THE TOUGH INSTRUCTOR
By Ken Crocker

As a boy I loved airplanes, built lots of models and longed for the day when I could take my first ride in a real plane. I was 14 when I jumped off the bus and walked down a two-mile dirt road to the only airport in town. The owner Fred Robinson smiled when I placed two dollars in his hand. He led me to an old Taylor craft airplane. I was filled with joy, amazement and fascination as we puttered over the valley. The blue green river wound around deep emerald trees and golden fields. The road looked like tiny ribbons that went in different directions. “It’s mighty pretty up here, Fred said.”

I was hopelessly hooked. Everything looked beautiful and fascinating from a low flying airplane. Houses were stretched out like a giant architect’s model. The river was smooth, shining and glorious as it wound its way through the Valley.

Fred became my friend and over the next few years I did odd jobs and painted signs on the buildings for flying lessons. Fred was a bachelor and had made the airport his home. He had a flying car that he hoped to finish someday. He said it would work and I believed him. He was a master mechanic, an aeronautical genius and had helped design and build the B-29 and taught pilots how to fly this massive aircraft during the Second World War.

In his shop Parts and tools were scattered everywhere; airplanes were disassembled and waiting for various repairs and always there was the smell of hydraulic fluid, oil, gas and grease. I loved it all.

He never talked about himself much, except to tell me about things like meeting Charles Lindberg. Lindberg was riding a motorcycle wearing a CCC uniform and showed up at an airport Fred was working for in Georgia. Fred suggested to him that he go down to South Georgia and trade his motorcycle for an old Jenny. In case you don’t know that’s a World war one biplane with an open cockpit. Lindberg did exactly that and took a few flying lessons. He nosed the plane over and broke the prop. They fixed it and he was going to have another lesson the next morning. However Lindberg decided he knew enough and headed west just after dawn.

Somewhere in Mississippi he landed and again nosed the plane over and broke the propeller. He convinced a farmer to put the plane on his truck, take it back to Georgia for a new propeller and left again heading west.

Fred told me stories about working at Candler field in Atlanta. Today it’s known as Hartsfield International Airport. Back then it was just a grass field. Amelia Earhart landed her Lockheed Vega there one day and forgot to retract the long trailing antenna for her radio. Someone was suppose to wind it back onto a spool in the plane with a crank but forgot to do so. Fred found it in some brush, repaired and reinstalled it.

In looking back I think I reminded him of his own love of flying as a young boy. He built his first airplane and learned to fly it in his Fathers cow pasture. Later he worked around various airports, sometimes for free and later for pay and the simple joy of flying.

I loved this old veteran pilot with his stories of Aviation. His career was ending and mine was just beginning. I was on the long road to becoming a good pilot. Maybe something about my enthusiasm and love of flying stirred some memories of his life when he was young and eager to pursue his dreams.

He was a master mechanic and kept his dream in one of the hanger bays. He was building a flying car that could drive on a road if the weather was bad, or soar above it all in good weather. I was sure it would fly and was eager to be there when it did.

Fred was a very demanding flight instructor. I didn’t like it when I was in the front seat trying to learn how to fly and he would reach out from the back seat, thump me on the head to get my attention and talk to me about something. “Look at both of the ailerons. Center the stick. Pick up that drooping aileron. Sloppy flying will kill you!” He wouldn’t let me make the slightest mistake without talking about it or doing something to make sure the correction was burned into my brain. One day he reached up, took my head, and physically turned it from side to side.

“Don’t sit up there staring straight ahead like a dummy. Keep your head on a swivel and look around all the time,” he said. “There are other planes up here, weather to keep in mind, instruments to monitor.”

There were times when I felt like he was too hard, demanding, and always “nitpicking” everything I did. Sometimes I felt exhausted, incompetent, and hopeless about ever mastering the art of flying. Once on the ground he would turn back into my friend and tell me I was doing well and making progress. I asked him one day why he was so hard on me.

“Columbus Aviation teaches pilots to fly,” he said, “and they have about 35 students pushing up daisies. I haven’t lost a one and you’re not going to be the first.”

I took flying lesson in the Aeronca Champ which had no flaps, no radio, and just a few basic instruments. Back then the FAA required pilots to do stalls and spins. I hated power on stalls - when the nose was pointed up the plane would run out of airspeed and fall straight down. If I held the stick back and pushed in left or right rudder the plane would spin. To get a pilots license I also had to learn to recover from a spin.

One day Fred told me we were going to go up and do spins until I loved them. He reminded me that the plane was going to stall, and head straight down. “You’re trying to stay up there without stalling and what you need to do is to just make up your mind to go down with the plane.” After a half dozen stalls and spins he was right and I begin to enjoy it.

Suddenly we both heard a loud bang, and he grabbed the controls. He shut the engine off, and pointed the nose toward the airport. The river ran around both ends of the single runway, and I relaxed as he skillfully turned, back and forth and lost altitude. He reached final approach lined up exactly right for a landing. When a sudden gust of wind picked the light aircraft up, he quickly did something he had told me never to do. He used left stick and full right rudder and we quickly lost the altitude and touched down. We stopped just before we ran out of runway and into the river.

A young mechanic had put new spark plugs in the plane and forgot to tighten one of them causing it to blow out. After he chewed out the mechanic, he fixed the plane and told me to get in the cockpit. We were going to go back up and do some more spins. Years later I realized that he didn’t want that bad experience to stick in my mind. He wanted me to fly some more and end the day with a feeling of success.

Later he taught me how to cross control the plane and crabbing sideways loose altitude quickly. He called it a slip and he taught me how to do it. I soon felt at ease doing it. Recently I looked at my old logbook and this is what he wrote to sign off that flight. “Aeronca N82561 Blew spark plug, forced landing, used up heap of field, downwind landing.”

I got his point about precision flying when he started cutting the engine and telling me to find a place to land. He expected me to line up on a proper grass field, check the wind direction, bleed the airspeed off, and come over the end with perfect airspeed and altitude. Often we were close to the ground before he would let me apply full power and climb out.

We kept in touch over the years. I flew my own Cessna Skyhawk into his private airport one day. The Chattahoochee River curved around both ends of the single runway and I felt good as I lined my plane up, made a perfect landing and taxied up to his office. He walked out to the plane to see who had landed on his private strip. After a big welcome I told him that I had become a missionary pilot and he was keenly interested in that. He took the time to give me some fatherly advice on “terrain and mountain flying”. He told me he was proud of me and knew I would do a lot of good.

Several years later I took my daughter and family to see him. My grandchildren walked around in the large hanger full of beautiful ultra light aircraft he designed, built and sold but they soon lost interest and were running outside in the grass—playing with the dog.

We heard something like an angry hornet and went outside to see a yellow ultralight plane landing at his strip. When it taxied up and stopped a man got out. Of course he was a friend who had built his own ultralight with Fred’s help. It had a lawn mower engine in it. He turned out to be a pastor of a church and this was his favorite kind of recreation.

We laughed and talked and Fred told me how his friend has built the wing with so much thickness on the front, (chord in aeronautical language) that it would climb almost straight up, but would only do about 24 miles an hour. Of course Fred told him how to rebuild the wing, let him use his shop and tools, and now it flew about 60 miles an hour. It still climbed pretty steep but that was O.K.

Ron, my son-in-law and I walked over to the old hanger with Fred and looked at the flying car. It still wasn’t finished. Times had changed and it was an old dream that the aviation world had left behind. Things kept getting in the way of working on it. I’m sure he kept it because he knew everyone needs a dream to keep them looking to the future.

The years had taken their toll on him and I had a sad feeling when we drove away that I might not see him again. A year or so later I went back and found the airport fenced off and city trucks and equipment parked in what use to be the hangers. He was gone and no one seemed to know where. The Valley chief of police didn’t know what happened to him. For us there were no good-byes because he will always be in my heart.

We had made a long video of him showing us around his shop, looking at his work, talking and just being old friends. I’m glad I did that, but I don’t look at it very often. There’s no way to put on tape the long friendship and kindness between us. In the hundreds of hours of flying that followed, I often found myself in a tight place and heard him “in my head” telling me what to do. His careful and demanding instructions saved my life many times.

I feel sorry for young people when I see their parents letting them do as they please. I feel sad when teachers allow college students to slide by without really learning anything. I often encounter people who don’t know how to do their jobs and all they seem to want is their paycheck. The craftsman who takes pride in his work is hard to find in our fast world of the bottom line.

Then I remember Fred and others like him who gave me the precious gift of competence and pride in a job well done. The frustration, tedium of doing it over and over until I got it right, the hours of study and hard work has almost been forgotten. It’s been replaced by a loving memory of a friend who gave me the precious gift of self-respect. I wish every young person in the world could have that treasure.

Years later I was working as a missionary pilot. We flew into a very high mountain rock strip called “los chochos”. Jerry, a missionary pilot I was working with thought we could fly into this remote area with two people in each plane and just enough fuel to leave for the return to Durango. We had to leave before the sun got too hot and made the air at eleven thousand feet too thin to fly in.

Instead a doctor was there and asked us to fly a dying woman to Durango hospital. It was a day and a half by road, and about 45 minutes by air. Our problem was that we would leave with 3 people in each plane and high density altitude. I would have to clear a row of tall pine trees with too much weight in the plane. As I flew down the clearing, the stall warning went off every time I tried to gain a little altitude.

Sweating it out I heard in my head my old flight instructor Fred Robinson telling me how he put a plane in the trees and walked away from it. “Don’t fly nose first into the trees he said. When you get to the trees use full flaps and pull the nose straight up”. I did what he told me and managed to clear the trees. On the other side of the trees, the mountain side dropped away. I dumped the flaps, put the nose down to gain some flying speed and headed for the airport at Durango.

We used the radio to have an ambulance waiting and soon the woman was in a hospital and recovered. Thank you Fred for saving our lives. The local police commander of this tiny village was so grateful for our rescue that he asked us to please come back and start a church in the area.

I often think about the wonderful results by reaching people in very remote villages and their amazing stories of encountering the presence of God.

A CHANGE OF MOOD

Click on the photograph to see a larger view.

If you've read my blogs you know that I've been a licensed pilot for over 60 years. For you who don't know - a pilots license is good for life. It never expires. Of course if you want to rent a plane you have to demonstrate that you know how to fly. You do that by flying around the airport with an instructor on board to make sure you can fly. Oh, and you do have to keep an updated "Medical card showing that you are in good health and not ready to "kick the bucket."

I got to indulge my love of airplanes by serving for years as a missionary Pilot. One day as the Pastor of a new church I met Jerry. He was a Senior Delta Airlines Captain and we had a common interest. I tried not to bore him with too much "hanger flying." After visiting with him at his home we finished a Bible study. He ask me if I would like to go with him to the Delta Training Center and fly the 727 jet simulator. I eagerly said yes and waited for the Invitation.

We were both busy and as time went by I forgot about his invitation. One particularly stressful and frustrating day I came home in a bad mood. We all know that feeling. Too tired to move, wishing things would just go away, unwilling to even think about the next problem. I thought back over all the study and research I had done on stress.

I knew for example that stress and unpleasant circumstances produces depression. As the 20th century wound down Doctors were prescribing hundreds of millions of doses of antidepressants. Serotonin, the secret of Prozac, and norepinephrine - another neurotransmitter are the current drugs of choice for depression. Here's a clue. The brain makes both of these chemicals. Serotonin is made by the body from tryptophan, an amino acid found in protein-rich foods such as meat, fish and milk.

Years ago in a graduate psychology class I was taught that the body makes every single chemical that doctors proscribe in the form of pills. The big question is what turns on the production of these mood altering chemicals in the brain and what turns them off? I have believed for a long time that our thoughts have a lot to do with it.

I was stressed out when the telephone rang. Jerry wanted to know if I'd like to go to the Delta training center and try my hand at flying the 727 jet simulator. I eagerly said yes. He promised to stop by and pick me up. Suddenly I didn't feel tired or stressed out. I felt eager and alive with anticipation as we drove the 25 miles to the Delta Center.

We walked into a huge room and I saw the simulator. It looked like a large room up in the air on huge pistons. When I walked up the steps and into the door I found myself in an exact replica of a 727 Aircraft. As I slid into the right seat of the cockpit I was really pumped up. Absolutely everything was working and responded just like a real airplane. Soon the engines were running and Sound, lights, motion and the view out of the window convinced me that I was flying a real airplane.

Jerry handled part of the work load giving me headings to fly that took us out and back to the runway but I did a pretty good job of flying this heavy airliner. As I started an ILS approach to the runway a voice started nagging me to "watch my altitude, correct my heading" and other messages if I was less than perfect. I sweated a little struggling to stay on the glide path and soon I flared out and made a decent landing. My bad mood had disappeared and I felt great as I applied the brakes and the aircraft came to a stop.

I ask Jerry why they had a woman's voice on the radio nagging at me when I was a little off the mark. He laughed and said: "There isn't a man in the world that can ignore a nagging woman."

Jerry explained the obvious to me. If we forgot about how crowded the Sky's are it would still be enormously expensive to use a real 727 to train a new pilot. The Captain has years of experience and the first officer never fly's the real aircraft until they leave the gate with a load of passengers. The amazing simulator can be programmed to cause any kind of equipment failure, bad weather, and any kind of emergency the pilots could ever encounter in the real plane. Even the Captains have to take regular check rides with the simulator.

After several hours we shut down and I walked out into the bright lights of Atlanta's huge airport. I couldn't remember ever having a more interesting experience. All of my stress and bad mood had been erased. I slept like a baby after I got home.

The human brain is the most amazing computer in the world. Unfortunately we forget that it can be programmed by almost anyone. In a days time we are literally assaulted with thousands of "sensory inputs." Some good, some bad, but all are registered by our mind. Wouldn't it be fantastic if we could close our eyes and go into a "life simulator" where we got positive, uplifting, and inspiring thoughts placed in our minds. It's possible! The Apostle Paul describes the process.

(Phil 4:8-9 NIV) "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things. {9} Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me--put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you."

Thanks Jerry, for giving me such a powerful push toward emotional balance.

Did you know? You can send me an e-mail and I'll read it and send you a reply!

ANARCHY THE DEATH OF AMERICA?

Anarchy is derived from a Greek root word meaning “without a rule.” When laws are not obeyed and authorities are despised and without force - when crime goes unpunished, property is attacked, the safety of the individual is violated, the morality of the people is corrupted, the disregard for the constitution, our government, and there is a complete absence of justice - these are the features of anarchy.

Maybe someone could tell me what these words mean: “illegal aliens.” I think I know what illegal means. It means an unlawful, criminal act. Aliens could be any foreigner who tries to sneak into our country without permission or a passport. For most of my life the legal and honorable way to enter our country was to get a visa, learn English, and apply for citizenship.

It's bad enough for Europe and many other countries to be filling up with Muslims and "terrorist". If they are good Muslims who believe and follow the Quran, then they will eventually attempt to kill, murder, and destroy all Christians and Jews. Why? Because it's clearly taught in the Quran. I'm shocked to see Americans protesting the self defence of Israel. I wonder what our country would do if Cuba was shooting Missiles into South Florida, killing innocent people and children?

Muslim leaders state that their goal is to convert the whole world to Sharia Law and force every nation on earth to bow to Muslim law. Our world is clearly in a state of Anarchy when the extremely wealthy people and corporations who want cheap labor demand that the politicians ignore the laws and allow “illegal immigrants” to flood into any country.

Pretending that it's some kind of "morality, compassion or kindness" to allow people to violate the laws of our nation is nothing more than lunatic liberalism. It trashes the very foundations and concepts of the founders of our country. The death of America is not very far away when the majority of Americans have never read or studied American History. I spent my time in a University carefully studying American History.

This U-tube video is an excellent presentation of the true concepts of our founding fathers for a free, safe and prosperous America. It may shock many people who believe that the founding fathers "wanted to create a Democracy". Recognizing the inherit danger of "Majority rule" they wisely chose to create a Republic.

Here's a test of whether or not you would like to live under a true democracy. Picture yourself on a deserted island with 90 pot smoking dope addicts who believe in the most vile perverted lifestyle imaginable. You are shocked and dismayed to learn that your one vote is meaningless because 90 of these people will always outvote you every time. That's a democracy.

No matter how reasonable and just our laws may be - there will always be a screaming, angry marching mob of people who will never give up until their perverted and immoral lifestyle can rule the day.

HAVE A ----- CHRISTMAS

Christmas is not always a happy time. For many people it's a time of great stress, problems, and disappointment. Some of that we can avoid and there are things we can do that makes it a pretty wonderful time. Here's my suggestions:

I've found that the joy is in giving and not so much in the receiving. If there is something you really would like to receive then go get it for yourself. Hints can be misunderstood, and what do you do with someone who won't give you a clue to what would make them happy? If you don't guess right ---------well you know what comes next.

Here's an off the wall idea. There are 10 million people who live alone in the United States and 175,000 more join them each year. Old age is a time of painful changes. Here's how one old man expressed it.

I spent many long years as a pastor. Every church has their group of old people. I've always loved them and would make it a point to try to enter their world. That means listen to them talk - usually about the better times in their life. One of them wrote this to describe what it's like for the old people all around us.

It late - not just 1:31 AM, but late in my life. Many of my opportunities have been used up - wasted on people who didn’t care - lost to people who not only didn’t help but tried to make sure I didn’t make it. Everything is changing, and I feel like a man in a foreign country; betrayed by a new world I can’t understand, and often find repulsive.

I long for the old familiar things; music, caring people, honesty; a belief that integrity still existed; a time filled with pride, hope and happiness. In my world there was time to just sit on the porch and talk; go fishing with friends, time for leisurely visits, warm letters, phone calls that said: “I need your help,” and a feeling that there was a time and place for everything.

My world had been filled with family and loving relationships. We enjoyed many wonderful meals in the homes of our friends, and of course we reciprocated. There was time to eat, laugh, talk, and enjoy a leisurely meal in a warm, snug safe haven from all the problem of life. There were no interruptions, or someone jumping up to leave because they had to go somewhere.

Now, my options are dying, only a few left----like the last gasp of air in an old man’s lungs as he struggles to complete his final exit. My hopes have long ago faded, turned from bright yellow, red and green to a sickly brown and finally the dark color of death.

I look back and see so very little that I’ve done that has been worth while. Where there use to be respect and praise, now there’s only contempt and impatience; a poorly disguised wish that I would hurry up and get out of the way; stop being a bother and make way for youthful and more important things.

I feel like a tired old traveler, walking down a dusty road. I don’t want to show that I need help as everyone speeds by me on their way to urgent and more important things that won’t wait. I’ve reached a time when I’m always last on the list of priorities of those I know. I accept the fact that I’m used up; have no real value left; and need to be discarded.

Once I was needed, and others depended on my hard work, skills, and dogged determination to make it no matter how much it took out of me. Now, I’m a relic of an age gone by; lost forever in the dim mist of what use to be; and as it is slowly buried in the dust of time--maybe never was.

I’m not afraid of the final act, only glad that there will be one; hoping that those who have been my only reason for living can go on with their lives; free from the depressing burden of an old man who wore out their patience by living too long.

Like moving from an empty old house, I know that it’s time for me to walk away; accept the fact that it’s ended, and stop dreaming of better days that will never come again. It surprises me that those I love can go longer and longer without seeing, talking, or trying to make time for me. I also feel the bonds of affection, care and concern from them growing weaker.

Perhaps that’s as it should be. It would hurt too much for the end to come with strong feelings of attachment still in place. So, life and circumstances administer a powerful anesthetic so that there is little pain when the bonds are finally broken.

We don’t always reap what we sow. All of my life I loved and took care of older people. I made it a point to include them in the things we did, I went to see them when I was busy and had many other things to do. I listened patiently as they talked about “nothing” and prayed with them about their needs. I would call them on the phone and took time to listen when they called me. I felt impatient then at the interruption, but tried to understand that they needed to talk to me. I consciously practiced the grace of “giving.”

Their world was dying, and I knew they needed me much more than the younger, energetic and strong people I knew. I don’t regret what I did. I’m glad I took the time, and it was comforting to know that my “old friends” loved me. I gained something precious from them. I learned, many years before I needed it, how to grow old and prepare for the end of life here.

No, I’m not reaping what I sowed. I’m reaping something else that I never thought about, or dreamed that I would need if I lived long enough. It’s the ability to quietly let go, surrender to the inevitable, and look forward to moving to another world. I call it “my Father’s house.” Oh, we will keep on going through the motions, walking on down the sometimes lonely road that only seems to lead to nowhere. What else can we do? We can’t go back because our world is gone.

Morbid? Probably, but sometimes we need a different perspective to understand what will one day most certainly come to us. Someday we will all be old.

That pretty much describes it.... now the question is this: "If you really care about them how would you find the time to visit and the creative ideas to respond to the world they live in?

I would love to hear your suggestions,

Pastor Ken

IS IT GOD'S WILL?

Apparently many people think that whatever happens "must be God's will." Otherwise he would have prevented it. There is a growing foolishness circulating on the Internet. The General Superintendent of a major church denomination helped start it and their local State Overseers dutifully sent it to all their churches. Others on the Internet are promoting it.

It goes something like this: "(Rom 13:1-4 NIV) "Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. {2} Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. {3} For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. {4} For he is God's servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God's servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer."

The e-mail I received put it simply like this: Romans 13:1-4

Barack Obama's presidency is appointed by God. (v 1)
Christians should lead the way in supporting Barack Obama's presidency. (v 2)
Barack Obama's presidency can be a force for good and a deterrent against evil. (v 3)
As president, Barack Obama is God's minister to you for good. (v 4)

Let's take a look at each of these Scripture verses. (Rom 13:1 NIV) "Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God". God established government for the benifit of people. The long story of Moses and the Jews who were delivered from slavery in Egypt is filled with the creation of an honest government for these people.

This is not to be understood as meaning that every individual ruler is ordained of God. That would make God responsible for many acts of despotism and oppression.

Hitler was elected to high office by the German people in 1933, but no Christian can argue that he represented God's preference for the post, that somehow God was enthused and delighted about the prospect of a German ruler who would gas six million Jews and cause the deaths of 25 million people.

Adolph Hitler's elevation to power represented the will of the German people, not the will of God. And the German people paid a bitter and self-destructive price for choosing poorly. Adolph Hitler and Joseph Stalin comes to mind along with the incredible millions of Men women and children who were tortured, enslaved, and murdered by them. It was God who destroyed the selfish, sinful rulers who became despicable in his eyes.

The Holocaust (from the Greek ὁλόκαυστον (holókauston): holos, "completely" and kaustos, "burnt"), also known as (Ha)-Shoah (Hebrew: השואה), Churben (Yiddish: חורבן) is the term generally used to describe the genocide of approximately six million European Jews during World War II, as part of a programme of deliberate extermination planned and executed by the National Socialist German Workers’ Party (Nazi) regime in Germany led by Adolf Hitler.

Taking into account all the victims of Nazi persecution, the total number of victims would be between nine and 11 million. No true Christian could ever say that God appointed this mass murderer to destroy families, children, and an entire population of Jews. Add another 20 million innocent people killed by Joseph Stalin in Russia and you have an incredible picture of what a leader elected by the people can do. In Russia it was the communist party that place a mass murderer in power - not God.

{Romans 13:2} Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. {3} For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. {4} For he is God's servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God's servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer." (Paul knew well the awesome and cruel power of the Roman Government. He seems to be saying: "Unless God requires it - there is no need for senselessly courting death and disaster.)

The Bible does not teach the doctrine of passive obedience or nonresistance. However our resistance should be clearly directed by God. Wicked Rulers and leaders of any kind need to be opposed. At Babylon, Daniel resisted the reigning power. The royal mandate was issued, but Daniel did not obey it. “He kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime.”


The Apostles Peter and John declined to obey the Jewish council at Jerusalem when they were commanded to speak no more in the Name of Jesus. They boldly answered, “Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and hear". Where the law of a nation or the command of an earthly ruler conflicts with the law of God, then it is clearly the Christian’s duty to obey God rather than men”.

If by the "will of God," we mean "what God desires," then it is impossible to imagine that God wants our president - the most powerful and influential man on earth to support infanticide, unimaginable and grisly "partial birth abortions and to support and promote the normalization of homosexual behavior. We have a Christian duty to oppose the things that God has declared sinful in the Bible.

It doesn't take a biblical scholar to discern that the Judeo-Christian Scriptures teaches us that homosexual behavior is "contrary to nature," that homosexual liaisons are driven by "dishonorable passions" and consist of "shameless acts" (Romans 1:26-27), and that marriage is the union of one man and one woman (Genesis 2:26, Matthew 19:4-6, 1 Corinthians 7:2).

There was no naive assumption that an evil king represented God's desire for the leadership of his people. The exact opposite is true. He sent his anointed prophets to confront those who abused the authority God had given to them. Evil kings came under withering censure because they knew better.

The Apostles Peter and John declined to obey the Jewish council at Jerusalem when they were commanded to speak no more in the Name of Jesus. They boldly answered, “Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and hear". Where the law of a nation or the command of an earthly ruler conflicts with the law of God, then it is clearly the Christian’s duty to obey God rather than men”.

Because of Corporate Greed and unimaginable fraud and corruption in our Govenment, and by people in high places, we are now looking at a world wide disaster. In 1873 The United States de facto standard for the value of our money was at 20.67 dollars to 1 troy oz (31.1 g) of gold. As we watch prices rise - and the government prints trillions of "paper dollars" it's anyone's guess as to what a dollar will be worth in the future.

Looking back over a long life I know from my experiences that God is watching over us and cares about each of his dear children. That gives me perfect peace when I go to sleep at night.

GOD'S PRESENCE

(Exo 3:2-6 NIV) "There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. {3} So Moses thought, "I will go over and see this strange sight--why the bush does not burn up." {4} When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, "Moses! Moses!" And Moses said, "Here I am." {5} "Do not come any closer," God said. "Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground." {6} Then he said, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob." At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God."

QUESTION? Does God ever do that today? The answer is yes. I almost never talk about it but I was 11 years old, in the bed by myself, totally uninterested in "Church" or "Christianity" when God's presence overwhelmed me. I secretly cried, struggled, and tried for three long weeks to resist what I knew God was asking me to do. God's presence was overpowering and finally I surrendered. God wanted me to be a "minister" and not a Military pilot. I struggled for years to keep my commitment to God.

In my lifetime I've had numbers of experiences of God's presence. It's a powerful and awesome experience when it happens. I always knew... and so did everyone else that God was asking me to do something that seemed to be impossible. This usually happens when I'm totally unprepared for the encounter. I learned to listen carefully and do exactly what God was telling me to do. The results were so spectacular that many people called them "miracles." (With God there is no such thing as a miracle. It's just business as usual for God)

Looking back it hasn't been easy. It's not easy today. Sixty years of preaching, traveling all over the world, struggling, praying, and doing things others would not do is still a part of my lifetime commitment. At 76 years old I know I'm close to the end of my life but still I'm determined to keep listening for God's voice and the power of his presence.

There is a nagging problem for me. There is no way I can tell anyone how to have that kind of "Divine encounter with God." I passionately wish I could. It's God's choice - not mine. I see the urgent need for many of God's people to have that experience as our world goes spinning out of control. Churches desperately try to somehow "lead people to worship and experience God's presence". Most of the time it's a failure and a sad exercise in futility. Only God can draw near to us and make it happen.

When God sent Moses back to Egypt to tell Pharaoh to let the Hebrew slaves go free, Moses asked: "(Exo 4:1 NIV) "Moses answered, "What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, 'The LORD did not appear to you'?" Good question!!!

(2} Then the LORD said to him, "What is that in your hand?" "A staff," he replied. {3} The LORD said, "Throw it on the ground." Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it. {4} Then the LORD said to him, "Reach out your hand and take it by the tail." So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand. {5} "This," said the LORD, "is so that they may believe that the LORD, the God of their fathers--the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob--has appeared to you."

Unfortunately when Moses showed Pharaoh the stick/snake miracle the Magicians of Pharaoh's court came out and did the same thing. Yes, Moses snake ate up their snake... but they kept matching the miracles of Moses. God raised the bar and eventually they couldn't match the miracles of Moses. Was God having fun when he sent the next plague of Gnats, flies, and lice into the Egyptians homes "but not in the houses of the Hebrew slaves"?

Pharaoh begin to compromise. "Take you people out into the desert and worship your God". But almost immediately Pharaoh harden his heart. (Don't go too far" (we want you back at work as soon as possible). Sound familiar? People often pray and the minute they get out of trouble they forget God and their promises.

The next plague was on the animals. ((Exo 9:3 KJV) "Behold, the hand of the LORD is upon thy cattle which is in the field, upon the horses, upon the asses, upon the camels, upon the oxen, and upon the sheep: there shall be a very grievous murrain." This word "murrain" means a plague. The Egyptians held in idolatrous reverence almost every animal, but some they held in particular veneration; as the ox, cow, and ram.

Among these, {Apis} and {Mnevis} are well known; the former being a sacred bull, worshipped at Memphis, as the latter was at Heliopolis. A cow or heifer had the like honours at Momemphis; and the same practice seems to have been adopted in most of the Egyptian Nomes. Each Nome, or province, of ancient Egypt had its own god or totem, its own capital, frontiers and coat-of-arms. By the infliction of this judgment, the Egyptian deities sank before the God of the Hebrews.

Next came festering boils, that broke out on men and animals. Then a hail storm, the worst that has ever happened in Egypt since the beginning of time. (Not a hail stone fell in Goshen where the Hebrew lived). Next came a plague of Locusts, everything in Egypt was destroyed... but Pharaoh hardened his heart. Then came three days of darkness - so horrible it could be felt...

Pharaoh still refused to bend, and told Moses "I will kill you if I ever see your face again." So be it... Hard hearted sinners seldom repent. Then God said to Moses: " (Exo 11:5-7 NIV) "Every firstborn son in Egypt will die, from the firstborn son of Pharaoh, who sits on the throne, to the firstborn son of the slave girl, who is at her hand mill, and all the firstborn of the cattle as well. {6} There will be loud wailing throughout Egypt--worse than there has ever been or ever will be again. {7} But among the Israelites not a dog will bark at any man or animal.' Then you will know that the LORD makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel."

There is no question that America was founded by Godly Christian men and in spite of a corrupt supreme court - Christian monuments are everywhere in Washington D.C.

This is Moses holding the ten commandments in the rotunda of the Library of congress. Monuments of our Christian Faith are everywhere. Here is one on the door of the U.S. Supreme Court. I wonder if the Chief Justices ever feel like hypocrites when they make ruling that defy the laws of God? This carving of the Ten Commandments is on the door that opens to the U.S. Supreme Court.

There are many of these scattered all over Washington but here's another one in the chambers of the Chief Justices of the United Supreme Court. This is where they make rulings that defy the laws of God and refuse to allow children to pray in Schools.


How and when did this get inside the United States Supreme Court???? It's Muhammad inside the U.S. Supreme Court. What message does that send? (Hint: He's holding a sword)


The Council on American-Islamic Relations in 1997 protested the Supreme Court's Muhammad sculpture and said it was concerned that Muhammad "was shown with the Quran, Islam's Holy Book, in one hand and a sword in the other, reinforcing long-held stereotypes of Muslims as intolerant conquerors." (Imagine that!!!) Chief Justice Renquest responding to the complaint told CAIR the image could not be changed and explained that swords also were used throughout the court's architecture as symbols of justice.

"Altering the depiction of Muhammad would impair the artistic integrity of the whole," Rehnquist wrote. "Additionally, it is unlawful (under the U. S. Code) to remove or in any way injure an architectural feature in the Supreme Court."

In response, protesters in Turkey marched outside the Danish consulate, terror groups in the West Bank threatened Danish and European interests, the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades – an offshoot of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah Party – briefly kidnapped a German and thousands of Muslim demonstrators in Beirut clashed with police Sunday, storming the city's Danish consulate and setting it ablaze. A nearby Maronite Catholic church also was attacked, prompting fears the protests could turn into a sectarian clash.

In Damascus , the evacuated Danish and Norwegian embassies were burned during protests that also damaged the Swedish embassy. Rioters reportedly tried to storm the city's French mission but were held off by police. Feel safer now?????

(Psa 9:17 KJV) "The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God."

What can save us? We need to abandon the lust for huge buildings and impersonal churches...the driving ambition for success and recognition. Ambition to build a multi-million dollar church building will absolutely guarantee that you will have to compromise your spiritual integrity to do it. The love of money is the root of all evil. Strange isn't it that Jesus - with all his spectacular power and miracle working abilities said: "I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." You can search all you like for a building and a piece of property that is "His church" and you won't find it. It is his power that builds "His" church in the heart of those who hunger and thirst after righteousness.

Anyone who listens to the news knows that the whole world is in trouble. We desperately need to have a "Divine encounter" with God to give us his spirit and power.

Unfortunately Satan can create a counterfeit religion call it "Christianity" and deceive God's people. In Second Peter 1:18 (NIV) we read: "We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain." (Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-9)

Peter goes on to write: (2Peter 2:1-3 NIV) "But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them -- bringing swift destruction on themselves. {2} Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. {3} In their greed these teachers will exploit....(Make merchandise of you "KJV")... with stories they have made up. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping."

We need millions of American Christians to have the experience of the "presence of God." I can't tell you exactly how to have it - but I can tell you that your heart will have to "hunger and thirst" for the experience. If you have ever been really hungry or thirsty then you know how powerful those feelings are. They become your absolute priorities. To do that you will also have to stop reading, listening to and trying to use the lying false teachings of greedy preachers who all feel the need to be multi-millionaires.

Here are several links that will tell you what they believe...and teach. I've known many of these people personally ...and steered clear of their ministry and phony unscriptural teachings.

False Preachers Page - Forgotten Word Ministries

For you who don't feel comfortable at the church you may be attending...let me encourage you to pray and ask God to visit you. In my years as a pastor visiting church members on a regular basis was something I enjoyed. Someone once told me: "When you are talking you ain't learning nothing." I took that advise and always made it a point to get people to talk to me - while I listened carefully. It was amazing what I learned - often from the old saints who had lived a lifetime.

I was astonished how many of them opened up and finally told me of great and wonderful experiences of their encounter with God. Aunt Nanny was 98 years old when she told me how things were in the glorious and spiritual early days of the church. She said: "I was washing clothes in an old wash pot over a fire in the front yard. I had just taken the towels out of the wash pot and hung them over the bushes in front of the house.

Suddenly, God spoke to me that a dear friend in the church was sick and needed help and prayer. I dried my hands, put on my walking shoes and walked the three miles to her house. When I knocked on her door I heard her moan as I entered. She was alone, desperately sick and needed help. I prayed for her and in minutes I knew she was better. I stayed with her until she was rejoicing in the Lord and felt normal. "Pastor, I miss those days when that sort of thing was a common experience."

One night in a church we pastored I was about to preach. A minister friend that I knew well was in the audience. I heard the message loud and clear.... "Ask D.C. to pray." So I did exactly that. He stood and prayed, and prayed, and kept on praying, until people were crying, running to the altar to give their hearts to the Lord. He kept praying until his own Brother in Law was saved, and everyone in the church was touched by the presence of God. The long lasting effects of both of us being used by the Lord changed many lives that night. Nothing was out of order, nothing was contrived, we didn't take an offering, we simply had the experience described in the Old Testament.

(Ezra 3:11-13 NIV) "With praise and thanksgiving they sang to the LORD: "He is good; his love to Israel endures forever." And all the people gave a great shout of praise to the LORD, because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid. {12} But many of the older priests and Levites and family heads, who had seen the former temple, wept aloud when they saw the foundation of this temple being laid, while many others shouted for joy. {13} No one could distinguish the sound of the shouts of joy from the sound of weeping, because the people made so much noise. And the sound was heard far away."

I'm absolutely certain that many people are tired of carefully orchestrated programs planned weeks in advance... of lifeless shows, of sermons contrived to give the appearance of "progress being made..." Maybe we should talk to each other about it, listen carefully to the "voice of the Lord" and allow God to use us to change our country and the world.

Send me an e-mail - I would like to know what you think.

THE GOD OF ALL COMFORT

Everyone has tough times. We need someone or something to "comfort us" and help us to get back on our feet. The word comfort occurs 66 times in the Bible. Use the word "Comforter" and we get another 8 Bible verses about comfort. Four of those verses were in the teachings of Jesus. This verse explains what we need in tough times. (Lam 1:16 NIV) "This is why I weep and my eyes overflow with tears. No one is near to comfort me, no one to restore my spirit. My children are destitute because the enemy has prevailed."

Jesus taught, (John 14:16-18 NIV) "And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another (Comforter KJV) Counselor to be with you forever-- {17} the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. {18} I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you."

O.K. What does the picture have to do with any of this? My beautiful and wonderful granddaughter Amie is holding the dog she bought for a very low price. The pet store thought he was a poodle... but turns out he is a "bichon." She named him "Sammy". He's the most intelligent, loving and comforting pet I've ever known. It wasn't long until everyone in the family was the object of his love and concern. The "dog whisperer" you see on the National Geographic TV show training bad dogs would go out of business if all dogs were like Sammy. Everyone who comes in the door of the house gets his loving attention.

I believe that Jesus intended for all of us to be "loving comforters" and we can learn a lot from Sammy. When Amie brought him home my daughter Debbie and son in Law Ron had a poodle that was dying. Once Sammy was comfortable with the house he began to care for Bandit. I saw him go over to "Bandit" who was dying, and carefully and quietly lay down beside her. I was astonished at how Sammy cared for Bandit, standing back and waiting for her to eat or get a drink of water. When Bandit died, we all wept over her. Sammy seemed upset as well and wanted to be close to all of the family.

There's something you need to know about Sammy. The vet told Amie and family that Sammy had obviously been mistreated by someone. This person must have assumed he was a poodle and cut off his tail. During that process his back left leg was broken and never healed right. He also had damage to his spine. He runs like the wind on three legs by holding up his back left leg. I've watched him run like a bullet up the 15 steps to the second story of their home. I don't know how he does it with all the pain he endures. Sometimes the pain does overcome him and he sits quietly and shakes. When he is "shaking" the family has to give him powerful pain medication.

In spite of his physical problems and obvious pain, he is the most loving, cheerful, happy little fellow I've ever seen. Let me brag a little bit. I have the greatest son in law in the world. He takes care of his family and welcomes everyone into his home. Ron and Sammy have a special relationship. They have lots of games they like to play. Ron is the traffic manager for Roadway Express and comes in tired. Sammy meets him at the door excited and ready to play. So Ron will get down on the floor, and play all kinds of games with Sammy. It's their special time together. It's a delightful time for the whole family who watches.

At Thanksgiving and Christmas my wife and I spend time with Debbie and her family. Anytime we eat I feel the soft touch of Sammy's little paws on my leg. He learned quickly that I'm a pushover for giving him part of my meal. A tradition in the family is to give Sammy a "Holiday" plate of food. Ron gets on the floor and growls and fusses with Sammy before letting go of the plate. Sammy wins and Ron laughs while we all stand around and watch.

There's no problem about who is going to keep Sammy if Ron, Debbie or Amie is going to be out of town. Jamie my grandson who is a commercial photographer will gladly keep him at his big house. When my grandson Ken comes home from his job as Senior Music director of a large church he brings his dog Jolie. She is a 70 pound "Samoyed" who was trained entirely in French by Ken. There's no problem between Jolie and Sam. They get along just great.

Does Sammy have fun in spite of his physical problems? Yes! He scares us all to death by going out the back door... and occasionally running the length of the neighbor's wooden fence. They have three dogs the size of small pony's and it drives them crazy to see Sammy running the fence. One of them broke the fence completely off down near the ground trying to get to Sammy. Everyone is trying to break Sammy's bad habit but he runs so fast with his ears flying in the wind... it's hard to stop.

If only Sammy could talk I would like to know what's in his head. He tries to talk at times .... but can't so I'll just have to guess. Obviously he had some terrible mistreatment. Amie had gone through a painful divorce and needed Sammy. He needed her love and affection. They helped each other. That's what life is all about. Do that and no one will ever have to suffer alone.

I know the story of the book of Job very well. There are things I don't understand about it. Here is the real heart of that story. Why did God allow Job to loose everything? Why did God allow his only beloved son to suffer and die on Calvary? Both of these sad stories required suffering.

The suffering of Job was terrible. He had boils: something called black leprosy by the Arabs, termed Elephantiasis by the Greeks, from its rendering the skin, like that of the elephant, scabrous, dark coloured, and furrowed all over with tubercles. This loathsome and most afflictive disease is accompanied with the most intolerable itching. Poor Job scraped his skin with broken pottery.

In Job's story he is suffering also because he has lost everything. His wife tells him to curse God and die. The name Job means "the persecuted one" His three friend come to "comfort him" and end up accusing him of sin and wrong doing. Their behavior is an excellent story of "how not to do it". In their ignorance and arrogance they only made it worse for Job.

(Job 16:1-5 NIV) "Then Job replied: {2} "I have heard many things like these; miserable comforters are you all! {3} Will your long-winded speeches never end? What ails you that you keep on arguing? {4} I also could speak like you, if you were in my place; I could make fine speeches against you and shake my head at you. {5} But my mouth would encourage you; comfort from my lips would bring you relief."

Then God weighs in on the problem: "(Job 42:7-8 NIV) "After the LORD had said these things to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Temanite, "I am angry with you and your two friends, because you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has. {8} So now take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and sacrifice a burnt offering for yourselves. My servant Job will pray for you, and I will accept his prayer and not deal with you according to your folly. You have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has."

They ask Job to pray for them - God accepted Job's prayer... and gave to Job double what he had lost. The LORD blessed the latter part of Job's life more than the first. He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen and a thousand donkeys. {13} And he also had seven sons and three daughters. Nowhere in all the land were there found women as beautiful as Job's daughters, and their father granted them an inheritance along with their brothers."

How can I comfort someone who is hurt, struggling to keep their balance, worried because they don't know what to do? What can I do when I don't know how to solve their problems.

Maybe we should ask Sammy how to do it? If he had a Ph.D and could talk Sammy would probably say: "Don't say anything most of the time. You can't change emotions with logic or an argument. You can only change emotions with emotion. Show some love, affection, or give a big hug. Do that often with great sincerity. Keep it going. I know it's hard but try to be warm and cheerful. Don't expect too much at first... a little progress is great. Give it time. Try to listen and give them lots of the love and affection they need and really want.

I'm pretty sure that Jolie would agree.