Deacon's Diary

Deacon's Diary is a weekly feature that appears on the back side of the bulletin at the First Baptist Church of Avalon, Texas.

What we kneed.

It happens all the time. It's a game ender. It happened last Sunday. It will most likely happen some where today. And it will probably happen at least once again Thanksgiving day. And you will watch.

I'm talking about football of course. At the end of game when the team that has the lead also has the ball and all they need to do is let the clock run out. When the game is in the bag, so to speak. The center hikes the ball to the quarterback and he just takes a knee.

It happens in the middle of the game some times, too. When one team kicks off to the other and the return man catches it in the end zone, he can take a knee. Then he doesn't get hit. Not only that, but his team gets a kind of a fresh start when they bring the ball out to the twenty. Just by taking a knee. Kind of cool isn't it?

I know it's a stretch, but the rules of life can be compared to the rules of football in this way. The Bible tells us that we are living in the end times. The clock is ticking. The Bible also tells us that when the game is over every knee shall bow to Him. Just like football, it is the winner that takes that knee before the clock runs out of time.

Will that clock run out today or tomorrow? Next week? I surely do not know. The Bible tells us that none of us will know. But even in the middle of our lives we can take a knee. Just like football. We might get that fresh start out to the twenty and avoid a hit or two.

Thanksgiving is next Thursday. I think I'll take a knee this morning.  I don't know how much time I have left on my clock, and nor does it matter. I'm just thankful that I got to play the game at all. A lot has happened so far. Some good. Some bad. I thank God for all of it.

Deacon's Diary is a weekly feature that appears on the back side of the bulletin at the First Baptist Church of Avalon, Texas.

Priceless

Hurricane Ike came and left the Texas coast a little more than a month ago. Most of you, like I do, remember it well. Even though it is long gone, I found myself thinking about it once again this morning.

Because my job is directly connected to AT&T, that storm caused me to get really busy delivering restoration supplies down there after it passed. Many trips were made. A lot of overtime worked.

But that overtime did not go unrewarded. Those 3 weeks after the storm were quite profitable to me as a person. My pay checks during those 3 weeks were bigger than any of the others all of this year so far.

As it almost always happens, with me at least, the extra money that I made was totally surpassed by the demands for my money at that time. Just like that old saying we've all heard, easy come, easy go.

Week one, our hot water heater went out. Week two, my daughter Abby needed money to pay for her very fancy class ring that she ordered. Week three, a friend of ours found herself in a bad situation and was in need of some money to get her through it. She was even thinking of selling some of her son's toys to get her through this rough time.

My first instinctive reaction to all this was not very good at all. I can remember asking myself, "Why is it that every time I  get a chance to get ahead, something always comes along and ruins it?!"

With a little time to think about it all I have a different perspective that can be summed up in the outline of a famous TV commercial. Water heater--$450.00. Daughter's class ring--$475.00. Helping out a friend in need--$1000.00. Having the money on hand when you really need it--Priceless!

Deacon's Diary is a weekly feature that appears on the back side of the bulletin at the First Baptist Church of Avalon, Texas.

Just giving back.

I did a google search for 'Lord's Acre' this morning. The results were very pleasantly surprising. 4,510,000 different postings were found.

I read through a few of the articles. One was about a Baptist church in Georgia where the farmers set aside one acre of their farms with  the proceeds from said acre going to the church.  The writer of this article went on to explain that the designated acres seem to out perform the farmer's other acreage by a quite noticeable amount.

Another story described the donated crafts and goods that were up for auction to benefit their little west Texas Methodist church for Lord's Acre day. Anything from quilts to cakes were donated for the cause and all of the items fetched some very generous bidding.

The stories, articles, and announcements went on and on and on. Churches of many different dominations proclaim their adherence to the Lord's Acre traditions. From Texas to North Dakota. And Oregon to Pennsylvania. All across this country and in Mexico as well as some on the other side of the Atlantic. This age old tradition started in the days of Abraham continues to honor a worthy God.

Societies and cultures all across the globe have changed over the years and they continue to change each every year. One could argue that some, if not most of the change has not always been for good.

 But we can all take comfort in the fact that at least this one thing  remains intact. The Lord's Acre. The first fruits. The tradition lives on. A tradition that is rooted in the fact that each and everything that we have was first given to us by a good and generous God above. The Lord's Acre just gives us a chance to give a little back.

Deacon's Diary is a weekly feature that appears on the back side of the bulletin at the First Baptist Church of Avalon, Texas.

May God bless the undecided.

At this point we must have seen it all. And heard it all too. Whether we wanted to or not. Just know that if you think it's bad here, it is ten times worse for those that live in the so called 'swing' states.

I'm talking about the all the campaign stuff that has been thrown around this election cycle. A record breaking election cycle for sure.

 This one, because of the primaries that got moved up on the calendar and a general increase in interest, started earlier than any that came before it. There was also a record setting amount of money spent  in campaign advertising this time around. In fact, for the first time in US history that total topped 1 billion dollars.

Like I said, we have seen and heard it all by now. We've heard about the tax plans. We've heard about each candidates history. We know what they have spent their lives doing up til now. We know about their families too. (Probably more than we should know!) And based on all this, come Tuesday, we will have to make a choice.

To be certain, most people have already made up their minds. But with just two days left to decide, most polls show that any where from 4 to 9 percent of voters still have not made up their minds. In a close election, that's more than enough to make the difference.

If you were given the opportunity, wouldn't you like to talk to those 'undecided' voters? Convince them to vote with you? Probably so.

As important as these upcoming elections are, there is some thing that is even more important. There are people around us that have not yet decided to follow Jesus. These undecided folks need to make a decision that will effect them a lot longer than just the next 4 years.

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