The Miracle of Modern Medicine

It is fascinating to see the knowledge that God has given man and I plan to be a recipient of that knowledge this next week. For a young man of 70, it has become necessary to have a total knee replacement for my right knee. These joints wear out--in this case "arthritis" has taken its toll and there is nothing left but bone on bone. My reaction when the first doctor told me that I needed a knee replacement was I wanted a second opinion. After 2-3 weeks and the second doctor telling me the same thing, the pain in my knee helped me decide that it was time to have this done.

Swedish Orthopedic Institute in Seattle has a tremendous reputation and I feel very blessed to have Dr Robert Winquist to be the surgeon to do this for me. The pre-planning of the hospital in preparing the patient for surgery is outstanding. It takes away the anxiety and questions that one might have.

While I have been less than prolific in my blogging, out of necessity, I will not be posting for a few weeks.

Your thoughts and prayers are appreciated.

SEASONS OF LIFE

Ecclesiastes 3:1-2 (NIV)
1 There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:
2 a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot,

Just as there are seasons, Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter to the weather and surroundings, there are seasons of our lives. We each experience most of them.

"A time to be born" –

In the spring of our lives, we are young and needful of teaching. Our parents teach us in ways that build our character, the "WHO" we are part of us. We derive from them our moral ethics and codes. Our teachers at school also build upon this character by building upon our abilities in different subjects throughout our years in school. The more we study, the more we learn in which ability we are stronger.

"A time to plant" –

In the summer of our lives, we go about using what we have learned in the spring of our lives. We get out of school/college; get a job in which we can demonstrate our talents. We get married and raise a family. Some of us are farmers - we "plant" food to harvest to be sold to the rest of the nations.

"A time to uproot" - Harvest times comes in the autumn of life. We draw on the resources we have 'planted', just as we harvest the vegetables from our garden to be put up for "another day". The American Dictionary gives one of it's definitions for “uproot or “pluck (KJV) as "Resourceful courage and daring in the face of difficulties; spirit."

"A time to die" –

To each of us, there comes a time in our lives, when material things no longer matter. We have reached the end of the road - the path that leads to eternal life. The destination of your soul depends on how you have lived during the 'spring, summer, and autumn'. You want to be found faithful, "hold fast (our) profession" (Hebrews 4:14), because Jesus Christ, the Son of God, has gone before us to prepare a place in the heavens! The Apostle Paul said in I Corinthians 15:31 "I die daily". He died to self and gave himself to God.

Hebrews 9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:

My prayer is that you have made preparation for your eternal destiny! In the troubled times we find ourselves in, many have struggled, saved, planned and looked forward to the autumn of their lives when they could retire with a decent living only to find that greed and avarice in the financial centers of our country (Wall Street) has wiped out their retirement portfolios and they now face an uncertain financial future. Many are forced to delay their retirement for years, if ever and are back in the employment lines.

My heart goes out to those who find themselves in such predicaments. It is a lesson we all must learn, that we cannot put our trust in the material things of this world. Our only hope is Trust in God! Know Him! In doing so, we will find a peace that all the money in the world cannot buy.

"Threescore and Ten"

As I look back over the past year, there are many blessings to be thankful for. True, there have been heartaches and pain, but through it all God was there with us.

Is it just me? Or does it seem that time goes faster the older we get? This January, I hit my threescore and ten! It doesn’t quite seem possible that I have been around this world for 70 years. Yet, you may have passed that milestone several years ago and are still going strong.

That encourages me!

Hear what Scripture has to say about this:

Psalm 90:10 (NIV)
10 The length of our days is seventy years— or eighty, if we have the strength; yet their span is but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away.

[1]
[1] The Holy Bible : New International Version. electronic ed. Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 1996, c1984

I look forward to this new year with anticipation that we are one year closer to the coming of Jesus Christ for His church. As a believer, reach out with enthusiasm to those who do not know Jesus Christ as Savior and lead them to Him.

I wish each of you a blessed and prosperous New Year!

The Birth of Messiah

It is the season for which the Christian rejoices in and understands the significance of the story of Jesus and His birth. While many around us lose their focus in a blizzard of grafitti and commercialism, we rejoice and recount the old story again! Without this birth, we have no reason to exist. Read once again the story as the Gospel of Luke tells it.

Luke 2:1-20 (NIV)
1 In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world.
2 (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.)
3 And everyone went to his own town to register.
4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David.
5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child.
6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born,
7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night.
9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.
10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.
11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.
12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
14 “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.”
15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger.
17 When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child,
18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.
19 But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.
20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.


[1]
[1] The Holy Bible : New International Version. electronic ed. Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 1996, c1984

If you have never met this Christ, then I hope and pray you will come to know Him. His life, death and resurrection provides for you a means of salvation. You need only to ask Him to forgive you of your sins, receive Him into your heart as Lord and Savior and He will save you!

Again, a scripture that explains the way to salvation so simply:

Romans 10:8-11 (NIV)
8 But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming:
9 That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.
11 As the Scripture says, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame.”


[1]
[1] The Holy Bible : New International Version. electronic ed. Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 1996, c1984

AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL

Milbre and I just returned from a three week vacation in Texas and Louisiana. Because Air-fares are so expensive, we decided to drive this year and take our two dogs, Bentley and Vickers with us. Driving in the high-country in Winter can be interesting to say the least. Hey! This is a great country! The fun and excitement of driving is wonderful.

One of the pleasant by-products of this trip was the price of gasoline. Every fill up was under $2.00 per gallon. The lowest was $1.43 per gallon in Evanston, Wyoming! Go figure!

One of the anomalies I noticed on this trip was the proliferation of Windmill farms used for energy. Across many States were these huge windmills--hundreds of them turning in the wind, producing electricity. I read one article in Texas that companies were sending out individuals to ranchers and farmers across the country, buying up rights to their land for windmill use. It reminds me of the gold rush days or the early days in the discovery of oil, when similar actions were taken. There is some myth as to how much these windmills will provide. I listened to an energy panel on TV today that discussed these issues. Stephen Moore said that to produce enough electricity to light up Manhattan, it would take a land area the size of the entire State of Connecticut.

The wide expanse of Texas, the mountains of Colorado and Wyoming, all speak to the beauty of this land called "America". I am glad to be an American! God bless this great country and bring us close to Him.

Hear what the Scripture challenges us to do:

2 Chronicles 7:14 (NIV)
14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.


[1]
[1] The Holy Bible : New International Version. electronic ed. Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 1996, c1984

Lord, send an Awakening to America once more!

Give It a Rest

This blog will go silent for a few weeks while we migrate south with the Canadian geese to visit our children and grandchildren for Thanksgiving. Here's hoping that you enjoy a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and friends. Whatever is within your means, do something good for someone this Thanksgiving.

Blessings!

Don Howard

Cal Thomas Has It Right!

For Christians, this opinion piece by Cal Thomas this week describes plainly what the Christian's attitude and response should be to the election of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States of America.

Religious Right, May it Rest in Peace

Cal Thomas • Tribune Media Services • November 6, 2008

When Barack Obama takes the oath of office on Jan. 20, 2009, he will do so in the 30th anniversary year of the founding of the so-called Religious Right. Born in 1979 and mid-wifed by the late Rev. Jerry Falwell, the Religious Right was a reincarnation of previous religious-social movements that sought moral improvement through legislation and court rulings. Those earlier movements -- from abolition to Prohibition -- had mixed results. Social movements that relied mainly on political power to enforce a conservative moral code weren't anywhere near as successful as those that focused on changing hearts.

The four religious revivals, from the First Great Awakening in the 1730s and 1740s to the Fourth Great Awakening in the late 1960s and early '70s, which touched America and instantly transformed millions of Americans (and American culture as a result), are testimony to that.

Thirty years of trying to use government to stop abortion, preserve opposite-sex marriage, improve television and movie content and transform culture into the conservative Evangelical image has failed. The question now becomes: should conservative Christians redouble their efforts, contributing more millions to radio and TV preachers and activists, or would they be wise to try something else?

I opt for trying something else.

Does the secular left, when it holds power, persuade conservatives to live by their standards? Of course they do not. Why, then, would conservative Evangelicals expect people who do not share their worldview and view of God to accept their beliefs when they control government?

Too many conservative Evangelicals mistake political power for influence. What is the answer, then, for conservative Evangelicals who are rightly concerned about the corrosion of culture, the indifference to the value of human life and the living arrangements of same- and opposite-sex couples?

It is contained in the life and commands of Jesus of Nazareth. Suppose millions of conservative Evangelicals followed the admonition of Jesus to "love your enemies, pray for those who persecute you, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit those in prison and care for widows and orphans," not as ends, as so many liberals do by using government, but as a means of demonstrating God's love for the whole person in order that people might seek him?

Such a strategy could be more "transformational" than electing a new president. But in order to succeed, it would not be led by charismatic figures, who would raise lots of money, be interviewed on talk shows, author books and make gobs of money. Scripture teaches that God's power (if that is what conservative Evangelicals want and not their puny attempts at grabbing earthly power) is made perfect in weakness. He speaks of the tiny mustard seed, the seemingly worthless widow's mite, of taking the last place at the table and the humbling of one's self, the washing of feet and similar acts and attitudes; the still, small voice. How did conservative Evangelicals miss this?

Evangelicals are at a junction. They can take the path that will lead them to more futility and ineffective attempts to reform culture through government, or they can embrace the far more powerful methods outlined by the One they claim to follow.

They will get no credit, but they will see results.