"Why Are We Still Here?"

Just a few thoughts as we approach 2012.



When I lived in Mississippi, every year for my birthday, my dear friend
Frank Emerson, would take me to Creshale’s Restaurant. It is an extremely
old building with the original antique furnishings. We would order seafood
and steaks, and all the staff and patrons would sing ‘Hail, Hail, the
Gang’s All Here” for my birthday. It made for some wonderful memories.



A few years ago I looked up the origins of that song, and it has given
it much more significance for me. The song was used as a Fighting Song
sung by the infantry in World War I. Moving from one battle to the next ,
the surviving troops would sing.

“Hail, hail, the gang’s all here”
“Not a single dead one, every one a live one”
“Hail hail the gang’s all here”
“Aren’t you glad that you’re still here?”

Sometimes if they had lost comrades they would sing , “Why the hell
are WE still here?"

In updating my addresses, I found an address book from 2002. I was
amazed at how many dear friends had died in that time. I wondered,
“Why am I still here?” We have lost many, many dear ones, just this
past year. Why, then, am I still here?

This year I lost my Daddy. A wonderful man. There has never been
anyone like him. A heart of love and honesty sometime to a fault.
His favorite Bible verse was Psalm 41.1 'Blessed is he that remembers
the poor" We lost our great nephew Dusty just this last week. A little
4 year old angel. He used to say, I'm Dusty, and I am awesome".
Indeed he was.

A friend of mine , Fr David Trosch, of Mobile , Alabama once said
to me, “God in his justice, will not allow anyone to die, until
their final relationship with Him is settled“. The reason we
are still here is simple. God is still working on us, and has a
purpose for us. Some people’s journey is done. They have fought the
good fight, they have finished the race. But we have not. The events
of the last few weeks have been so hard for those of us "still here".
But, in the midst of the tragedy, something amazing happened. Our
family drew extremely close to one another. We prayed as hard as we
ever have, we held each other close and told each other we love each
other like we never have before.

Paul said, in Philippians 1.23ff “I desire to depart and be with Christ…
but it is more necessary for you that I remain” Paul realized that he was
“still here’ for a purpose: To reach out, to be a friend, to be a brother,
to reconcile enemies, to make reparation for his past life. Jesus was
very clear, if we do not forgive others, we are not forgiven. And the
way we judge others is how we will be judged. We are still here. As we
have seen this year, this life is short and none of us have tomorrow
promised. We must determine that before we make our final journey to
the next world., that we endeavor to "still be here" for one another
and spread as much love in this world as we can.



So, the smoke will soon clear on 2011. Some of us are gone, but
some of us are still here. Why?It is a gift from God. A new day
to love him and trust in Him. A new day to care for the hurting,
the lonely, the abandoned. A new day to repair broken relationships
and leave grudges behind. A new day to pray for and make up to
others, whenever possible the wrong we may have done.

Today is a new day, to hear His voice, to receive his forgiveness and mercy. One cannot receive the gracious, forgiveness of God, purchased for us by the blood of His Son, and quickly be mean to other people!

In conclusion: Be thankful, love God. And as James Taylor said, “Shower the people you love with love. Tell them the way that you feel.” Aren’t you glad that you’re still here? In fact that is why you are "still here".


Jack

How to Respond to False Accusations

How to Respond to False Accusations

Rebecca Livermore

We've all experienced it. You know, snide comments, public rebuke, and out and out false accusations. It stings, doesn't it? Unfortunately, the natural response to false accusations is to lash out, especially when there is absolutely no truth to the accusation. I suggest taking the high road instead. Here's how to do just that:

Determine whether or not to respond. At times it may be necessary to respond to a false accusation, especially if a lack of response may result in some type of negative consequence, such as the loss of a job. Other times it's best to just let it go. One positive benefit of taking the time to determine whether or not to respond is that time gives you an opportunity to get your emotions under control, which can help you do the next thing:

Defend in a calm manner. If you do need to defend yourself against false accusations, be calm about it. Keep your emotions under control.

Allow the strength of your character to shine. When people hear bad things about you, they will wonder whether or not they are true. An unfortunate attribute of human nature is to believe gossip. However, if you are truly a person of character, that will become obvious to people over time. Although false accusations make it possible for your reputation to be tarnished for a short period of time, continuing to do the right thing will, in the long run, allow the strength of your character to shine.
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Jack adds:

To me there is no greater pain than to be falsely accused. Especially when it is from someone you were just trying to help. We must remember that even Jesus was accused of blasphemy, witchcraft, heresy, and treason. And all he did was go around preaching forgiveness, mercy, truth, and healing the sick, and bringing good news to the poor.
Some people can be so cruel and vindictive. Two things I have learned in life. First, never take what the news media says as the gospel truth. Always let things pan out. I read the AP wire every day, and not a single day goes by when there is not a retraction on a previous story. Media has an agenda, and 90% of main stream media say they do not attend church services and have no concrete religious belief. They rely on hearsay, rumors, and have a personal agenda.
Second, living in a small town, I have learned one should not pass along rumors or gossip, and one should be very hesitant to believe it. Just like the media, gossipers and rumor mongers usually have a personal agenda fueled by their own likes and dislikes.
Try and place yourself in the person's place who cannot defend themselves. Always believe the best of people, as far as you can.
Remember if Jesus was falsely accused, who never did anything wrong in his life,
Satan can have a field day with the rest of us who are sinners. When I have been falsely accused, I have thought, "Give me a break, I have done enough wrong in my life you don't have to make anything up!"
It goes back to the golden rule, "do unto others as you would have done unto you"

Peace,

Jack

To KJV or Not to KJV

We recently had the anniversary of the King James Version of the Bible.
Truly it is a beautiful translation, although full of anachronisms
and many words which actually have changed to mean the opposite of
when it was published.

The KJV only folks, which insist that it is the only appropriate
version are well meaning , but have failed to recognize what brought
us the KJV version in the first place. The King James Bible was not the
first version of the Bible in English. In fact many of the KJV proponents
insist that The Roman Catholic Church was trying to keep the Bible out
of the language of the people which is what led to the KJV. This however
is patently disingenuous, because the Douay-Rheims Bible (DRV)was translated
by the Catholic Church into English BEFORE the KJV, and most of the
scholars, that worked on the KJV were the ones that had previously
translated the Douay.

The principal difference between the two is that the DRV was translated
from the Latin Vulgate while the KJV was translated from the original
Greek and Hebrew. Erasmus' publication of the Greek New Testament inspired
Tyndale and Luther to translate the Bible from the original Greek and
Hebrew into the language of the people. Tyndale into English and Luther
into German.

Despite it's claim to be a new translation based on a group of scholars,
the KJV is actually simply a revision of Tyndale's English Bible. It
contains 83% of Tyndale's language in it's New Testament and 76% of his
language in it's Old Testament. It would have been more properly named
had it been called The Revised Tyndale Version.

But let's get down to business here. The same people who claim that
the Catholic Church was trying to keep the Bible out of the vernacular
neglect to mention that the Catholic Church had already translated into
the vernacular (language of the people)before the KJV. Tyndale's idea in
his work which predated the DRV and the KJV was to translate the Bible
into language "even a poorly educated plow boy could understand" This
was the motive behind Tyndale's work which inspired the KJV, to make the
Bible accessible to EVERYONE, being easy to understand.

Languages evolve. And the KJV is no longer in the language a poorly
educated person can understand, or even many fairly well educated people.
Many people have no idea what KJV words like purloining, eshew, or
lasciviousness mean. There are over 300 words in the KJV that are totally
obsolete and some even have the opposite meaning! Take Psalm 21.3 for
example: 'Thou preventest him with the blessings of goodness' The word
prevent in old English means to welcome. To prevent someone and to welcome
someone obviously don't mean the same thing in modern English.I could go
on and on. Folks who advocate KJV use only, are doing the same thing many of
them accused the Catholic Church of doing when they retained the Latin,
hindering access to people knowing the Word of God. Now they tend to say,
"just educate people better and it will solve the problem". But the same
thing could be have been said about people who could not understand Latin!

The Revised Standard Version sought to maintain the beauty of the KJV
by retaining the majesty of the KJV (in the Psalms especially) while
removing anachronisms (obsolete language). There have been many versions
in English that have followed. There are three types of translations:

1. Literal: these translations try to translate as far as possible
on a word for word basis the ancient texts into modern language.
Examples would be the Revised Standard Version, English Standard
Version, American Standard Version, New King James Version.

2. Dynamic Equivalent: these seek to convey the original languages
thought in phrases rather than word for word. An example would be
the New International Version. While the literal would say 'flesh'
in chapters Romans 6-8, the NIV translates it as 'sinful nature'
which more accurately describes the intent of Paul's thought.
Other examples of dynamic equivalent would be the New English
Bible,the New Revised Standard Bible, the New American Bible
the Jerusalem Bible, and the Amplified Bible.

3. Paraphrase: In a paraphrase version, phrases are used but are
more interpretive, seeking to not only convey the meaning but
to explain it. Examples would be the New Living Translation,
the Good News Bible, the Living Bible, The Message Bible.

I prefer a literal translation or a dynamic equivalent for study
purposes, with a literal for my primary Bible. It is profitable
to use the paraphrased versions in addition.I do enjoy the New Living
Translation for example, but especially in presenting correct
doctrine, the first two options are best. No matter what anyone says
no human is completely objective and can avoid the injection of
some personal doctrinal belief in translating. That why I use over
20 translations as well as Nestle-Aland Greek New Testament in my
studies. A Strong's Concordance is still a valuable tool to delve
into the original Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. All these things can
be found online, although I prefer books.

Young people today have great difficulty with the KJV, as do many adults.
Much time is wasted trying to interpret the KJV into modern English before
one can teach or preach from the text. In southern language, after hearing
from the KJV people often have the 'deer in the headlights'
or 'cow at a new gate' look.

Now if one enjoys the KJV and is comfortable with it, that is wonderful.
It is the Bible! However, some "King James people" freak out if people
want to read something else. If one mentions the NIV for instance,
their neck stretches out like a llama, their eyes bug out and their
head starts spinning around.

For what it is worth I recommend the following:

English Standard Version,New King James Version, New International
Version or Revised Standard Version.

For supplemental study I recommend The New Revised Standard,
The New Living Translation, The King James Version, The Jerusalem
Bible, and the Amplified Bible. And a Strong's Exhaustive Concordance.

But the primary thing is seek God in His Word, to love him
and others. The Bible is our most precious treasure.

Peace be with you,

Jack

Nobody Loves You When You Are Down And Out

Sure, most of us have heard of the old blues song. It talks about losing everything dear, "hitting bottom", and worst of all being completely alone. Ever been there? The Gospel of John talks about a woman "caught in the very act of adultery" and being dragged through the streets before the holiest person who ever lived. I think she pretty much had hit bottom. Of course people were probably saying "she is getting what she deserved", "it's her own fault" "she brought it upon herself" etc. etc. Some people who have "hit bottom" have brought it upon themselves, they have deserved it. 

 But amazingly enough, during Jesus' ministry he made no distinction between those who hit bottom because of their own actions or who hit bottom through no fault of their own. When he prayed for people to be healed , he never inquired as to how they had gotten in that state. One of my favorite movie scenes of all time is in Clint Eastwood's 'Unforgiven'. The Scofield Kid has just killed his first man in cold blood. He tries to ease his conscience by saying, "He had it coming to him". Eastwood says, "We all have it coming to us". He then says, "He deserved it" Eastwood replies, "Deserve has nothing to do with it" In Matthew 25 Jesus says true Christians visit those in prison, clothe the naked, feed the hungry. He makes no distinction between those who arrived at that state through their own actions or through circumstances beyond their control. '

Deserve' has nothing to do with it. Our greatest calling is to reach out to the down and out. At the height of the AIDS epidemic in the US before the AIDS drugs, I used to sit with last stage AIDS patients to give their families or caregivers a break. Many of my conservative friends would talk about how the AIDS sufferers "brought it upon themselves". I was appalled at such a lack of love and compassion. I am so grateful that when we go to God in prayer and ask for his forgiveness, or his help in our time of crisis, he doesn't say, "you have it coming to you". Jesus took our sins upon himself rather than point the finger at us. 

 I have been down and out. I have hit bottom. And I can say, much of it was my own doing. Yet, the hardest thing was the silence of my "friends' There are many people who are hurting. Who are completely alone. Often because of the choices they have made. Do you know anyone like that? They may be completely alone because of sinful, selfish choices. Or maybe through no fault of their own. Sometimes we don't know what to say to someone who is alone, who is hurting, who maybe has just lost their dearest loved one, who has a terminal illness, who lost their job, so we say nothing, we do nothing. 

 

 What are the three greatest words one can say to someone who is "down and out"? It is not "I love you" It is "I'll be there" Just to have someone come and sit with you when you are down and out means more than any pious platitude. People who are down and out know it. If it is their fault, they know it. Do you know someone who has just lost a loved one, who is in prison, who has lost everything, who has been abandoned. If you are a Christian, remember Jesus has always been there when you were down and out. And it didn't matter if it was of your own doing or not. He calls us to follow him. This world is a tough place sometimes. Let us reach out to those who hurt. It doesn't mean we compromise our moral standards. Jesus didn't compromise his when he showed mercy. There is probably someone who needs you to reach out. You don't need to be a great preacher or saint. You just need to show up. And you will be the one who receives the greatest blessing. Peace, Jack

What Is Forgiveness? Seriously.

What is Forgiveness? Seriously.

by Jack B Keene

We all have heard, it. In fact most of us have probably said it: "I will forgive but I will not forget'

Any person who says this has NOT forgiven. Let me explain why. Jesus said, "For if you forgive others their trespasses, than your heavenly Father will forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your heavenly Father forgive you" Matthew 6.14,15

But lets look at another verse: "With the judgment you pronounce you will be judged,, and the measure you give will be the measure you get' Matthew 7.2

Jesus says the same way we forgive others is the way we will be forgiven by God, and the measure of non-judgment we give, is the measure of non-judgment we will receive from God.

We are called to forgive as God forgives. So, does God ever say, "I forgive but I will not forget?"

Let's look at some scriptures:

Isaiah 43.25: 'I even I am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more'

Jeremiah 31.34: 'For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more'

Hebrews 8.12 'For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more'

Psalm 25.7 'Remember not the sins of my youth'

I can go on and on. "Forgiveness' while retaining a record is NOT FORGIVENESS. And we are still in our sins if we "forgive" in this manner because God will not give us Biblical forgiveness if we do not give it.

To say "I will not forget" is to say "I will remember, or I will keep a record" "I WILL" means one is plainly stating that their WILL is to retain a record of another person's sin.

Remember means: "to CALL to mind" or 'to BRING' to mind' . Call and bring are both actions. This means that by declaring we will not forget we are declaring we will retain that person's sin by a conscience decision.

What does 'forget' mean? It has two meanings: One, is that one is unable to remember. The other means 'to overlook something' Are we 'overlooking' someone's sins if we declare we will not forget?

True, someone's past offenses may occasionally come to mind. But since we have chosen forgiveness we must cast these evil thoughts to the devil where they came from. If we declare "I WILL not forget' then we are retaining instead of throwing away offenses. This means God will retain our sins against us.

Of course we can only forgive sins against us personally. We cannot forgive the sins of another against a third party. If someone commits a sin against someone else then we cannot forgive because they sinned against them not us. That is between them and God.

But if anyone has sinned against us personally, and we say we won't forget we are certainly due the judgment of God.

So beloved, forgive and forget, Isn't that what you want God to do for you?

Peace,

Jack