From My Heart to Yours

The Front Porch, and the Beginning of Wisdom Summer nights, sitting on the porch with my grandfather, was the beginning of my love for wisdom.  "Granddaddy," as all thirteen of his grandchildren affectionately called him,enjoyed sitting on the porch after supper, in his rocking chair, while he puffed away on a good cigar.  My Grandmother did not like his "cigars" thus banished his smoking from the house. I never minded the aroma of a g ood cigar, and grandmother's cigar rule created good one on one opportunities with granddaddy.  When visiting my grandparents there were times  when I had the opportunity to sit with my grandfather on the porch while he enjoyed his cigar. This usually took place after supper, or sometime we would go on occasional walks in the field behind his house checking out the mares and foals. My grandfather would puff away while we "studied" as he liked to call it, on various subjects. As granddaddy puffed away he wou...

I am complicit. It is my prayer we don’t condemn those who bought into the lies about abortion, rather help them find forgiveness. Both men and women carry a huge burden of shame and guilt like with any mistake in life. We each have places where we fell into a trap and wish we could change our past. I know I do and would fill shame if the wrong people knew the details of my journey. Jesus came to rescue all of us out of darkness. No one is righteous and without sin. Looking at the chart, I encourage you to do the math, you probably know someone who carries a burden from this and other present day deceptions. Grandparents, parents, children, who are complicit and hurting from their decisions. My sins are great but God’s grace is greater. I’m not a women but I am a part of the red slice of the pie chart by being complicit. How? By doing nothing to help those in need, or by judging and not showing mercy in word and deed when I’ve had the opportunity. Like all sin, love is...

You can't plow straight looking back On the farm there was a coveted tractor we called the "W-9." It was a beast of a machine and when started it sounde d like a WWII bomber ready for take off. The rumble of the engine and straight pipe for an exhaust made it a young man's dream machine.  This tractor had no power steering and it took strong arms to keep it in the road. The W-9 was used for big jobs around the farm like plowing a field. I always wanted to try my hand at plowing with the W-9, but that was not my job on the farm, so I had to be content watching from the sidelines.  Until one day my dream came true! I was allowed to plow a section of the field and told to "keep my rows straight," which I thought to myself  "I got this!" I made my first row, then a 2nd, then things unraveled on the 3rd row.  The problem started as I tried to look behind me to glory in my accomplishment of plowing 2 rows, not realizing that my steering got of...

Help my unbelief  The following passage from Romans is easy for me to tell others to believe, and can be the hardest for me to believe.    Rom:10:8-13 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); 9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. 11 For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. 13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Since my earliest of days I have always believed in God. I have always marveled at what He has made. The beauty, intrigue, boldness, color, variety, and the amazing sounds of ...

Anything built on a lie will crumble. In my 65 years I have observed the  cycles of: politics, business, markets, religion, nations, morality, education, science, theology, ministries, marriage, family, government, sports, fashion, etc. I have observed that anything that is built on the weak foundation of a lie, either intentional or by ignorance, will ultimately crumble, it won't endure. It can't because truth is absolute and no amount of denial will ever make something that is false true. Socialism, or any Utopian ideal, for example, built on the falsehood that man is inherently good is going to eventually disappoint those who hold to this worldview. The weight of evidence does not support this way of thinking. Every socialist or communistic form of government has failed miserably, and ultimately devolved into some form of tyranny before becoming totally bankrupt morally, spiritually, and financially. The same could be said of putting hope in democracy as a solution. ...

About 5 miles away It was a Sunday morning that my father read in the morning paper where the POTUS would be stopping briefly in Nashville that afternoon. He was to land at the Tenn. Air National Guard base, give a campaign speech, then be off to another destination. Dad asked me if I wanted to go see the President. The airfield was about 5 miles away and I had never experienced seeing a world leader before. We went and saw the President of the United States, and both of us w ere really awed by the experience, I will not forget it. In Micah 5 the Prophet Micah foretells about the coming of another world leader. This one would be the greatest and final world leader, "whose origins are from old, from ancient times." I.e. from eternity, this would be God Himself. Where would he enter the world? About 5 miles away from Jerusalem, in Bethlehem. Now fast forward several 100 years to the city of Jerusalem. A group of Magi (very educated men) from the "East" (pro...

"The big picture"  My father seldom handed out advice but what he did share was always invaluable wisdom for life and business. He is deceased but I still hear that wisdom in my head.  One phrase he would always call me to remember, in all things to focus on the big picture. Don't get sidetracked with unnecessary smaller details. That one piece of advise has helped me avoid many "bunny trails" that would only derail accomplishing the larger goal.  What is the big picture? It is the larger context for which something exists. It's the larger purpose, or end game. It's why you do what you do, or why you do not what you might be tempted to do. My father groomed me to always see the "big picture" when making any decision. It helped me to make sense of the little decisions, in light of a bigger goal. Romans 12 the Apostle Paul says "in view of God's mercy," then proceeds to give us a sub set of daily life decisions based ...

The voice of the enemy: accusations 24/7 I like to read about great military leaders and the various battles they experienced. You can learn a lot about valor, strategies, successful campaigns, and even great defeats. One thing that stands out in all my reading is that all good military leaders learn everything they can about the opposition before going to war. Good Generals do their homework. They come to know the voice of the enemy, and create a battle plan accordingly. In Revelation 12:10-12 , we, the followers of Christ, are given a strategy to defeat the enemy, that "ancient serpent called the devil (false accuser, slanderer), or Satan, who leads the whole world astray." The greatest weapon this enemy has is accusations. He "accuses" us "before God day and night."  The problem is that the devil is usually right, we are guilty as charged! Solomon once said "There is not a righteous man on earth who does what is right and never sins." ...

Internal codes It has been my observation that most adults, at some point in their lives, establish an internal code by which they live.  My internal code is very simple:  1) the Golden Rule,  2) “Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your hands, as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent anybody.” 1 Thess. 4:11-12, and  3) God knows where I am and  will call me when He needs me. Until He does keep doing what I am doing to His glory. The last one is also from the Scriptures, but is based on the observation of ordinary people whom God called to do His will. The passage below is about one such ordinary man who won God’s heart through his simple everyday obedience to God. David had his own internal code: he loved and trusted God, he lived to glorify God in the simple everyday things of life. When God needed a King “after His own he...

Can you read this? It was the first day at my 2nd college. I had “partied” out of the 1st university and came home with the idea of not finishing school. My father had other plans sending me to a “Bible College.” I enrolled in David Lipscomb College where everyone was required amount of “Bible classes” to graduate.  So I bought a Bible along with all the other text books. This Bible was a daunting looking thing written in King’s Englis h, like reading Shakespeare. I could read it, but on the other hand, I couldn’t read it.  The book was discouraging before I even got started. Me and my Bible struggled together through that Spring quarter. It was just a text book of information I had to learn in order to pass, nothing more than that.  Until I encountered the One it was about. That was a game changer in every sort of way. All of a sudden the dead words of my Bible came alive, and not because I bought a easier to read version. For me I credit that understanding to ...

Just be who you are....There are no pretenders in the Kingdom Every summer, when the work on the farm was busiest, we would hire some part time help. Usually there was an abundance of local high school aged guys looking for part time summer jobs. Little did they know what the job entailed! At that time we had a very large horse operation. The work was hard, dirty, smelly, and potentially dangerous. Let’s just say it would smoke out any cowboy pretenders or wannabes. For example, one summer two young men arrived one morning for work. One had “the truck” with the transparent cowboy scene across the back with a “calf roping” rope hanging from a gun rack in the cab. This kid looked like the real deal with his cowboy hat, jeans, belt, and boots.  The other young man, who was dropped off to work by his father, wore tortoise colored glasses, a white T-shirt, and khaki pants. He looked like a scholar. In my mind I thought this young man wouldn’t last long. Was I ever wrong! Both ...

What’s in your family tree?  Genesis is a record of the beginning of our family tree. The book does not spare any embarrassing details nor gloss over the failings of our ancestral heroes, as you can read in the passage below. Genesis records the kind of information the gossip tabloids thrive on: jealousy, murder, lying, betrayal, cover ups, adultery, incest, rape, revenge, war, terrorism, etc. To be honest, it is difficult to reconcile the flaws of s uch people like Abraham, Sarah, Issac, Rebecca, Jacob, Laban, Reuben, Judah, Tamar, and the list goes on. As someone once said “what the Bible records and what it condones are starkly different.” The Scriptures simply tells the story both good and bad. Adam and Eve, the first family, were created to live in eternal fellowship with their Creator. There was no sin, death, nor decay in their world; those things would be the result of rebellion against God. The story takes a drastic turn for the worse when they chose to rebel agai...

When going back is actually going forward Somewhere on your journey you missed a turn realizing miles later that you are no where near your destination. The only solution is to turn around and go back where you missed your turn. The distance, and time, spent traveling in the wrong direction are directly related to the amount of feelings of stupidity you experience on the return trip. The truth is, that to continue going forward in the wrong direction is not progress, and wo uld only put you further away from the desired destination. Going back is actually going forward. C.S. Lewis gave the above example of those who try to progress in life going in a direction away from God. God is the source of all life, meaning, truth, peace and joy. Trying to find those things going away from that source is not progress. Realizing that you need to turn around and go back is actually going forward. The Prophet Isaiah to warn Israel of their wrong direction (Isaiah 30:8-13). For centuries the...

“It is just a matter of geography. You are closer than you think.” My personal life, and where I desired to be spiritually, felt miles apart. Defeat and hopelessness hung over me like a storm cloud. Everything thing I tried to do to be more like Christ turned into another failure, or made me feel more like the devil than Jesus. So I went to see a mentor-Pastor seeking his advice and help. I can remember it like it was yesterday even though it was 42 years ago. I told my Pasto r that I felt so far away from God. He smiled and gave me some words of encouragement from Jesus’parable in Luke 13:1-9. He told me I was closer to God than I thought. It was only a matter of geography. God was ready to go to work on me if I would allow it. Throughout the Scriptures we find that God is close to the broken-hearted, and if we draw close to Him, He draws close to us. In the parable found in Luke 13:1-9, the arborist is God. He wants to supply us, the fruitless tree, with what we need to be...

Hardheaded We were all about 16 or 17 and knew everything about everything. So we thought. Our superior and teacher was Harlin Hayes, who managed Harlinsdale Farm. It was summertime and a group of us high school aged guys were hired to do the heavy lifting of the seasonal Farm work.  Our main crop was horses, lots of horses! Mr. Hayes, as we respectfully called him, was my father’s first cousin. He was well known for his expertise with horses. Not only did he have many yearlin g horses to break, Mr. Hayes also had a group of young men to break. When he talked you had better listen. It was late June and time to bring the yearlings back from running free on a farm in Spring Hill, to the stables in Franklin. This was the start of the 2 months of the training and grooming process in preparation for our annual yearling sale. My job that day was to help catch and halter each yearling before loading them on the trailer. These 1,000 to 1,100 lb. babies didn’t want to be caught. ...

The 5 Most Important Questions About Life A lifelong friend, who is a professor at state university, asks each new group of students a question: “What is your worldview , and how does your worldview explain origin, meaning, morality and destiny in a coherent way that corresponds to reality?” (Ravi Zacharias). Each student has to write a paper explaining and defending their worldview. The teacher is not teaching a philosophy course, rather a horse science course. The professo r goes on to explain that one’s worldview effects everything you do, even the treatment and care of horses. The online Free Dictionary describes a worldview as “The overall perspective from which one sees and interprets the world.” The thought of sharing your worldview sounds intimidating. Let me restate it as author Frank Turek does as the 5 most important life questions: “1) Where did we come from?, 2) Who are we?, 3) Why are we here?, 4) How should we live?, 5) Where are we going?” W...

Jesus doesn’t do uber. The one thing that I have noticed in 44 years of studying Jesus is that He isn’t among the Uber religious. If He is, it isn’t for long, as seen in the passage below. In fact most of Jesus’ ministry was with the masses outside of religious settings. There was a reason. About a year ago I had a dream that I was helping people escape an unhealthy religious place by scaling a wall. Then I proceeded to hand supplies over the same wall. When it was finally m y turn to climb up and over there was no one to help. I grappled and strained until I had only one leg to pull up and over. About that time a bald man, who I can still see, ran and grabbed my leg pulling it to prevent my escape. I fought to free myself. Then... I awoke and it was evident what I had dreamed. In my spirit I felt that I had the interpretation. (This is where I will loose some of you:) In the dream I was helping people escape the unhealthy situation that comes with the entrapment of man-pleasi...

“Bless their heart” I love the “South” and the sayings that are ingrained in southern culture. It’s like a secret inside speak, or a code language that transcends ethnicity, politics, or economic status. The cryptic sayings of southern people can be misleading unless interpreted. For example, the most famous of them is “bless their heart.” This saying sounds very genuine, and in most cases it is, but the translation may vary depending on the individual it is spoken about. Ba sically “bless their heart” means a person is beyond help, they will either learn the hard way, or not at all. In this situation the best one can do for them is to ask God to “bless their heart.” In Revelation 16 the Lord is revealing to the Apostle John a very serious “bless their heart” situation. The believers in Christ have been “harvested” from the Earth. The final wrath of GOD is being poured out upon those whose names are not written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. It is a very sad scene and beyond imagin...

Harlin: "Warrior-Friend" "What did my father give me? Not an inheritance but a heritage. A sense of sportsmanship that goes beyond the playing field. He taught me to play fair in everything and to hate bullies. He taught me good taste and good manners, which have no price but have great worth. He opened my mind when I was young to a love of learning." (From my father, Bill Harlin) My father was small in stature, quiet, gentle, and a well mannered man, but a warrior on the ins ide. He was no coward and never shied away from a confrontation. When I was in the 2nd grade, for the 2nd time   😞 , a group of bullies rose up to daily make my life miserable by reminding me of my recent failure. Tears became my food night and day to the point that school became a dark place for me. I was also small compared to my adversaries, who seemed as large as Goliath. The bullying situation became so bad that my father came to me for a father-son talk o...