Thursday, October 28, 2010

What Kind of Horn Blast

As I drove to the office today, I pulled through and bought that very nutritious meal for breakfast called “A sausage biscuit.” Now you will understand that this food cannot ride in your car to the office. In fact, I submit that if the biscuit arrives at the office with you, you have been very ‘neglectful.’
As I pulled out of the “What-a-burger” immediately I was stopped by a traffic light with cars both behind me, in front of me, and still attempting to get on the road beside me. When the traffic light changed to green (I was taking a big bite out of that mmmmm….mmmm biscuit) I took off only to hear the “honk, honk” (use your imagination) of the horn from the car behind me. Like most of us, I thought, “Why are they honking at me? What did I do?” Looking in the mirror, I discovered the car behind me was ‘waving’ at some friends who were going into What-A-Biscuit (GRIN) and was motioning for a car to get into traffic in front of them. In other words, the sound of that horn was a friendly horn and this spurred my mind (which rarely works right) into a thinking about the ‘sound of the horn and what it really means.’ Here is my disclaimer; these are only my general observations. There are exceptions & other interpretations, but what follows is worth giving some thought.
When you hear a ‘car horn’, what do you think and how do you respond? Aren’t you like me? We snap our heads around like “how dare you” and yet, the type of horn sound seems to mean a lot.
The “Loud & Long blast (LLB)” may mean many things including that the driver got up on the wrong side of the bed or it may mean that he/she is angry because you are breathing their ‘air’ driving on ‘their’ road or taking up space in their world. All of us have seen people who seem to think like this, the question is, ‘have we ever BEEN such a person.’ However, that long blast can also serve as a sound of “warning.” That LLB may be that we are pulling out in front of someone or backing into someone or even that we are going the wrong way on the road and about to cause an accident. Warnings serve to protect us.
The “Short & Repeated blast (SRB)” may indicate that the other driver had a fight with his wife before leaving home so he is irritated with whomever he encountered all day long. Sometimes this demonstrates a quality of impatience with others. You’ve seen them; no one is driving fast enough to suit them so they spend their day tapping the horn and ‘talking’ (putting it nicely) to fellow drivers who are inconsiderate of their schedule. However the SRB can simply be intended as a ‘reminder’. You are checking your email, talking on the phone, or dealing with the little ones at a Red light and the light turns green. The driver behind you has no intent of being mean-spirited about it so he ‘taps on the horn’ just so you will notice. When this happens to me, my head turns around (like I’m in Junior High and my manhood has been threatened) looking to see who it is who would ‘dare’ blow their horn at me (don’t look so ‘spiritual’ because I bet you do it too). Most of the time I am quickly embarrassed because the only thing that driver wanted to do was just remind me to look up.
Can you see the parallel between the horn blasts and our spiritual life? When people are attempting to speak warning, reminder, or even grace in our life, how do we respond? Do we always react by taking an offense (only to be embarrassed at our carnal response) or do we hear with our spiritual ears, learn, and respond?
In Revelation 2-3, our Lord repeated said, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the spirit says…” May we hear the horn and respond correctly, making our Lord pleased.

Thursday, October 07, 2010

What is this country ‘coming to?’

While the title of this blog is not correct grammatically, it is an accurate question – PRACTICALLY! The news stories which we read and hear seem to strike at the very core of our existence. The courts (and some churches) in this land appear to have lost touch with reality and common sense.

For instance, I cannot imagine God sending HIS PEOPLE to a grave yard to belittle the parents of a young man who are attempting to bury their son killed on the battlefield. While it is true that America has and is taking the course of Sodom & Gomorrah and does need a course change; but does disrespecting and desecrating the internment of a fallen soldier accomplish this goal? It would seem to me that God is leveling judgment on America for many, many reason and in many, many ways, and God's people need to be the change 'agents' to right our course. That being said, we are also admonished to 'speak the truth in love.' This does not mean backing up from the truths which we are given in God's word, but neither does it mean to become 'mean spirited' to those who are hurting.

Another instance of the loss of 'common sense' is the story out of Tupelo, Mississippi. A lawyer 'refused' to recite the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag of the USA (as is the custom) before court began. What gives? Ninth Grade "Civics" taught me that citizenship carries with it 'rights and responsibilities'. My rights are defined in the Constitution and my responsibility is to pledge my life to this nation. Honestly (and with common sense), you cannot have one without the other. Today, people seem "all about" their rights and really don't care to discuss the responsibilities which follow.

I asked "What is this country coming to?" If some old-fashioned loyalty to the founding principles, courage to go against the grain, and integrity to stand for 'RIGHT' (yes there is still a 'right' & a 'wrong'), then the grand ole lady we know as the UNITED STATES of AMERICA will pass off the historical scene like every other nation in history.

Sadly, this seems to be the desire of some in D.C. Right now, it would seem we are living the 'times' expressed in Judges, "everyone doing what is right in their own eyes." This will lead to decay, depression, and disintegration, before our very eyes.

May God's people rise up to become the 'Lights of Right' in our nation. May we illuminate the path so brightly that all can see the road we are on and the turn we need to make. "Lord Jesus, WE need a touch from you, TODAY."

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