Journals of the Heart

You are browsing the archives of Mens Corner.

Everything takes a measure of faith and I certainly do not want to minimize that. But, on the other hand, I believe we need to be careful lest we use our faith in an unrighteous way. The way to use your faith in an unrighteous way is by expecting God to provide for you, but you refuse to develop a close relationship with Him.

Growing up in the late 30s, 40s, and early 50s I was adopted into many homes—even though I was never legally adopted. Unlike the above who felt unwanted, I felt wanted by a lot of people. I may have lacked in many things, but I never lacked in being wanted.

Jesus went to the mountain to spend time with His father. Moses went to the burning bush to talk with God. Elijah was in the back of the cave when God came to talk to him. My place of solitude with the Lord was the old farm house that had been partially covered with vines.

Such was the case with the man at the pool of Bethesda in John 5. The reason Jesus asked him if he wanted to get well was because the man had apparently made a friend of his sickness. Sympathy will do strange things to you.

The first point is to never under estimate the youth of the next generation because they will usually turn out fine even if it appears that “the lights are on and nobody is at home.”

The thing that really bothers me is when I look on the faces of people in a crowded church and see that same look of being unwanted and insignificant. After all…we are supposed to be the ones with the answers to such problems.

Over the years I have noticed that many people seem to have gaps (or holes) in their lives. In many cases these gaps are of their own doing and in other cases these gaps are not of their initiative. Some times when a person is growing up, the pain they may have experienced causes them to block out certain periods of time in their life in such a way that they really do not remember particular times or events.

Anger is probably one of the most destructive sins that have ever been enacted by mankind. The byproduct of anger has killed people, caused sickness, started wars, destroyed marriages, lost money, driven people to insanity and a litany of other things.

Growing up in East Texas during the late ‘40s and early ‘50s provided a great opportunity for a young man like me to meet many special men who would have a profound impact on my life. The background of these men ranged from the educated to the illiterate, from the successful business man to the hard working man who spent long back breaking hours in the woods cutting logs with a cross cut saw.

The church of today seems to be filled with spiritual orphans. Many have natural parents, but they still feel fatherless. If the question was asked “Who is your Daddy” many would have to say I don’t know? Perhaps this is why Paul said, “For though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.”