MAN AND HIS MONEY

Many, many years ago, days before my 16th birthday, Dad handed over the keys to my very first car. A 1971 AMC Gremlin. I was so excited and proud despite the yellow paint, the manual transmission (the “3 on the tree” shifter was attached to the steering wheel, not on the floorboard), and the lack of an air-conditioner or FM radio. 

Just a few months later, however, after finally acknowledging that my ’71 Gremlin wasn’t the girl-magnet I had originally thought, and after successfully convincing Dad that I needed an upgrade, I went on the search for a replacement. Sights were set on one singular characteristic:  a vehicle that looked good! Other factors like, ‘good running condition’ or low mileage didn’t matter. Even with a very limited budget, ultimately, I got what I searched for – a 1967 Ford Mustang. Not only did it look great, but (when it would start) it sounded great due to the loud pipes.

With tremendous pride, I kept that Mustang washed, waxed, and looking good. But, as pretty as she was, that car brought much heartache. For instance, there was an ‘ignition’ problem so I learned to park on a downhill slope so I could “kick-start” it by putting it in neutral and rolling down the hill and then popping the clutch. Also, I stashed gum-wrapping foil and toothpicks in the console because while driving, the 4 screws holding the cool-looking after-market steering wheel would come loose and make something as simple as ‘steering the car’ very hard. I’d have to plug the screw-holes with toothpicks and foil to re-tighten the steering wheel (while simultaneously driving the car). 

“MANNING” UP IN RELATIONSHIPS

I’m not sure what is innately in me that makes forming deep relationships with other men difficult, but I noticed early in our marriage, that my wife seemed to have deeper and more connected relationships with her friends, and mine seemed more shallow. Seeing this disconnect in my own life, I began to intentionally work on a few friendships. Over the past  two decades, I have seen growth with my closest friends, yet it still surprises me how difficult it has been. Don't get me wrong, I can go out with a group of guys and shoot skeet, spend a day on the river fly fishing, or go camping with other dads and sons, sitting around the fire for hours laughing and chatting it up. I have no problem creating surface conversations and small talk; I do it everyday in my workplace. However, I’m not talking about the small talk - I’m talking about going deep and really knowing some fellow man.

Some of you reading that last sentence tensed up or got defensive just thinking about the notion of deep relationships with men around you. You might think to yourself, “deep relationships are for women and guys who aren't really manly.” If this is you, I hope you pause and ask God to give you His truth on relationships. I believe God gave us each other for a purpose. Plainly put, men need other men in their lives. 

Let me give you a personal example. My dad was a great man and good father to my brother and I. He was faithfully in church any time something was going on. He taught high school Sunday school, was a deacon (even chairman of the deacons for a season), was on pastor search teams… you get the idea, he was very involved. However, even though he was a super friendly and likable guy, I couldn't tell you who he was close to, or who could speak into his life. Somewhere along the way, he chose to reconnect with an old girlfriend, eventually choosing her over my mom and leaving our family. For over a year, he made plans to leave, without anyone else knowing what was deep in his mind and heart. It was devastating to say the least. 

About 6 years later, I was headed for college in OKC, and borrowed a trailer from a man in our church. He was a pillar in the church I grew up in, and had worked alongside my father in many roles and committees. I had a lot of respect for this gentleman, who was a husky ex-football player in his mid 60’s at the time of this conversation. He was a fairly quiet fella, but had a genuine deep laugh and heartfelt smile. He didn't say a lot, but you listened when he did, because it was going to be full of wisdom. As we finished packing the trailer, he paused and turned to me with a serious look on his face, saying,  “Garrick, I want to apologize to you.” It struck me as rather odd, as I had no idea why he would need to apologize? He went on to tell me that he saw something shift in my dad about 6-8 months before he left. He said my father started acting differently, sitting more in the back of the church, quicker to leave activities and services, instead of his normal lighthearted conversations. This man I respected so much wanted me to know that he sincerely wished he had said something or checked in to see what was going on inside of my dad. Of course, there is no telling if that would have changed the course, but he regretted not trying. These words have impacted my life greatly, especially my interactions with other men. These two strong men of faith weren’t able to engage in conversation outside of the shallow day-to-day details.

I often wonder how many men would stand stronger in Christ with other men speaking into their lives.

Here are some things I’ve been trying to put into place in my own life: 

• First, we need other men in our lives that we can build deep relationships with - to know them on more than just a surface level. This doesn’t mean 20 close guy friends, I don't even think that’s possible. I do think having one or two, maybe three close friends that you intentionally work to build a deep relationship with is very important.

• Second, it often will take you stepping out to begin those deeper conversations. We get comfortable with what’s easy, but to really know someone requires us to also be vulnerable and transparent. I think of the WW2 TV series Band of Brothers - these brave men lived in the trenches of war near death every day of the tour. The recounted conversations of these manly men were transparent and honest about fears and hopes and dreams. It brought those men close together and forged an incredibly deep bond. We are in the trenches of daily life with men around us.

• Lastly, it takes experiences together to build bonds like this. I’m not saying we need to climb Mt. Everest together, but spend time doing activities and experiencing life alongside some other guys, allowing friendships to develop. Some men work so much they don’t think they have time for friendships. If this is you, I would strongly encourage you to carve out several times a year, or even a day each month to do a guy outing with some fellas in your circle.

Maybe you don't think you have any men around you. You may feel alone, but you're not. This is so prevalent in men. I would suggest making a list of the men who you interact with most often. Maybe it's a work associate, boss, or coworker - perhaps a neighbor or someone you see at church each week. Take that list and begin to invest in deeper conversations over the next month or two. Go to lunch with one of them or to a sporting event, or do a hobby together. Sometimes you will find the other fellas feel the same and are looking for friendships, but don't know how to start. Be the brave one to make the first step. 

One of the bravest warriors, King David, had some close friends who were mighty men around him. David exposed his thoughts throughout the Psalms, he was vulnerable, and not afraid to share emotion. Jesus had twelve men around Him, three of which were the inner circle. He disclosed deep emotional thoughts with these guys. If those two men needed friendships then we all do.  If we knew, I mean really knew some guys in our circles, how would that change our lives? How would that change our communities? It’s time to man up.

Author: Garrick McAnear

MILLENIAL MOMENT

Have you ever thought about how you think? Have you ever asked a child why they did something? Have you ever wondered why you did something? If you’re a parent, you have absolutely asked one of your children the second question – or will ask (100% guaranteed or you’re not paying enough attention). If you’ve filled out your own taxes, you’ve likely asked yourself the third question. It wasn’t until a few years ago that I began to ponder the problem presented by the first question. Since then, I’ve only begun to scratch the surface of addressing my thoughts on how I think we need to be thoughtful about our thinking. It is becoming increasingly difficult to think.

Thinking is an odd thing if you really think about it. It’s the stuff that goes on in the space above our throat and in between our eyes. Thoughts pop in and out of our minds as easily as we breathe, yet they permeate every action we take. Thoughts can be as simple as “Wow, that is a tall tree!” or as deep as wondering what our place in the universe is. Our thinking and our thoughts, whether we are aware of it or not, dictate the courses of our lives. They can lead us towards both good and terrible things. But what is thinking?

Thinking has some of the following definitions: “to form or have in the mind”; “to reflect on”; “to center one’s thoughts on”; and “to form a mental picture of.” These are all active definitions. They are not passive. They require the individual to be fully engaged in the process in some capacity. No distractions. I like to believe that the last definition is the truest form, since it mirrors the story of Creation. Surely God had to think about what he was creating, right? It is also worth noting there is no decent definition for the opposite of thinking. A good example would be considering light as thought and darkness as thoughtlessness. Darkness and thoughtlessness are merely the absence of light and thought, respectively.

Let’s look at what makes humanity unique. Animals instinctually eat when they are hungry and mate when the season comes. A computer operates based on keystrokes and internal programming to produce predictably consistent results. Humans have instincts and biological programming like animals and computers, but we have the gift of combatting these instincts and programming through thought. A father may be starving, but he would deny himself food to ensure that his child would survive. A stockbroker might see red squiggles on a chart and hear Wall Street crying “SELL!” yet choose to keep his holdings regardless of what the data says. Both choices started with a thought. “I am hungry” and “My holdings are worth less now than they were yesterday.” I don’t need to delve into the thoughtless outcomes of those scenarios.

Here are some parting words from James Schall in his book “The Life of the Mind” about Sam Gamgee’s reflection on his and Frodo’s adventure through the Lord of the Rings novels:

“…[N]otice what it is that Sam wishes. He wishes to hear the tale of his exploits, of his experience, of his adventure as it is told again, almost as if to say that nothing is completed until we can hear it again. This would suggest that even though living through some love or adventure is the primary experience, it is never possible to exhaust what we are given in it without reflecting on it, putting it into place, seeing depths within it that we had missed the first time.”

I wonder how many meaningful and rich lessons we miss by letting moments pass us by without engaging in any sort of reflection. We may never know what we’ve missed or what God was trying to teach us. Unfortunately, there seems to be a continual expansion of things that are available for people to busy themselves with – look no further than the number of accounts on Twitter that comment every hour on the hour about the minute-by-minute price changes in Dogecoin. It would seem they – and often we as well – have nothing better to do with their time than using the internet as a substitute for developing their own thought lives. The great misfortune is that this is sometimes done for worthless things. With our world growing increasingly distracted from stuff bearing eternal significance, it is important that we consider adding some time for reflection in our day-to-day lives.

Paul himself addresses this concern in his letter in Romans 12. “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” It would seem a large part of following God requires the individuals mind – the seat of thought – to be renewed and actively used in order to understand His will and perceive what is good. Not forgetting the Old Testament, the sage writer of Proverbs 4:26 recognized the importance of thinking as well long before Paul wrote Romans: “Ponder the path of your feet; then all your ways will be sure.”

Thinking can be hard. Our minds have such great capacities for lust, love, cruelty, and compassion that pull us in opposite directions. Handling our thoughts is a lot like working out when you want to develop a muscle. It often requires us to dwell on difficult – and sometimes seemingly boring – things. The changes that occur in an exercised thought life develop slowly in a person’s mind – where only God and the individual keep company. The fruit born by an active mind does not go unnoticed, as our thoughts turn to actions and those actions can dishonor or honor God.

Brothers – as Paul calls us to be transformed by the renewing of our minds in Romans 12:2, let us renew our minds and put them to use as God has called us. So take a minute this week and ponder something or dwell on decision a bit longer than you might normally do. Whether it’s on the Thunder’s prospects this season, what to eat for lunch, the state of our economy and culture, where to spend your money, or on the love of Jesus.

Just think.

Author: Jacob Brown

RETIREMENT

Could I? Should I? Can I afford to? When is the best time? If I do, what could I do, what should I do? What does my spouse want? What about my kids, my grandkids, what will they think? Will I have friends to hang out with? Do I have friends I want to hang out with? Where should I live? Should I downsize, upsize, move closer to family, farther from family? Move to town, a different part of town, a new town, to the country, to a different country? What if the market crashes (again) and takes my savings with it?  What if I have a change of health? What if I don’t like it? What if I change my mind? What, what, what, if, if, if??? Too many questions. Too many unknowns. Just forget the whole idea and keep on doing what I’m doing?

Welcome to the world we live in. Too many options drive us crazy. (Too few options drive us crazy, too, when we think about it…we’re a hard bunch to please).But, crazy or not, take a deep breath and relax. Like most of the other decisions you’ve made in life, there’s no ‘right’ way to do this one, nor is there a wrong way; you just have to do whatever way seems best to you right now, and go for it. And, by the way, whatever way you choose, it can and will evolve over time. Kinda like the rest of your life, right? Planning is always wise (hence this series of articles), but as the old, wise ones have said “The gods laugh at our plans”; and “Life is what happens while you’re making other plans”.

In the next few issues of this newsletter we’re going to talk about some answers to lots of questions, and share the experience and wisdom of many who have walked this path ahead of us.  We’ll talk about the whats, the whens, the hows, the lessons, the surprises, the best parts, the scariest parts, the realities…the whole enchilada (or nine yards, or magilla, or whatever cliché you prefer).

Let me begin by introducing myself and sharing briefly my career and retirement experience. My name is Dave Gillogly. My wife Millicent and I were born and raised in Ponca City, Oklahoma. We spent the first eighteen years, the ‘growing up’ season of our lives there. We started dating at OU in 1968. We married in 1969; I got drafted later that year, then spent 1970-71 in the Army in El Paso, Texas at the Air Defense School at Fort Bliss.  Millicent finished her degrees in Math, Physics, and secondary education in the spring of ’70 while I was in basic training, then joined me in El Paso. (As a draftee I was making an outlandish $125.00 a month. Her teaching job at the high school on the base at Ft. Bliss kept us fed.)  In ’72 and ’73 we were back at OU while I finished my degree in economics and got my MBA.

After finishing my MBA in Dec. ’73, at age twenty-six I ended the formal ‘education’ season of life and started on the ‘work’ or ‘career’ part. I went to work for a truck line in Cushing, Oklahoma in the spring of ‘74. Two years later, and three weeks before our first daughter was born in March of ’76, I quit that job without having another one.  In June, via an ad in the Wall Street Journal, I changed ‘careers’, and joined Gov. David Boren’s staff at the Capitol in Oklahoma City. In ’77 I changed again and became Commissioner (CEO) of the Oklahoma State Workers Compensation Insurance Fund. I left the Fund in ’82 and managed two independent oil companies until I resigned (again without another job lined up) in July of ’87. In ’88 I joined Express Employment Professionals as COO; a couple of years later I became President and ‘retired’ from that position January 1, 2000, at age 52. So ended the ‘work’ or ‘career’ season of my life and began the ‘retirement’ season. Twenty-six years growing up and getting educated, then twenty-six years of ‘careering’.

My ‘retirement’ so far, has consisted of buying a cabin a mile outside the Northeast Entrance of Yellowstone Park in 2000, then spending three to five months of the summer and fall there for the next twenty years. When here in Oklahoma the other months of those Montana years, I taught in the business school at Oklahoma Baptist University part time for seven years; did a variety of consulting jobs off and on for over fifteen years; served on a number of for-profit and not-for-profit boards until about four years ago, and now continue to serve only on not-for-profit boards; have mentored and continue to mentor business owners, senior level executives, entrepreneurs, and a number of young men in various stages of their careers including church staff members. I also authored two books, co-authored one, and edited a devotional used by the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. I have also served in nearly every lay position possible in my home church of 45 years, Council Road Baptist Church in Bethany Oklahoma, and my summer and fall church, Mount Republic Chapel of Peace, an interdenominational church in Cooke City, Montana. Two years ago, we sold the cabin and began a new season of the retirement season of life. Just like all the other previous seasons, I don’t know what this one is supposed to be like because I’ve never been this old before.

The Oxford dictionary definition of retirement is “the action or fact of leaving one’s job and ceasing to work”. I have serious disagreements with the dictionary definition. If ‘leaving one’s job and ceasing to work’ is the strict definition, then I’ve retired a lot of times, but never for more than a few months until the last one in 2000.  On the other hand, I’ve never “ceased to work”, even between jobs or after ‘retiring’ so, like most people, I don’t think I’ve ever fit the dictionary definition of retirement. People leave jobs all the time, but they’re not ‘retired’. And even people who don’t have a ‘job’ in retirement seldom don’t do any work.  A retired friend joked he “didn’t do a durn thing…and he didn’t start that ’til after lunch”. Then he said, “Really, I get up in the morning with nothing to do, and go to bed with half of it done”. Nearly every retiree I know quickly identifies with that last statement.

So, let’s start this series of articles trying to describe what we’re really talking about when we say ‘retired’. Prior to World War II our country was primarily rural. A large percentage, if not the majority of people were involved in agriculture. Childhood was really only that portion of life that occurred before one was capable of doing physical work, either in the home or in the fields. Education was a part of growing up but work was just as much so. Higher education was primarily for the well to-do. For most people, life was divided into two parts: childhood and workhood, (or adulthood). After WWII life for most became a little more segmented: childhood, education, career, retirement. Basically, it was one to five, five to twenty-twoish, twenty-two to sixty-five, and sixty-five to death. The ages could blur a little, but the stages were nearly universal. A more simplistic life cycle may even be described as just three parts: growing up, working, and retirement.

Let’s go back to the Oxford definition. Who do you know who is retired who doesn’t have a ‘job’ or doesn’t do any ‘work’? Nearly everyone who is capable physically and mentally is doing something worthwhile. They may not ‘go to work’ every day at the same time or place, but they have rarely come to the ‘cessation’ of work. We’ve been told that the Bible offers the Christian no ‘retirement’ option. Often that had seemed to be a chastisement and an accusation against the retired. The fact is that our entire lives are to be centered around following God’s plan for us and serving people in Jesus’ name. If that didn’t describe your work life, then it was no more noble or scriptural than doing nothing and calling it retirement. So, let’s come up with a different working definition of retirement or perhaps of ‘work’.

My experience and the experience of others has brought me to this simple definition: Retirement is a time when you get to choose how you spend your time. It’s not so much a ‘thing’, as it is a time of choice. You may choose to use it ‘working’ either as a volunteer or for pay, but you choose the occupation and you can quit whenever you want. You may choose to do what you’ve been doing, but not be in charge, or not work five days a week, or not work eight (or more) hours a day every day, but you’re choosing what sort of ‘job’ and schedule you want. You might always have had those options, but your finances, family, or personality didn’t make it seem like it. That freedom of choice makes it different from work before retirement. The freedom to choose is what is different.  And that’s really just a change of how you think about how you choose to spend your time.

So, work is an option. And it’s an option most people choose. Some people actually get paid for some of it, others just do volunteer ‘work’, and others do work around the house, but everyone continues to do work of some kind.  When you think of all the errands and housework you do as ‘work’, you find out you’re pretty darn busy. Most retirees say, “I’m busy all the time. I don’t know how I got all this stuff done when I was working!”  Busy all day, but not ‘working’. What’s the difference than when you had a ‘real’ job? You get to choose when, what, where, and how you’re going to do it (and you probably don’t get a paycheck...unless your wife puts you on an allowance).

Alright, so everyone works, sort of, but what about the thing that everyone dreams about and supposes retirement to be: play, free time, relaxation, whatever I want? If I get to choose, instead of my boss, what I do with my time, by golly I’m going to enjoy it: I’m going to have fun!

Now we’re into the definition business again. If Millicent had to spend a day fly fishing, she’d go nuts. She loves hiking, wading, and generally being outdoors, but when she goes with me, instead of a fly rod she takes a book or her sketch pad and just enjoys the scenery, weather, and wildlife, without the fish. On the other hand, if I had to spend an hour working on a quilt, let alone days, weeks, and months, you’d have to have me committed. So much for agreement on ‘play’.

The old saying about choosing an occupation says that if you find something you love, you’ll never work a day in your life. I know people like that. They enjoy their work so much, they’d hate to ‘retire’ from it, so they don’t. Nobody can define your enjoyment for you; it’s unique to each of us.  So, when you think about the ‘play’ part of retirement, don’t let anyone else define it for you. And don’t compare yourself to anyone else. Comparison is the thief of joy! And, by the way, no one can play all the time. The ‘work’ you do, the errands that must be run, the DIY projects that need attending, etc. shouldn’t be dreaded, they make the ‘play’ more enjoyable.

So, we’ve agreed that no one can define work, play, or retirement for you.  You write the definition and script uniquely for yourself. The one thing I can say with near certainty about your retirement is that whatever you think it will be and whatever it starts as, it won’t be forever. It will evolve. Whether it’s working or woodworking, golfing or goofing off, bowling or binge watching, remember our definition of retirement: a time when you choose what you’ll be doing…and that means you can also choose to change your mind.

Okay, enough for this session. We’ll jump into some of the specific questions we’ve raised next time. Until then, I hope the one thing you take away from this conversation is that your retirement is unique to you. No one can define or describe it for you.  Don’t think it has to be like this or it must be like that; it doesn’t. God has walked with you and led you through every season of your life up to now. Your walk has been like no one else’s.  God won’t be retiring; He’ll be right there all the rest of the way. He has “plans for you, plans that will prosper you and give you a hope and a future” (Jer. 29:11). What you do during this next season is just as important to Him as the rest of your life up to now.  He has uniquely prepared you for what is to come. Expect a great ride.

Author: Dave Gillogly

ALL GUT, NO BUTT

In this section of The Memo we are going to discuss issues related to men’s health. It seems to me that most men do not stop and think about their health until something happens; like bone sticking thru the skin kind of stuff. I don’t know why most of us are like this but I think it has something to do with don’t do today what you can put off until tomorrow. I know there are many exceptions to this and several men I know are health nuts and really take good care of themselves.

Stats for us Oklahomans will justify my belief about most men. Oklahoma has the fourth worst obesity rate in the US of A.  Over 36% of us are obese and over 66% are overweight. I call this the “all gut and no butt” syndrome. I see this every day in my practice and when I am simply out people watching.

There is something about abdominal obesity that is worse than other types of fat. There are some people that have a tendency to put fat on their backside more than in their abdomen. These people usually do not have the same risks that the “all gut” guys have. Having abdominal obesity increases your risk for all sorts of metabolic problems such as diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and fatty liver disease.

There is also a group of guys that I call skinny fat. They may not have a lot of obvious abdominal fat (usually just a small pooch) but they have fatty livers which can cause all sorts of problems.

The source of this problem of abdominal fat is easy to see. We eat too much! Too much sugar and too much carbs! We are all addicted to sugar. It has been estimated that the average American eats around 140-150lbs of sugar a year. And that is the average! No one really knows for sure but it has been estimated that in the 1800’s we consumed about half that amount.

It isn’t just sugar that adds to the size of our bellies. Bread turns to sugar rapidly in our bodies. So do potatoes, pasta and rice, all the white stuff. Bread is found in cereals, crackers, burritos, pizzas and several other foods. Corn syrup is another culprit. It can really mess with the liver and is found in most sodas.

So, a good start to reducing the size of your belly is to quit eating the “white” stuff. The white stuff also includes milk. Milk tends to have a lot of fat and most “skim” milks have added sugar to them. (Name one adult animal that drinks milk.)

What else can I tell you not to eat! I have just eliminated the standard American diet! The acronym for this diet is SAD. It almost seems like I am saying “If it tastes good, spit it out!”. It would be crazy for me to expect you or anyone to never eat any of this white stuff. Like I said before, all of us are somewhat addicted to this stuff. Life is too short not to celebrate every now and then but maybe we don’t have to eat this stuff three times a day. As in most things in life, moderation is the key.

So, if you are wondering if you are one of the “all gut, no butt” people and do not have a mirror handy, find a tape measure and measure the biggest part of you belly (not your waist). Anything over 40 inches increases your risk for all of those metabolic problems listed above. For women, the risk increases after 35 inches.

Hey, we didn’t get here overnight and it will take some time to reduce your belly size. The best rate of weight loss is usually around 1lb a week. Try cutting back on the “white” stuff and see what happens. Oh, don’t forget to drag your skinny butt to the gym and just do something. The future you will thank you if you get started today.

I hope you liked the information provided here. I would love to try and write about any health-related issues you might find interesting. If you have a topic you would like to see addressed, please reach out to me at Curtis@manupministry.net.

Author: Curtis Brown, MD

THE OUTSIDER

My name is Randy and I am the equivalent of a bad radio signal spiritually. As a guy who beat prostate cancer, I am not great at thanking my Lord for the second chance at life He provided. However, what I will commit to is working out everyday and using inappropriate language rather lazily. Go figure right? I go all in on the periphery nothingness (and even use His name in vane with little to no remorse or regard) but dismiss the importance of hitting my knees faithfully. 

I consider myself to be a miserable wretch and a hypocrite——period. But there in lies my issue with organized faith. A long time ago, I explained to a dear friend that “I was a believer but DID NOT NEED A CHURCH BODY to further my faith”. I was adamant about the two faced nature of Christians and the ‘lane’ they preferred me to drive in spiritually. All the while, their lack of acceptance for those different in their belief and convictions became glaringly obvious as some members (by no means all)of the congregation looked down upon US as flawed and sinful. This just in—WE ARE ALL FLAWED AND SINFUL!

I think it is their ‘sin ranking system’ that makes me fearful to be an attendee. They cheat on their taxes, covet their neighbors belongings, admire women but judge me because the above listed sins are SUPERIOR to those which I have committed. Human beings interpreting the Word of God strikes me as both necessary at times and horrifying. We all stumble and fall and fail- right? So why is it that some wear their faith like a merit badge and bring it out when convenient and in their best interests to do so? It is as if their faith is like a switch blade. It remains hidden until somebody says or does something contrary to their bias and out comes their sharpened knives and the cutting and slicing ensues. 

I recently saw a TV ad for a young politician anointed by an aging, outgoing one. His ad was, in my opinion, at the very core of the dilemma of Christian Condemnation. He referred to those on the other side of the Washington aisle as Godless Socialists. I refuse to allow those types of opinions taint me as to the overwhelming majority of decent and kind believers who will not stoop to those deplorable labeling  tactics. Yet, it is the minority of zealots (like him apparently) whose voices tend to dominate doctrines as well as what is considered ‘right vs wrong’ in some Churches. Those are the people whom I intend to avoid at all cost and not subject myself to their rules and regs on how to live a Godly life (like them). 

I know who I am. There are times I cannot stand the image I see in the mirror. I am a flawed man undeserving of anyone’s admiration as to my character. I have let my Lord down on countless occasions. My verdict is already in and I recognize that I am GUILTY. But so is everyone else. The body of the church is important and can do wonderful things in this messed up world. However, it can also be eye brow raising and make those of us who are of ‘lesser standing’ feel terribly unsafe. 

If Jesus returned today, I think He would weep at how some Christians have forgotten how to love and accept. 

Author: Randal W. Colton