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.

Holy Day shoppers?

Early Friday morning, about 4am Texas time, a 34 year old man named Jdimytai Damour was trampled to death in a human stampede. Any of those there who dared to try and help him were injured.

Unfortunately we hear about this kind of thing happening from time to time. But this incident is a little different. And it really got to me.

By the sound of the victim's name you might be thinking that it  happened some where in Africa, maybe? Or maybe it was another one of those crowd out of control things at a soccer match some where in Europe? Or maybe it was one of those Muslim pilgrimage situations at one of the holy sites in the Middle East? Not this time.

Jdimytai Damour was trampled under the feet of the 2000 or so shoppers that were lined up at a Wal-Mart in Long Island, New York near Manhattan. When the store opened Mr. Damour had the unfortunate duty of unlocking the doors. The eager shoppers ran him over in their haste to take advantage of all the items on sale.

Christmas is a time to celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior. We try to teach our kids the real meaning of the day. As Christians we try hard not to get caught up in the secular traditions that have  become attached to this very special celebration. And we try to tell as many people as possible about the true meaning of Christmas.

As hard as it sometimes may be. Though it may be uncomfortable at times. Even if we think that we are doing all we can to spread the word about Jesus. Let us try harder. Even when we make some progress, just know there are a lot of people who need to hear it. I know of 2000 or so people in New York that just don't get 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.

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.

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

Hallowed be His name.

Black cats and broom straddling witches. Carved up pumpkins depicting the most evil of images. Huge spider webs and tombstones. Graveyards scenes with the spooky mist. Masks and/or costumes with makeup so that the people can dress up just like some the most hideous people this world has ever known. Other costumes of the people and/or creatures of the most horrific type that Hollywood has ever made up or dreamt up.

And so it is with us human beings. Halloween is very popular with the folks in this country. Halloween is big business, too. According to a USA Today article I just read the American citizens will spend a whopping  3.3 billion dollars on Halloween related merchandise this year. Home decorations, outrageous costumes, candy and the like, Halloween night festivities, and, yes, some of them even purchase costumes for their pets. 3.3 billion is lot of money! That is something that is really scary!

We all know that the human species is kind of weird at times, but if you stop and think about it, this need or desire to scare oneself silly has to be at the top of the 'odd' list. What is up with that? Our population is full of all kinds of thrill seekers like bungee jumpers, mountain climbers, sky divers, and all the rest. Now before you go off and start telling yourself that you don't have the need to ever get an adrenaline fix, stop and really think about it for a second. Have you ever been to Six Flags? Ever rode a roller coaster? (I think we are all guilty to a certain extent.)

As for why we are fascinated with such excitement, I couldn't tell you.  It'll have to remain a mystery. Then again we all love mystery, don't we?

There is, however, no mystery about the fact Jesus Christ has paid in full the debt owed for the sins of us all. Nothing mysterious about the fact that Jesus sacrificed His life for all who believe in Him. None of that other stuff is nearly as scary as facing death without knowing Him!

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

Words to The Word.

Words are just too cool. Ever since I was a young one I've always liked words, language, english, and all that goes with them. English, writing, and language were always my favorite subjects in school.

Still to this day I have a love for words and word games and the such. Crossword puzzles, cryptograms, anagrams, word search, and all the rest of them. There is a internet game called wordslide that  I like to play too. In other words, words are, in a word, priceless.

Some guy once asked me what I thought the greatest invention in the entire history of the world was. My answer to him was words. When he tried to argue that I just had to be wrong, I simply asked him to say what he thought the greatest invention of all time was- without using any words.  I won the argument. He was speechless.

Words have been with us for a very long time. I can think of no other invention that has the power of words. Without them almost none of things we enjoy today would be possible. Life would be a lot different if not for the power of communication. Without the use of our language skills, cummulative knowledge would not be possible. Progress would all but stop if we could not pass things along.

Thinking of words reminds me of the first two verses of the Gospel of John. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning."

While our alphabet and the use of words were 'invented', The Word is entirely different. The Word has always been. The Word will always be. The Word was not invented. The Word is a Gift. Let us use and choose our words well. The progress of His kingdom depends on the proper use of words to pass along The Word to all.

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

The year 2008 PC

We are just a few days and a couple of months away from the end of 2008 AD. I saw something on TV yesterday that got to me to thinking that I must be slow. Either that or I need to get out more.

I was watching "Who wants to be a millionaire" yesterday when I saw it. It was embedded in one of the questions. The question was about the renaming of the Prince of Sakyans in India to either Buddha, Dalai Lama, Krishna, or another that I can't remember.

The question itself it not what got my attention. In another words, it wasn't the what, but the when. This renaming supposedly took place way back around the year 500 BCE. Not BC. They said BCE.

I wasn't the only one that was just a little confused by this. The contestant on the show was too. He asked Regis what BCE meant. Regis went on to explain that BCE meant 'before common era' and that it represented the exact date in time BC ('before Christ') would represent. That satisfied the contestant. He got the question right.

I on the other hand was not so satisfied. That is probably because   I had a different question in mind. I already knew what BCE meant. My question, if given the opportunity to ask it, would have been an inquiry as to why they would use the term BCE in the first place.

Petty on my part? Maybe. It's just that PC ('political correctness') gets on my nerves. This BCE and CE thing was put to use for the sole purpose of being sensitive to the non Christians in our society.

Like I said at the top, I must be slow. In a very short time we will usher in 2009 AD. (Anno domini-the year of our Lord) I guess I should have already realized how hard PC is trying to get rid of BC.

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

Perfectly centered.

Throughout most of our recorded history man believed that the planet Earth was the center of the universe. Without the benefit of telescopes and all the tools and equipment that scientist have today it is not hard to figure out why they thought this to be the case.

Every day man saw the sun come up in the east and then watched   it travel across the day time sky only to set in west. It had all the appearances of making a circle around them. Much like the moon looks to all of us Earth bound people as it travels around the planet.

As the scientist of the 17th century made advances in mathematics, and with the invention of the first telescope, this geocentric theory of an Earth centered universe started to breakdown and fall apart. But even as the evidence poured in, it was not easy for man to let go there long believed idea that our planet must be in the center.

Some of the first people that tried to make the case that the Earth did indeed revolve around the sun were severely punished. Galileo was put under house arrest until he died. Others were executed. Proof that it's in our nature to believe that we must be the center.

This 'man-centered' way of thinking is never as far 'off-center'    as it is when it comes to worship. When our prayers and our meditations start to become all about us, we have missed the point. If we get to a place where we worship God just to see what He will do for us, we have missed the true purpose of worship all together.

With this in mind, let us let go of any man-centered notions when it comes to the worship of our Lord. Our worship should never revolve around us, but it should forever and always revolve around the Son.

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

Ask yourself this question.

A couple of weeks ago  my wife Kay called me from a tire store near the house. She had just recently put four new tires on her car and one of them was already going flat, so she took the car there to make them make it right.

After being told about the problem of the brand new but leaky tire, the attendant asked her a very curious question. He asked, "Are you sure it was flat, or did it just look like it was flat?"  Like I said. Very curious.

Kay was more than just a little offended at the man's question. It was a little condescending. It was as if, just because she was a woman, that he thought that maybe she wasn't smart enough to know a flat tire when she saw one. Before it was over he probably wished he hadn't asked.

Now if that guy had asked me that same question I probably would have had a question for him. Something like, "Can you tell me what exactly is the difference between flat and just looking flat?"  I mean, when you really think about it, what kind of question was that? It would be just like taking your clothes to the cleaners and having the person that worked there asked you if your clothes were really dirty, or did they  just look dirty. Where's the difference? Just address the problem!

Kay and I got a few good laughs talking about all this afterwards. But later on it got me thinking about something else that is no laughing matter at all. The differences between flat and just looking flat, or dirty and just looking dirty are small if not nonexistent, but think about the huge difference between  saved and just looking saved. Now that makes  a world of difference. Enormous difference. An eternity of difference.

To avoid the kind of problems the guy at the tire shop stumbled into, we should probably refrain from asking this question of another person, but maybe we should ask it of ourselves. Do I know Jesus, or do I just think I know Jesus?

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