie touched many lives at Westminster, and at the University Reformed Church, where we met Josie and Bryce probably 40 years ago. At the URC they influenced our kids and those of many other families.


Kay Velker - her memorial service was yesterday st the Church of The Living God in Traverse City, Michigan.

Kay was the daughter of Henry Velker a member of the Thursday morning group in Ann Arbor for at least 40 years starting in the early 1960s. On occasion Henry would bring Kay to sit in on.group, and then Henry brought his son Lou to the group and now Lou is the most faithful of all of us. Last Thursday Lou shared about Kay's death.

Henry and Anne - Glen, Kay, Marie and Lou - the Velker family an Ann Arbor legacy which is still growing. Let me share a little of what Kay's sister Marie ( Ree) wrote, "How do I begin to share a 68 year relaltionship with my sister, Kay? AMAZING! she was on the pedestal from the get go. We always called ourselves 'the meat', our two brothers were just the bread on the outside! We shared a bedroom when growing up and never argued, which was unusual in most normal families.  When she was in college, I loved talking with her boyfriends on the phone (I was in H.S.).

"Our relationship got even better when she sent me the book The Cross and The Switchblade by David Wilkerson and shared her experience accepting Christ as her Savior.  She wanted me to be a 'sister' in all ways and to do the same.  If it was good enough for Kay, it was good enough for me! She loved me into eternity."

Hearing about and watching Kay over the year reminded me of another lady who never married, in the conventional sense, Mother Teresa.  Both of these ladies were "married" to Jesus Christ and lived their devotion to him by serving others.  Mother Teresa started in Calcutta and went around the world. Kay started in Cincinnati and served for the rest of life in Traverse City with trips to serve at several places around the world including two tours on Mercy Ships as a volunteer.

In a book titled -Mother Teresa - Her people and Her Work -  Desmond Doig quoted Mother Teresa, "The vows we take make our religious life.  Our vow of Chastity is nothing but our undivided love for Christ in chastity, then we proceed to the freedom of poverty - poverty is nothing but freedom.  And that total surrender is obedience. If I belong to God, if I belong to Christ, then He must be able to use me. That is obedience.  Then we give whole-hearted service to the poor.  The is service. They complete each other. That is our life."

Two Beautiful Ladies both of whom, in their own unique ways, lived and walked as did Mother Teresa. 

Mercy Ships
P.O. Box1930
Garden Valley, TX. 75771
This was Kay's request for any memorial contributions

    

Words of encouragement

Old African proverb: "Asking is not stealing!"   from Marv Bowers - Colorado Springs.  Missionary pilot in Africa for many years.

Old Chinese (?) proverb: "When the student is ready, a teacher will come!"   from some friends in China

New Bullard proverb: "A word of encouragement may open a 'stuck' door!"   from having a blogging door opened by a word and act of encouragement.  Now to learn how to close a door and let some thoughts germinate before sending them into the world.

First Chapters in the Bible

 HOW THE WORLD BEGAN by Helmut Thielicke, (1908 - 1986). Pastor  and teacher in Hamburg, Germany during World War II This book has brought me to a better understanding of myself, and everyone I know, and the and whole of the human race. Even the evening news is no longer a mystery! The book is subtitled "Man in the first chapters of the Bible".

My hope is that I will be able capture, in context, short passages of the book which might challenge and provide insights into why Jesus of Nazareth is still so very important in our personal lives and the affairs of the whole human race.

Chapter 3..."The Light of the World"

And God said, "Let there be light", and there was light.  And God saw that the light was good;  And God separated the light from the darkness.  God called the light Day, and the darkness God called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day. Genesis 1:3-

"Many of us, surely, remember the passage of Joseph Haydn's oratorio, 'The Creation,' where the words occur. 'And there was light.'  The first three words are sung moderately, but at the word 'light' the orchestra and the choir burst forth in extreme fortissimo, in a wild transport of ecstasy. It is as if the suns and the lights of the cosmos blazed up at one stroke, like a fountain of light ascending to the heavens. 'The world is here, the world is here, for light has come.'

"So the first 'Let there be' rolled through the primeval darkness and out of the formless darkness there rose the contours of structured space.  And the great light came from God.

"And God saw that he light was 'BEAUTIFUL' (for this is the literal translation). So the first response the young, dew-fresh creation evoked from the heart of God was joy in the "dew-fresh creation"  in its beauty, the rapture of the creator.

"So the Bible begins with a word about beauty.  And even before the heavens began to praise the Eternal Majesty, God's own heart was filled with joyful song that there should be something so beautiful arising here in the shimmer of the first light.  Above the nascent world lay the serenity of God."

In the last two paragraphs of this first chapter of his book Thielicke wrote, "The great light is already here.  The festival of light has already been inaugurated by God for you and for me.  We need only to throw open the shutters of our dark house and let in the flooding fulness.

"Otherwise, if we always keep the shutters closed, how should we ever know what God wants to do for us? But the person who plants himself in this light, the person who dares to make the leap from his own dark life will begin to shine himself.  He will experience a new form of joy, a joy that will fill his eyes with tears." 

So for me the word "beautiful" open a new and marvelous understanding of these first chapters. God's heart being revealed in these words,  not just the stagnant dialogues of, "seven 24 hour days" or the meaning of some other time frame. God's heart, for we his creation, has been missing - who ever talks about the heart of God anyway - out of Genesis?



 

Abigail Inn --- Lexington, Va.

Lexington was as close to the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington that Wilma and I were able to get this year. A great small town in the mountains just a short 3 hour drive from DC. The home of Washington and Lee University (WL), the Virginia Military Institute (VMI), H.Q. for Omicron Delta Kappa (ODK), Southern Virginia University (SVU), a short distance away, and the place where Stonewall Jackson is buried (Civil War), and the home of the ABIGAIL INN.

Good friends Landey and Becky Patton (L&B) are the proprietors of the Abigail with the able assistance of Megan Stephens of SVU. Megan is a graduate student in English and creative writing, also an expert in the digital world of Facebook, Twitter and websites etc.

Landey and Becky's dream is to turn the Abigail into a great B&B but also into a type of "community center' - they have the largest table in town;  a place for parents of graduating seniors from the various schools; a place for VMI cadets to relax on Sunday afternoon & evening - snacks, soft drinks, TV, overstuffed chairs and couch etc. all under the leadership Chaplain Jim Park of VMI,


The week, while L&B were at the PB in DC and then off to Chicago for a wedding, became a great time with different friends who came for a day or so.  Drazen Glavas from Croatia, Todd and Paula Endo from Amisville, Va., Milt Richards from California, and  others from Lexington. Megan ran the B&B and also became my mentor.  When we met I had told her that I was writing a "novel" the first sentence of which had these 7 words, "Fleas and flies and a thousand eyes...". She said that she liked those word but also wondered what was in the rest of the sentence, to which I replied, "That is all that has been written, I only started it in 1957!"  So my journey has only begun,  I also found out that I had started a memoir and not a novel.

With the able assistance of Megan and Wilma I might even find a way to write that memoir from my year in Pakistan ----  Marian and Kathy my classmates, whom I was taking across north India to Nepal, to be with Marian's dad the head medical advisor to the government of Nepal.  Only a memoir - long dormant in my brain, t all these years, this will probably take even longer -- a very long journey is still ahead!

Bill

Abigail Inn - Lexington,

Abigail Inn - Lexington, VA.  ... at 72 degrees in the "sunroom" as we used to call that space in the house. But spring is coming and we can hardly wait for "global warming" to kick in.  That is what getting that close to Washington D.C. can do to person's brain!!!

Bill 
the above does not make sense except for the loss of everything that had been written when I had forgotten to use the computer "save" button!!! 

 So now to try and reconstruct the real blog---maybe I should stop and think about becoming - again - a blogger.  Wilma has patiently guided the steps into the  modern world of  "climate change" instead
of "global warming", of  "progressive" rather than "liberal", of  "the principles of Jesus" rather than the "person of Jesus",  of "fetish" rather than of a "baby", of the constitution being a "living" document rather than a "static" document etc.  Will we ever come to a point when a word means something or a handshake will be enough without 40 pages of lawyer talk before persons can agree and move ahead?

The next attempt at a blog will hopefully come out of some great and recent study/dialogue under the  book HOW HE WORLD BEGAN "Man in the first chapters of the Bible" by Helmut Thielicke. Though I had the book 25-30 year ago it came to "life" when Wilma and I started to read it out loud. No skipping words or sentences - addressing what the word "it" means, who are "they", what does "this" mean etc.      

Please accept this "beginning again" attempt....I hope it will not be the last

Two Good Friday services - so different ..

This afternoon Wilma and I attended two very different Good Friday services. Both were held at two very well known churches in this area, two very different services, exact opposites in tone, attendees, music, sermon, and in emphasis.

The first service was formal, in the exact expression of that word. Magnificent structure, hundreds of stained glass windows, quiet - do we breath or not? The service started with a great bell counting down the number of years of Jesus's life. This was followed by a silent procession of a black draped cross, a young lady carrying an open bible, the fulled robed choir, three blacked dressed pastors etc. All of with almost stoic faces, each to their prescribed place. Solemn music by what must have been a professional choir, Scripture readings with precise entonations of the words, sombers faces - not a smile, not a sneeze, not a step out of place.

The sermon by the stately head pastor was skillfully crafted, word for word.
I found myself wondering if he rally believed what he was saying. Towards the end of his sermon he used the word "perhaps" what seemed like 10 or 12 times as he spoke of the variety of peoples who were part of the death of Jesus. Perhaps they believed this about Jesus, perhaps they saw something that they had never seen before, perhaps, perhaps, perhaps.

One friend after the service made the comment, "The greatest part of the service was the solo titled WERE YOU THERE WHEN THEY CRUCIFIED MY LORD?
The service ended with a silent recession by thoses who came back down the center isle, in silence with not a smile, in perfect order song folders at a perfect angle. The congregation was intructed to leave the sanctuary in silence.

The contrast was at a church which is described as the "Christian Entertainment Church in Southeast Michigan" Their building is huge with seats for 3 to 4 thousand people, several large TV screens, lights of all kinds, a stage large enough for a giant cross, a row of 7 drummers, guitars, singers, a pit orchastra, not astained class window in the whole building, and, ultimately, the lone head pastor sitting on a stool with a small table holding his electonic device with his sermon.

He is dressed in a plaid type shirt, not tucked in, a mic next to his mouth so that he can move around the stage as he talks - perfectly casual, wonderfully prepared, his image is displayed on the large TV screens etc.

Both services were a great experience, I even sat in this later service with a smoothie purchased in the churches "cafe". Both pastors had done a great deal of thinking regarding their sermons for this Good Friday. The first was scholarly, entoned in the right words, creating the right atmosphere. He talked about lots of different people who had responded to the crucifixion. I walked away wondering, if I had to attend this church on a regular bases where would faith in Jesus end up?

As we walked into the second church the music was so loud that it must have ruined one of the battries im my hearing aids. (Our grandson was one of the drummers ). As we drove home the aid kept beeping "put in another battery".

The sermon was focused on Jesus and "radical hope" that is offered to everyone whether you are dressed to the hilt or were in cutoff jeans. Whether you wore your baseball cap backwards, wore a motorcycle helmet which you placed in the seat next to you. You could take in your coffee and listen, clap long and loudly, sing until you throat was sore, or just sit there and watch the big screens. The message was about "your name being written on the cross" in the end they showed this huge cross with thousands of names written on it - the question was whether your name is on the cross!

Two very different services, two very different pastors with two very different staffs, choirs, and styles, but both with a message about the crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth .... on Good Friday.

Two very different church buildings, the first a marvel telling the whole world that we are a church. The second is like a big box store which holds and draws thousands of people.

As my good friend in China told me one day, "Don't worry Bill, Jesus knows what he is doing!"