THE KING OF CLEAN COMEDY

Nate Bargatze is a very funny guy. He fills arenas with his humorous stories about real life. His popularity continues to grow with people who prefer “clean comedy.”

Clean comedy can be described as humor that avoids explicit or offensive content. It typically excludes profanity, sexual references, and crude jokes, making it suitable for a wide audience, including family gatherings.

I am also known for clean comedy at my house. The small venue is the perfect size for my family to hide me from the masses.

I do not do a stand-up routine of embellished stories. I just mess up my clean-ups! I fill the family gatherings with unintended comedic moments of poor management and pure embarrassment.

Picture the contrast: Nate Bargatze, the king of clean comedy, walks onto the stage with his signature grin and a cup of coffee, ready to share tales of everyday life.


Nate’s comedy is so clean, you could eat off it. He is the guy who can make a joke about buying a mattress feel like a grand adventure without ever uttering a single curse word. His secret? Observations so relatable that you find yourself thinking, “Does he live in my house?”

He talks about misunderstandings with his wife, awkward moments with his dad, and everyday mysteries like why hotels tuck the sheets so tight. Nate’s punchlines are gentle, never mean, and always hilarious—leaving the audience giggling and nodding in agreement.

Meanwhile, in a parallel universe—or maybe just the kitchen area—Rex is about to embark on his own version of “clean comedy.”

I decided it was finally time to impress my wife by tackling the one household chore she does very well but now struggles with because of her limited strength: cleaning the kitchen floor.

I started with confidence. I stared at her new Swiffer WetJet Floor Spray Mop Cleaner designed to make cleaning better with less effort. I would have had better ideas on how to operate it if it had been a spaceship from Mars.

Who needs instructions? This is war. The new mop was ready for the challenge. Mano a mano.

“Mano a mano” is a Spanish phrase that translates to “hand to hand.” It typically refers to a one-on-one confrontation whether in combat, debate, athletics, or any competitive kitchen scenario.

This was Mano a Mop-o!

One of us was going to mop the floor with the other one in this tug-of-war.

I poured a generous amount—okay, maybe half the bottle—of extra-strength floor cleaner into the attached container. More soap–more sparkle.

One of my mom’s signature sarcastic statements was, “If a little does good, then a lot does better.”

The music from “The Eye of the Tiger” blasted in my mind. Soon I would be singing, “We are the Champions! We are the Champions…of the world.”

I pushed the squirt button and started the attack on the kitchen tiles.

Within minutes, the floor was covered in a thick, foamy lather. I danced with the mop, spinning and sliding, channeling my inner rock star personality as I performed the cha-cha portion of the routine in front of the stove.

As I moonwalked past the fridge, my sock slipped on the suds. Flailing and falling, I tried to grab the countertop for balance, only to knock over a fruit basket of apples and a large bowl of chips, which covered the soapy battlefield like bowling balls rolling over broken glass.

I attempted a heroic leap to avoid them but landed with a SPLAT in the middle of the sudsy chaos. The mop flew from my hands, landing perfectly upright in the dog’s water bowl, which promptly tipped over and joined the flood.

My grandkids would have loved playing in the new splash zone.

At that exact moment, my wife walked in to what looked like an abstract art project. Ironically, it was one of the few times she has been speechless in our marriage. Her Olympic-level self-control was a paragon of patience while facing a kitchen catastrophe.

She stared at her husband sprawled on the floor, covered in bubbles, the kitchen looking like a disaster zone, and the dog happily licking up sudsy water.

I smiled and said that I probably needed a break.

She handed me a Kit-Kat candy bar.

The #1 Textbook declares, “There is a time to laugh” (Ecclesiastes 3:4). This was not the time. Thankfully, it was also not the “time to kill.”

Please pray for my wife. She does not have enough strength to run away.

The Moral of the Story: Whether your comedic style is stand-up or stand-back-and-watch-the-chaos, remember there is more than one way to do clean comedy, and both can be hilarious.

Sometimes you just need to laugh … and bring flowers!

I am thankful Jesus knows how to clean up my messy life. And He does it with so much joy!

Life can often feel messy—filled with mistakes, regrets, broken relationships, and burdens we cannot shake. The good news of the gospel is that Jesus meets us in the middle of our mess and offers to make us new.

“All of us have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Our lives get messy because of sin and self-centeredness—our own and that of others. This mess can look like guilt, shame, addiction, anger, or brokenness.

Jesus did not keep His distance from messy people. Throughout the Gospels, He ate with tax collectors, touched lepers, and forgave sinners (Mark 2:15-17; Luke 7:36-50). He comes to us not when we have it all together, but when we are at our lowest mess.

He searched and found the outcast Legion, the soap-opera Samaritan woman, the scandalous woman caught in adultery. He loved them. He welcomed them to be firsthand observers of his cleaning process, full and dirt-free.

Jesus’ death on the cross was God’s answer to our mess. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

Through faith in Jesus, our sin-stained self-centered lives are washed clean.

Jesus does not just tidy up the surface. He transforms us from the inside out. “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Even after coming to Jesus, life can still be messy. But now, we have His Spirit to help us grow, change, and stay clean. That comes with a promise not a new mop. “He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion” (Philippians 1:6).

Jesus specializes in cleaning up messy lives. No sin is too great, no situation too broken. He forgives, transforms, and gives us hope for a new, cleaner future.

WHATEVER YOU GIVE TO GOD … HE TAKES.

WHATEVER GOD TAKES … HE CLEANS UP.

WHATEVER GOD CLEANS UP … HE USES FOR HIS GLORY.

Application:

  • Trust that Jesus is not afraid of your mess.
  • Bring your struggles, sins, and regrets to Him in prayer.
  • Accept His forgiveness and allow Him to clean you and change you.
  • Walk daily with Him, letting His Spirit guide and empower you.

Jesus LIVES in you to LEAD you to others He intends to LOVE through you.

Sometimes it might even look like Clean Comedy.

BLAH! BLAH! BLAH!

It was a “Blah! Blah! Blah!” Day.

Did you know that the Hebrew version of “Blah! Blah! Blah!” is in a Bible verse? That might mean you have one more Bible verse memorized than you thought!

It brought back college-time memories of reading the Peanuts’ Sunday comic strip.

One sunny afternoon, Charlie Brown stood on the pitcher’s mound, nervously practicing his wind-up. Suddenly, Lucy marched onto the field, hands on hips and a dramatic scowl on her face.

“Charlie Brown, you need to pitch faster!” Lucy declared. “If you pitched any slower, we would need a calendar to keep score!”

Charlie Brown opened his mouth to reply, but before he could say anything, Lucy launched into one of her infamous lectures. “You see, it’s all about technique, confidence, and—”

“Blah blah blah,” Snoopy thought from atop his doghouse, watching with mild amusement.

Linus wandered over, blanket in tow. “Lucy, do you ever listen to yourself?”

Lucy huffed. “Of course I do! That is how I know I am always right.”

She continued her speech, waving her arms like a traffic cop. “If everyone just followed my advice, we would win every game, get straight A’s, and—”

Suddenly, Charlie Brown’s ears started ringing. “Blah blah blah,” echoed in his head, drowning out everything else. Even Woodstock chirped in agreement, peeping a little “blah blah blah” of his own.

Finally, Lucy noticed everyone’s glazed expressions. “What’s the matter with all of you?”

Snoopy, never one to miss a comedic moment, donned sunglasses and held up a sign: “Blah blah blah!”

Lucy stomped her foot. “Oh, very funny! See if I share my wisdom next time.”

Charlie Brown smiled as he sarcastically whispered, “That would be a tragedy.”

For once, the outfield was blissfully, hilariously quiet.

What does blah-blah-blah mean? The phrase is often used as a verbal put-down to belittle and embarrass someone to get them to stop talking. If someone is droning on about something you have no interest in, you might mentally replace their words with blah blah blah. Remember, though, it is not very polite to actually say the phrase aloud!

The blah-blah-blah response made its way into The Lego Movie and Hotel Transylvania where it was used as a humorous on-going joke by Dracula.

I admit to an occasional blah-blah-blah thought while pretending to listen to a boring lecture, a rambling sermon, or a friend’s long story.

I am embarrassed to say that for years, I misunderstood the lyrics to one of my favorite songs by the Carpenters, Yesterday Once More.

The chorus begins with every sha-la-la-la…every wo-o-wo-o-wo…still shines.

For years, I belted out in my car every blah-blah-blah-blah…every no-no-no-no…. still shines…it’s yesterday once more.

Well, I can hear that phrase rattling around in your mind now as your ears begin to shut out my words.

Please wait! Did you know those blah-blah-blah words are in God’s #1 Textbook? That is right.

I learned about that phrase when I was studying for the recent Winsday Wisdom Little Bedtime Story which references a bed too short with a blanket too small (Isaiah 28:20).

When Isaiah preached the Word of God, Israel’s political and religious leaders said the insulting words aloud. It was the Hebrew version of blah-blah-blah. Their reaction was dismissive and derisive. Contempt. Ridicule. Disinterest.

Follow along for some quick Bible study before you blah-blah-blah me away.

Israel’s political and religious leaders immersed themselves into their worldly culture to the point of spiritual drunkenness (vs. 1-11). When Isaiah shared the truth about trusting God alone, they responded with belittling taunts.

They mocked, “For it is precept upon precept (Repeat), line upon line (Repeat), here a little (Repeat)” (v. 10). Isaiah would use the same phrases in his response (v. 13).

That got my curiosity going. My study revealed that the phrase was an English transliteration of the Hebrew words: “sav lasav, sav lasav; kav lakav, kav lakav.”

The Jewish American Version describes these made-up sounds as baby babbling. These are the sounds of mumbling upon mumbling, murmur upon murmur, nonsense upon nonsense. Meaningless gibberish. Senseless babbling. Baby talk.

Blah-blah-blah…yada-yada-yada.

Funny, but how do we make spiritual sense out of mindless rambling?

Put yourself in the middle of this scene. Isaiah is warning of God’s coming judgment upon the spiritual pretenders who loved their worldly possessions, power, pleasure, and prestige more than God.

When Isaiah insists that trusting God is enough to save endangered sinners (v. 16), the inebriated leaders resented being treated like little children who had lost their way. So, how do they respond?

They mocked Isaiah by sticking their fingers in their ears, sticking out their tongues, and making senseless sounds like blah-blah-blah. They responded with the slurred speech of drunkenness which sounded similar to the nonsensical screams of baby talk.

The phony leaders evaluated Isaiah’s message from God as too simplistic, too unintelligible, too insignificant, and too uninteresting to be worthy of their consideration.

Do you see that response in our world today? Do you hear the taunts of cultural drunkenness? Truth has no place in our culture.

Both CNN and FOX News are Beyond Bias. The TV talk shows belittle the simplicity of Truth. The educated elite have surpassed the Lord’s wisdom. The political leadership ignores it. The religious profiteers exchange it for more successful cultural strategies.

However, man’s response never changes God’s truth.

With wisdom from above, God’s Word exposes and entraps unbelievers with their own excuses. Look at Isaiah’s response here and Paul’s response in Romans to those who think they are too good and too smart to simplify the key to life in two words: TRUST GOD.

When they hear the truth, it sounds like a foreign language which it is (v. 11). It is wisdom from another world.

God takes the foolish words of unbelievers and uses them to explain spiritual truth beyond our understanding in childlike terms we can learn and understand: Precept upon precept, line upon line, here a little and there a little.

God takes love and wisdom that is beyond our understanding and makes it simple and real in our lives (Ephesians 3:14-19).

Wisdom from the #1 Textbook can be learned gradually, just like how children learn to read and do math. It starts with the basics of the alphabet and words, the numbers and formulas.

God’s method of teaching His children is: (1) Precepts-learning principles of truth, (2) lines-learning measurements of spiritual growth, and (3) learning incremental and systematic methods…learning a little here and a little there.

Spiritual wisdom is built on the foundation of the Lord Jesus Christ. Faith, hope, and love are learned. God uses His Word to grow you up spiritually through repeated instructions and clear guidance.

As the only source of wisdom, God’s #1 Textbook is profitable for learning and more valuable than silver and gold. It contains the Big Picture of your earthly life, step by step, but not revealed all at once. It reveals your future as God’s beautiful masterpiece, which will take all of eternity to unfold its glory.

Look at your children and grandchildren. They grow; they mature. They are spiritual mirrors which reflect your relationship with your Heavenly Father.

Look at nature; it is a teaching tool for the seasons of life. Look at farming; it is the classroom for growing in wisdom. You plow the soil, sow the seeds, nurture the plants, harvest the crops, and then enjoy the feast.

Look at the long road of life, behind and ahead. The journey is made up of little steps, one after another. Look at the life God is building which begins with a strong and firm foundation, a precious cornerstone inscribed with the key to wisdom: TRUST GOD.

Look at the God-sent preacher. Does he teach the whole Word of God, principle by principle, truth by truth, little by little? If not, find one who faithfully and consistently does teach in that manner, to help you learn the whole truth of God’s Word.

That is called Expository Preaching. The learning method is book by book, chapter by chapter, verse by verse. The foundational truth to TRUST GOD is placed on Repeat, over and over. Every verse is supported by that application.

You cannot learn all the #1 Textbook at one time. Some principles are built upon others. Take your time; but make sure you do not skip verses. Spiritual growth is not gained by pick and choose classes or lifestyle preferences. It is based upon Precepts…Principles.

Preferences can and should be yielded to others. Programs can and should be changed for better learning. Principles are NEVER compromised, no matter what the culture claims or how many people are mocking you with their blah-blah-blahs.

Wrestle with each new verse. Learn what you can. Apply what you learn. When you come back to the Biblical passage again, there will be more to learn.

Never Blah-Blah-Blah God’s Word. Love it. Live it.

Who knew that blah blah-blah was in the Scriptures? I was probably preaching sha-la-la-la…oh no–no-oh no… It’s Yesterday Once More.

Bonus Track:

When I was young, I’d listen to the radio waitin’ for my favorite songs.
When they played, I’d sing along; it made me smile.
Every Blah-blah-blah-blah every No-no-no-no still shines.
Every shing-a-ling-a-ling that they’re startin’ to sing is so fine.


It was songs of love that I would sing to then and I’d memorize each line.
Those old melodies still sound so good to me as they melt the years away.
Every Blah-blah-blah-blah, every No-no-no-no still shines.
Every Shing-a-ling-a-ling that they’re startin’ to sing is so fine.


It’s Yesterday Once More…every Blah-blah-blah-blah! Every No-no-no-no!

I AM A STRANGE DUCK!


A LITTLE BEDTIME STORY: IS GOD ENOUGH?

This all started with reading a Bible verse in Isaiah. The bed is too short on which to stretch out; the blanket is too small to cover you (Isaiah 28:20).

Have you ever slept in a bed too small for your body?

I will spare you the circumstances which found me searching for a resting place somewhere other than my king-size bed.

This night was going to be even more of a challenge than when I was in the doghouse back home. At least that came equipped with a comfortable pet bed.

I experienced the feelings of sharing a home with Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Unlike her, I had no other options. I was assigned Baby Bear’s bed. It was definitely NOT “just right.”

This was no FAIRY TALE. The only bed available was more the size of a shadowbox with a doll’s pillow. The only blanket resembled a bath towel more than a twin bed comforter. This had to be the Tom Thumb suite.

The bed was TOO SHORT to stretch out my perfect sized body. The blanket was TOO SMALL to cover my shivering body parts.

Baby Bear’s bed looked like a taco shell waiting for the addition of condiments. I squeezed in as I bumped my head on the headboard. My body protested strongly, as if pro-MAGA and anti-ICE protestors were fighting for the same parking space.

My feet dangled off the edge in open mutiny, looking like overcooked spaghetti hanging from the side of a pot in the kitchen sink. My knees, not wanting to be left out, decided to fold themselves at a right angle, which is apparently the international sign for “This is not going to work.”

My elbows stuck out over the sides. Every time I exhaled, the springs let out a symphony of squeaks that sounded suspiciously like a broken accordion.

The small bed did not offer an option to sleep on my back or stomach. The neon sign flashed, “Sideways only.” The pillow, meant to support my head, was just big enough to cradle half my face, so I had to choose between comfort for my left cheek or my right—never both.

Turning over could have been mistaken for an Olympic ice-skating event. Every time I tried to switch sides, I performed a maneuver that could best be described as “the reverse burrito.”

The bed might have doubled as a mini fridge. When I pulled the tiny cover up, my feet froze. When I slid the blanket down, my nose became an icicle. It took only three or four times for me to realize there is no possibility of this kiddy blanket growing up tonight. I felt as if I were on an episode of Survivor: Pick your Poison. Hypothermia or pneumonia.

I decided to keep the important stuff covered and take my chances.

I attempted every possible body configuration: diagonally across the bed, fetal position, upside down, spread eagle, and sitting up. Every twist and turn created more creaking sounds from the bed accompanied by cracking noises from my arthritic joints.

Somehow, I managed to tangle my blanket covered twisted body parts into a pretzel mummy position, cutting off blood circulation. I rolled out of the bed onto the floor as I attempted to unwrap myself from the blanket.

I hit the floor with a loud thud similar to the sound of dropping a block of ice from a two-story window onto a concrete sidewalk. Fortunately, my nighttime crash disturbed no one. Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.

At some point, I managed to fall asleep. I only know that because of the scene which welcomed me to the morning sun. My uncovered legs were connected to the floor by my frozen feet. One arm was wedged between the mattress and the wall. My spine would remain shaped like a question mark for the next two days.

I now understand what it feels like to sleep inside a carry-on suitcase.

Did you know that the #1 Textbook has a teaching verse for this situation?

The bed is too short on which to stretch out; the blanket is too small to cover you (Isaiah 28:20).

Duh! This was not commentary on my sleeping situation. It was God’s revelation of truth to those who do not believe God is enough to bank one’s entire life upon when faced with real life issues of security and riches.

This is God’s Little Bedtime Storyabout Goldilocks living in a self-centered home with culturally borrowed philosophies. Her idea of what feels right and what feels wrong constantly changes. Eventually, God’s family of Truth discover her seeking nighttime rest in a bed that is too short with a blanket that is too small.

The context of this analysis is Isaiah’s preaching to the liberal Northern Kingdom and the conservative Southern Kingdom of Israel, both living in spiritual drunkenness (chapter 28:7-11). Facing similar challenges to our current circumstances, they lived in fear, not faith.

They wrestled with the same question. IS GOD ENOUGH?

The issue is beautifully embedded between the warnings of impending judgment.

The Sovereign LORD says, “I have placed a sure foundation stone to build your life on. It is a precious cornerstone that is safe. Whoever believes will never be shaken. (v. 16).

The #1 Textbook summarizes the main message of each Little Bedtime Story in two words. TRUST GOD!

That was Isaiah’s God-sent message to Israel in their time of trouble. Trust God! Whoever believes will NEVER be shaken (v.16).

What are you supposed to do in this world of constant conflicts, cultural challenges, and changing circumstances? TRUST GOD!

Why? Because God is trustworthy and cares about you.

Why is that so difficult in daily practice? Nothing in our culture encourages us to trust God completely for all our needs and desires. Just as in Isaiah’s time, the culture demands we accept alliances to further our well-being.

Trusting in God alone is considered a bad risk. That stock rating is shrinking while the rest of the world markets surge upward and onward.

Our lives are controlled by worldly fears, not faith in God. Our bed of trust is controlled by Wall Street. Our bed of desire is controlled by Hollywood. Our bed of worship is controlled by our culture.

Israel embraced that same lifestyle of looking elsewhere for security and wealth. The names of their influential places were different, but not their choices.

God sent Isaiah to confront the futility of the religious and political leaders’ promises of comfort and contentment. Their speeches were lies and deceptions; their solutions were inadequate and misguided (vs. 15, 17).

The vivid imagery illustrates how the people who should be trusting in God had created metaphorical “cultural beds” that are too short to provide spiritual rest (v 22).

Their human wisdom substituted for God’s #1 Textbook was too small to provide safe protection for their lives. It was as foolish as suggesting a miniature blanket could sufficiently cover the Grand Canyon.

Into that spiritual mess, God reveals the supremacy and sufficiency of His help which is guaranteed to all who trust God alone for their security and riches.

It comes with a call to decide. Decide what? IS GOD ENOUGH FOR YOU? Decide right now.

You need to decide what is important in your life. This is referred to as the crown of your life (vs. 1-4). The crown of Northern Israel was its wealth and ease of life epitomized by its crown city of Samaria. Their prosperity and pleasures and pride became a spiritual drunkenness which left them defenseless against the future invasion of the powerful Assyrian army.

Amid impending destruction and cultural desolation, a remnant of people would decide that God is their crown of glory (greatness and goodness) in this world (vs. 5-6). For them, God will be enough.

What about your Treasure? Can this world take it away? Do you live in fear of losing your share of the riches? Or is God enough no matter what political group is in power or which direction the stock market is trending?

The riches and entertainment of this culture are fading flowers and fake beauty (v. 1).

Southern Israel was also reeling in spiritual drunkenness, failing to trust God’s #1 Textbook. They followed man-centered wisdom, popular philosophies, and culturally influenced morality. They could no longer agree on what was right and wrong. It changed with the prevalent winds of the culture (vs. 7-11).

They laughed at the concept of absolute truth from God’s Word. They adapted their lifestyles to fit their preferences, and they looked to outside alliances to secure their safety. They refused to listen to God-centered preaching and rejected any message to trust God as childish simplicity, fairy tales, and baby gibberish. They chose to believe political lies and religious deceptions to secure their prosperity and safety (vs. 12-15).

They would end up defenseless in the time of testing.

How do you respond to the reading and preaching of God’s Word? Is it your sure foundation and sufficient guide in life? Or do you place more trust in CNN or FOX or Wall Street or The View?

The #1 Textbook is clear. Jesus is the promised foundation and precious cornerstone (v. 16; Matthew 21: 42; Acts 4:10-11). Jesus is the only place to find rest for your soul (Matthew 11:29).

A BED THAT IS TOO SHORT CANNOT PROVIDE REST. There is no rest for those trusting in the pretense of worship based on self-centered preferences and cultural alliances.

  • Why are we surprised at the social unrest in our nation?
  • Why do we search for human solutions to the unrest in our souls?

IS GOD ENOUGH FOR YOU? DO YOU FEEL SAFE AND RICH WITH GOD ALONE?

Your answer is not conveyed by what you say, but by how you live and what you love.

Lord, we show our trust in you by loving obedience and our heart’s desire is to glorify your name (Isaiah 26:8).

God’s sufficiency in your life empowers you to bring wisdom and goodness into this world of spiritual drunkenness.

I hope my Little Bedtime Story of sleeping in a bed too small might remind you as it did me. There are things more important than a comfortable night of bed rest.

Spiritual complacency is dangerous. Spiritual compromise is deadly.

The size of your bed and blanket depend on the answer to this question.

IS GOD ENOUGH FOR YOU? DO YOU FEEL SAFE AND RICH WITH GOD ALONE?

TRUST GOD!

I close with another Little Bedtime Story from the #1 Textbook.

THE LORD SAVES SINNERS. That is a Sure Foundation and a Precious Cornerstone for your life.

THE LORD gives all He is and all He has to cover your life with a blanket of immeasurable goodness whenever and wherever you sleep tonight.

You do not have to be perfect to sleep well; but you do need a perfect resting place for your soul, one with a divinely approved foundation that is RELIABLE (sure) and VALUABLE (precious).

THE LORD SAVES SINNERS. Make that truth the bedrock of your salvation, every day and every night.

This Little Bedtime Story has been Goldilocks Approved. “This is just right.”

DO YOU WANT TO DANCE?

We are watching the figure skating dance competition at the Winter Olympics. This captivating event combines athletic prowess with artistic expression. Pairs of skaters perform choreographed routines to music, showcasing intricate footwork, synchronized movements, and expressive storytelling on ice.

Every dance was highlighted by high lifts, crazy spins, and courageous faith in one’s partner. As my granddaughter sighed, “That is definitely not something for someone with trust issues.”

Of course, the grace, elegance, and athletic excellence made me wonder how the judges might evaluate the rhythmic beauty of my dancing feet minus the skates. What iconic comparisons would the commentators use to describe my dancing style?

Think about the elegance of Fred Astaire, the energetic athleticism of Gene Kelly, the technical brilliance of Mikhail Baryshnikov, the rhythmic tap of Gregory Hines, the unforgettable lifts of Patrick Swayze, and the innovative moonwalk of Michael Jackson. These legends embody the heights of performance seen on “Dancing with the Stars.”

None of those examples share the same universal dance floor with me. No one compares my dancing to these experts. While I love to dance, I tend to avoid public displays—promising my family I would not embarrass them with my unique, non-descriptive style.

This week, I learned an unfamiliar word that perfectly captures my approach to dancing.

BALTER.

Balter means to dance with carefree exuberance, often in a clumsy or ungraceful manner. It is a rarely used word that describes joyful and spontaneous dancing at a very unskilled level. The term refers to the pleasure of dancing, not to technical precision.

In contrast, my wife’s dancing is a portrait of beauty and grace. Born with rhythm, she shines as an excellent dancer—whether as a cheerleader, a social debutante, or a wedding guest. She floats like a butterfly, glides effortlessly like an ice skater, and sparkles with a spellbound shimmer.

Unfortunately, she is married to a Boogie Dad whose dance moves are legendary, if largely original. The beauty and grace of dance seem confined to my imagination, never manifesting elsewhere in my body.

My children have always called my movements the Steve Martin crazy dance, made famous in his comedy routines and movie scenes. It is a happy dance: index fingers pointed up, hands raised to head level, and feet shuffling rapidly.

In truth, I was performing this version long before Steve Martin made it a spectacle under bright lights, dressed in his trademark white suit, banjo slung across his back, and a wild gleam in his eyes.

The audience always anticipated the unexpected. A funky beat would fill the room, launching the star—not with grace, but with joyful, exaggerated awkwardness that was hilarious.

The dance began with a stiff-legged march, knees high and arms flailing as if fighting off invisible bees. Each step was accented by slapstick facial expressions—a cross-eyed look or jaw-dropping confusion—followed by off-balance twirls and wild spins.

As the music changed, Steve Martin would attempt a series of “serious” dance moves: a moonwalk (backwards and sideways), a robot (with intentionally jerky malfunctions), and ballroom twirls with an imaginary partner who kept stepping on his toes. Each move was technically wrong but performed with such enthusiasm that the crowd erupted in laughter.

Martin would pause, pant theatrically, then burst into his signature “Wild and Crazy Guy Shuffle,” sliding across the stage on his heels, arms swinging overhead, embracing chaos until the dance ended in a goofy grin. Comic gold.

Steve Martin launched a lucrative career, while I crashed into forbidden public appearances.

Growing up, I was taught that Baptists do not dance; they do not smoke or chew or go with girls who do.” I never smoked and did not chew. So, I guess two out of four is not bad.

However, I later discovered that it was not a mandate from the #1 Textbook. The Baptists around me simply lacked rhythm and joy—two essentials for enjoyable dancing.

Do you Want to Dance?

Bobby Freeman famously posed this question in his song, capturing the joyful spirit of dancing. The Beach Boys had a great version.

Well, do you want to dance,
and hold my hand?
Oh baby, do you want to dance?
Well, do you want to dance under the moonlight?
Squeeze me all through the night.
Oh baby, do you want to dance?

 Do you Want to Dance?

The #1 Textbook tells us there is a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance (Ecclesiastes 3:4). Seasons change in life, but every season comes with a divine purpose and a promise for your good.

Dancing is much more than rhythmic physical movements to music. Dancing is an outward expression of an inward reality of gratitude and celebration.

Do you remember when you met Jesus, how He took your hand, looked deep into your eyes and heart and gave you life? Remember how He whispered, “I have loved you with an everlasting love.”  

Did your heart want to dance when He shared all your sins are forgiven? In Pilgrim’s Progress, John Bunyan described that moment when he lost the burden of his sins at the cross as three great leaps of dance before he continued on his way singing.

In God’s presence is fulness of joy (Psalm 16:11). In every circumstance, God holds your hand. There is a reason for joy…and dancing.

Hey! Let’s get real. There are nights your heart is on the floor, but it is not for dancing. It is being stomped on by others hoping to dance on your grave. You hurt. You cry. Then this amazing Lover of your Soul takes your hand and asks you to dance…again.

Do you remember those fearful and tough times when God changed everything to better?

God has turned my sorrow into dancing…and clothed me with gladness…O LORD my God, I will give thanks to you forever (Psalm 30:11-12).

Esther danced when God delivered her people (Esther 9:18). David danced when the Ark of the Covenant was returned to God’s people (2 Samuel 6:14). Others even accused him of crazy balter dancing.

Praise God with dance (Psalm 150:4).

The #1 Textbook encourages us to never stop dancing.

I will bless the LORD at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth (Psalm 34:1).

Baptists better take lessons or they will be the balter dancers in heaven. Since God created me with that crazy rhythm, maybe I will be a heavenly instructor for the least experienced dancers.

I am practicing now.

One of my highlights was one of my home rehearsals. I performed the Balter moonwalk across our living room’s imaginary stage while lip-syncing the Eagles’ Love Will Keep Us Alive. The family audience reacted with embarrassment as eyes rolled and voices moaned—but deep down, they knew no one else could pull off this performance like dear old dad.

Sadly, the family thought it was bad entertainment when it was intended as a public announcement.

I will die for you, climb the highest mountain.
Baby, there is nothing I wouldn’t do…
But we just cannot afford Johnny’s Pizza tonight.
Don’t you worry; when we’re hungry, love will keep us alive.

Now, my grandkids get to witness their Bubba’s spontaneous expressions of joy to the tune of I’ve Had the Time of My Life or Dancing in the Moonlight. Thankfully, they inherit their Babe’s rhythm and my sense of humor.

I hope my grandchildren will always dance. I hope you dance again, too.

I know some of you feel as if your dancing days are gone. Maybe you lost your dance partner. Maybe there are physical limitations or emotional roadblocks.

There is still a Time to Dance. You have a personal invitation from the Lord to dance with Him and for Him. Just as I love to watch my grandchildren dance, our Heavenly Father rejoices when you dance.

The classic song I Hope You Dance always moves my heart to tears with its powerful message. I pray the Lord might use it to tug at your heart as well.

I hope you never lose your sense of wonder
May you never take one single breath for granted
God forbid love ever leave you empty-handed

I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean
Whenever one door closes, I hope one more opens
And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance
I hope you dance

I hope you never fear those mountains in the distance
Livin’ might mean takin’ chances, but they’re worth takin’
Don’t let some hellbent heart leave you bitter
When you come close to sellin’ out, reconsider
Give the heavens above more than just a passing glance,

And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance
I hope you dance

Come, my soul, dance before the God of grace, and let my heart leap for joy!

Join in today. At least, dance in your heart!

Never lose your sense of wonder and do not take one single breath for granted. When you come close to selling out, reconsider. When you get the choice to sit it out or dance…I hope you dance.

People all over the world…join hands…start a Love Train. David started that song and dance long before the O’Jays.

People all over the world …Join hands
Start a love train
Love train

WRONG TURNS ON THE ROAD OF LIFE

The Road of Life is not a straight highway. There are curves and hills and turns and detours. The unsuspected changes to our planned route do not show up on our current road map. Google redirections are not available.

A recent reminder of that feeling of helplessness came on my long six-hour trip home along a familiar route.

It was a dark and stormy night. Actually, it was not stormy, but it was definitely dark, and that pretty much sums up all you need to describe this solo adventure in the middle of nowhere.

It was late with no moon. I had been talking on the phone with my wife.

I came to a stop sign. Stop! There had never been a stop sign in this area on my previous trips. The area looked unfamiliar. I became disoriented. Somewhere, I made a wrong turn.

This looked like farm country in the middle of nowhere. There were no signs. No highway numbers. No city destinations. No mile-markers. No lights. No traffic. No cell service. No GPS, not that I would have heeded Siri’s instructions. Usually, Siri’s voice borders on judgmental; tonight, she was giving me the silent treatment.

Siri has never forgiven me for that time I absentmindedly called her Alexa by mistake. It just happened in the heat of the moment.

The time was post-midnight. My fuel gauge was nearing the redlight danger zone. I tried to gain my bearings. I prayed as I turned right down the better looking road. This was no time to take the road less traveled.

The country road was so empty that even the tumbleweeds had moved on, rolling off in search of greener pastures.

I pressed on, trusting my instincts—which, it turns out, are excellent for choosing snacks and mood music but terrible for navigation. I took a left, then a right, then another left, and before long, I was somewhere between “Nowhere” and “Where-the-Heck-Am-I?” Both places are famous for non-existence.

The dark winding road narrowed. The shadows seemed to lean in. They felt like foreshadows of danger. Some were just reminders of stupidity.

My headlights flickered—just enough to make me question my life choices. I taught my kids and grandkids how to manage these moments that define something lost or misplaced.

Stop and think! Retrace your steps, at least in your mind. I tried to remember the last familiar landmark. I think it was the lights of my departing city.

My mind raced back to that stop sign because my car was miles from there. I remembered a crooked mailbox or maybe it was a haunted-looking scarecrow. Either way, they were in my rear-view mirror. There was only one way to go in this present crisis: crazy…I mean…forward.

It started to mist, then rain. I thought I could see a distant light between the swipes of the windshield wipers. Aha! Salvation or, at least, civilization was on the horizon.

I rolled into a small town with only one streetlight. A neon beer sign hung in the window of the only business establishment. All the cars were parked. Every house was dark. The only sound were two dogs howling at one another. They were this community’s replacement for the resounding chimes of London’s Big Ben.

I remember in the old classic screwball comedy movie, It Happened One Night, that Clark Gable knocked on a stranger’s door asking for help. The newspaper headlines reported, “Search for missing heiress.” Those were different times.

Tomorrow’s News flash: Former pastor shot breaking into small town home in the early morning hours. His last words were, “Where am I?”

Sometimes that is the way life feels. The day finds us going down some road we never intended to travel. This was not on our calendar and not in our plan. We were anticipating another day on cruise control when this massive detour permanently changed life.

Where am I? Where am I going? What happened? What am I going to do now? When will this change? What if this never changes?

Stop and Think! Take your mind back to something spiritually familiar.

We know God is sovereign (in complete control) over all things all the time. We know God’s wisdom is infinite (unlimited and unhindered). We know God is fully aware of every seen and unseen detail of our lives. We know everything God does is wise, right, and good. Always, even this.

God is not surprised by where you are in life; it is part of His plan. Whether this present circumstance is due to unplanned events or bad decisions by you or others, this is all part of your journey.

GOD ALWAYS KNOWS WHERE YOU ARE, WHERE YOU NEED TO BE, HOW AND WHEN TO GET YOU THERE.

Talk to God about where you are. Prayer is not telling God something he does not already know. Prayer is placing yourself in the hands of the one who knows and cares and has promised to supply all you need for this life journey to count for good now and forever.

Life changes. Geography. Time. Companionship. Physical abilities. Circumstances. They all change.

Your life is not about time, things, and chance. It will look directionless without help from the #1 Textbook. God does not take life directions from Siri or Alexa or you. “God is beyond the intuitive level of our radar” (David Wells).

All the days of your life were planned for you and written in God’s #1 Textbook before Day One began (Psalm 139:16).

God has a plan for when you do not know where you are or why.

God’s Word is a lamp to your feet and a light to your path (Psalm 119:105).When you do not know what to do, fix your eyes on God (2 Chronicles 20:12; Psalm 121:1; Psalm 141:8).

Eyes up!

Journey reminder: God’s timing is not the same as your timing. Waiting, changing, resting, and trusting are all parts of this earthly trip. In all things of life, God works for your good (Romans 8:28).

Journey reading: Read and reflect on Joseph’s life journey (Genesis 37-50).

In almost every paragraph, the life question is, “Where am I now?”

The story climaxes with that famous quote, “I am in the place God wants me. Others meant things for evil in my life, but God designed it all for good. Learn to live in faith and not fear” (Genesis 50:19-21).

Most of Joseph’s journey did not look like God was in control for good. It certainly did not always feel that way. Loneliness. Betrayal, Disappointment. Fear. Resentment. Bitterness. Pits. Prisons. Hatred. Trouble. Suffering. Emotional baggage. Crushed dreams. Tears. Valleys where people quit.

Have you visited some of those places in your life journey? You have the same guiding God.

God placed more spectacular technicolor in Joseph’s faith than in his beautiful coat. You are God’s handiwork, His beautiful masterpiece. With every wrong turn, God is adding beautiful color to the tapestry of your life.

The God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm, and steadfast (1 Peter 5:10).

Wherever you are now, place all your hope in God. Love fervently and fearlessly. Love God most wherever you are in this life’s journey, and everyone with you on the trip will benefit.

Through many dangers, toils, and snares,
I have already come.
Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far,
And grace will lead me home
–Amazing Grace, John Newton

A CUP OF HOPE! (Part 2)

Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit (Romans 15:13).

REVIEW:

HOPE IS THE CONFIDENT EXPECTATION OF EXPERIENCING ALL THE FUTURE GOOD GOD HAS PROMISED…SOMEHOW…SOMEWAY…SOMETIME.

ILLUSTRATION: Fill the cup of coffee. Make it fresh, extremely hot, and filled to overflowing.

  1. The Person of HOPE: Now may the God of Hope.

God identified Himself as the God of Hope

“The God of hope,” points to God as the source as well as the object of hope. The focus is on God as the source of hope…God THE Hope.

The first and most fundamental truth from this verse is that God identified himself as the God of hope.

2. THE PROMISE OF HOPE

The goal of hope is to fill you with all joy and peace (verse 13): “May the God of hope fill you…”

  • JOY is the deep-down sense of well-being.
  • PEACE—sound of mind…lit. bound together…not coming to pieces, not chaos in your circumstances, In the midst of Chaos.
  • FILL means literally to fill “to the brim.” The idea is that what fills a person, exercises control over the person’s affect, attitude, and actions.
  • ALL joy and peace – “All” in Greek means all without exception. Complete. Total.

PART 2

3. THE PROCESS OF HOPE The Process … in believing (in Him) … God has proven Himself truthful and trustworthy. Trust Him.

Note the qualifier — “in believing.” This speaks of our responsibility to continue believing…

The Greek literally reads “in the believing” or “in the sphere of the act of habitually believing.” Our believing is the channel, not the cause. The Spirit fills us with his hope and thus with his joy and peace, through our faith.


Believing (the obedience of faith) means to consider something to be true and therefore worthy of trust. The word means to entrust oneself to an entity with complete confidence.

The #1 Textbook highlights our part and God’s part: Our part is a gift to use (faith, hope, love—gifts from God).

Our part is to live in the constant atmosphere of faith – in believing. The word is in the present tense. It means that you habitually continue to believe God, even in tough circumstances:

ILLUSTRATION: Jeremiah in Lamentations. The exercise of God’s gift of faith is a choice to continuously believe God in spite of horrible circumstances that seem to be contrary to His promises.

This I recall to my mind; therefore, I have hope. The Lord’s lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “Therefore I have hope in Him.” (Lam. 3:21-24)

I encourage you to allow this to saturate your thinking, especially in dark and difficult times.

Knowing God and His ways through His Word will show you that He is completely trustworthy.

4. The Power of Hope … by the power of the Holy Spirit … The God of Hope gives the Power to hope.

Hope is supernatural, just like the Power of God. God is in control of ALL things, all the time.

Hope is simply trusting in God’s PROMISE and POWER. Continue believing God is who He says He is…God THE Hope.

The Spirit’s power is the resurrection power (dunamis/dynamite) that gives new life (Romans 1:4). If you have no hope or dead hope, that is not a problem for God who brings creation out of darkness and chaos. Life out of deadness. WOW!

The Spirit is an Enabling Power who strengthens us with power in the inner man so that Christ may dwell in our hearts through faith.

I pray that according to God’s riches in glory that He might grant for you to be STRENGTHENED WITH POWER in the inner person by the Holy Spirit (Ephesians. 3:16-17).

Take Note: Hope comes from God The Hope by God’s Word of promises through the God’s Spirit of power.

I like the preacher Spurgeon’s description: “PEACE IS JOY RESTING; JOY IS PEACE DANCING.”

The PROCESS for God’s POWER to continuously flow in your life is to keep on believing in the God of Hope.

5. The Purpose of Hope… so that you may abound in hope.

So that is a purpose clause. The God of Hope emphasizes His Purpose for giving you hope, joy, and peace.

The ultimate purpose is to glorify God in all things. One way to glorify God is to overflow with hope to others in need of a confident expectation of seeing all the goodness God has promised.

Our hope is super-abundant. The Bible says here, “Now may the God of hope fill you, … so that (purpose clause) you may abound…”

WE BECOME THE CONTAINERS OF GOD’S HOPE.

The word “abound” is an interesting word in this text. It means that we have more hope than is necessary. To Overflow. To Exceed the measurements.

An Illustration from the ##1 Textbook can be found in Matthew 14:20 and John 6 which records the miraculous feeding of more than five thousand hungry people.

Jesus asked Philip to provide all these people the food they needed. Philip said that would be IMPOSSIBLE.

Jesus took the lunch basket of one little boy who had five loaves of bread and two fish. Thank you, Momma. More importantly, the little boy had HOPE of eating a good lunch.

What he did not know was that he had more than enough to share with others…until his believing was connected to the purpose and power of Jesus, the God of Hope.

Jesus fed all the multitude from the gift of that one little basket of food.

Then Jesus asked his disciples to gather what is LEFT-OVER. That is the same word as abound in this Cup of Hope. You have more than enough hope. Gather up your left-over hope to share with others.

Wow! God has given you more than enough hope for what you need today, as well as some to abound to overflowing to help others.

You have more Hope available than you could possibly use! Even in those dark and difficult moments of life, you have an immeasurable, super-abundant amount of hope given to you by the God of Hope.

REXplore Note: “Abounding” is also the word used for the waves coming in on the beach. They crash in, continuously, relentlessly, one after another, unending, never ceasing.

The ocean waves keep coming in, whether you are awake or asleep, whether you are wallowing or wading. That is the way God’s hope comes into your life. No one can stop God’s waves of Hope.

The #1 Textbook describes God’s goodness as waves of grace which God has lavished on us (Ephesians 1:8).

Lavished means over and above any measure, “which God super-abounded to us.” Superfluous. Overflow. Abundance. Considerably more than what would be expected.

Here is another place where the word is used:

May the Lord cause you to increase and abound in love for one another, and for all men, just as we also do for you (1Thessalonians 3:12).

God promises more than enough hope for your circumstances, More than enough. Why? You can share that same hope with others! Be like the little boy with the small lunch basket. Trust Jesus that you have more than enough to share!

Our REXplore point: The fullness of God-given hope never reaches a limit in this life. It can always grow and always abound more and more.

APPLICATION

  1. GET TO KNOW GOD BETTER. Read the #1 Textbook.
    • I think J. I. Packer’s book is helpful, KNOWING GOD. Ignorance of God lies at the root of all hopelessness.
  2. LEARN TO THINK IN TERMS OF GOD’S CHARACTER AND NOT YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES.

Consider the illustration of Job’s test of faith in God’s goodness. Job lost everything. He experienced devastation beyond our imagination, and yet his confession of hope overflowed to us.

The Lord gives and the Lord takes away Blessed be the name of the Lord. When this is finished, I will come forth as pure as gold. Though God slay me, I will still trust Him.

Job experienced despair. Job had questions… How? Why? What?

That is when and where you need Hope. That is when and where you find God trustworthy. That is where others see God THE Hope in your life.

3. GOD-GIVEN HOPE IS FOUND IN THE MIDST OF DESPAIR AND DARKNESS.

Let me conclude with a testimony from my cousin, Toni.

My cousin, Toni, was the princess of our family. She was beautiful, smart, strong, and kind. She was blessed with a good husband and two wonderful young boys. She developed terminal cancer in her early forties. She was devastated, as were the rest of our family.

When I visited her in the hospital, Toni asked if she could be honest with me. She said she was so mad at God but felt so guilty saying it. She cried as she poured out her heart about how unfair this was. She continued to weep as she worried about her sons. She asked for my counsel.

I suggested she just tell God what she had just told me. Toni seemed shocked. I shrugged and said, “It is not like He does not already know how you really feel.”

I encouraged her again before we prayed together. Talk it out with God. He can handle your complaints. God will not love you any less. The more you complain TO GOD, the more foolish it will seem since He is the only one who can help you.

EVERTHING GOD DOES IS ALWAYS WISE, RIGHT, AND GOOD.

Everything! Always! The more you express your complaints TO GOD, the more you will end up trusting Him, as Toni did. Her complaints honored God as the God of her trust. Toni did not get answers to all her questions. She did find peace in trusting God to take care of her loved ones.

Here is a lesson. for your times of hopelessness. Tell God how you really feel. Keep telling God no one cares for your soul until you realize how foolish and wrong that is. God never ceases to care for you. Never.

The God of Hope will fill you with joy and peace in believing...

Difficulties in life are part of the process of hope. If you keep talking to God, you will get to the questions that matter. Contemplate the questions God asked of Job and Toni for your encouragement and hope.

Where were you when I formed the foundations of this earth? Did I ask you for counsel on how the sun will come up each morning and the stars at night? Did I need your help when I named all the stars, more than can be counted?

God does not need our counsel, advice, suggestions, plans. The way your life has and will unfold would be what you would want and do if you knew what God knows. Job and Toni understand that now; we are waiting…in faith and hope.

What happens affects generations to come. God is still using Job’s story and Toni’s story to give us hope.

I do not understand my circumstances, but I know God is THE Hope. God is THE Joy. God is THE Peace. God is THE Good in my life past, present, and into the endless future.

4. LEARN TO PREACH TO YOURSELF THE TRUTHS AND PROMISES OF GOD AND THEN PRACTICE WHAT YOU PREACH.

Preach to yourself. Practice what you Preach.

When you feel overwhelmed with despair or depression, preach to yourself. Tell yourself again and again to Hope in God.

Take Note: The depressed psalmist did this repeatedly when he felt so alone in life.

“Why are you in despair, O my soul? And why have you become disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him for the help of His presence” (Psalm 42:11).

Take Note: We listen to ourselves going to sleep and waking up. Oh me! Oh my! Oh Wow! Learn NOT to listen to your words and your worries and your anxieties and your gripes and your grumblings; BUT listen to God’s Word.

Read the life stories in the Bible.

Your story is just as significant in the heavenly journals. We are all rough drafts. When God writes the last chapter, it will be good.

As we gaze into the unknown future for HOPE, be reminded that faith, love, joy, and peace show up in the rear-view mirror.

Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take…the clouds you so much dread…are big with mercy and soon shall break…with blessings on your head. (William Cowper).

I do not know your circumstances, but you can pray this prayer.

I have five loaves and two fish of Hope today …more than enough to share.

I hope you will take some of my hope and share some of your leftovers with someone who needs hope.

I would have despaired unless I still believed that I would still see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.

I am praying for you to ABOUND IN HOPE, THE CONFIDENT EXPECTATION THAT WE WILL STILL EXPERIENCE ALL THE GOOD GOD HAS PROMISED   SOMEHOW   SOMEWAY   SOMETIME.

EYES UP! LOVE YOU!

A CUP OF HOPE

Would you like your life to be filled to overflowing with fresh Hope, Joy, and peace?

A PRAYER OF HOPE! (Part 1)

Romans 15:13 is a wonderful prayer that God wants every believer to experience: “Now may the God of Hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in Hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

MAY GOD FILL YOU UP TO OVERFLOWING WITH HOPE.

I love to use this illustration of my dad’s coffee. He liked his cup to be filled to overflowing and get it as hot as possible, then even hotter. At a restaurant, he would always send the cup of coffee back with the waitress with the request for more and hotter. At home, he always took the overflowing cup of hot coffee straight from the stove to the microwave to heat for an additional one minute. (I KNOW!)

Fill up Dad’s cup and get it hot.  Why not ask God to fill you up with Hope, Joy, and Peace? And ask it to be fresh and overflowing? God will smile and gladly fulfill that request…anyplace…anytime.

In this life, we can easily get swallowed up in darkness and despair. We need some light of hope.

This is a prayer about HOPE at the end of Romans whose theme is salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ. Chapter 8 describes the whole book as it begins with NO CONDEMNATION in Christ and ends with NO SEPARATION from the love of Christ and everything in the middle is God’s promise to cause all things to work out for our good.

That is the theme of all the #1 Textbook from Genesis to Revelation.

God gave us a PROMISE and a PRAYER to pray for yourself, family, church family, friends, and enemies. It is a prayer for when someone is at home,at the hospital, or at the workplace…in times of loss, suffering, or difficult circumstances.

LOOK at some of the words:

  • FILL-to the brim; overflowing 
  • ALL-without exception, no empty spot.
  • SO THAT-Purpose clause/reason 
  • ABOUND-to overflow

I pray the GOD of hope, the God who is the source of eternal hope and the source of eternal life, will fill YOU up, leaving no emptiness anywhere in your life, and literally overflow YOU with joy and peace that comes in believing, that YOU may super abound in hope through the power of the Spirit of GOD. 

ASSIGNMENT: Read that verse again. Does that prayer even come close to describing you? Can you honestly say that your life is filled with all joy and peace in believing? Do you abound in hope? (Assign yourself a Score based on a Scale of 1-10.)

  • JOY. . . PEACE… HOPE     How would you describe your life?

Since we all tend to give ourselves the benefit of a doubt in these matters, I need to ask, “Would your family or co-workers or good friends at church or school describe you as being filled with all joy and peace in believing and abounding in hope?”

To varying degrees, we all fall short of experiencing that verse and so we all can benefit by thinking about what it means and how we can grow in these qualities. I cannot imagine anyone saying, “I am not interested in having joy and peace. I do not want to abound in hope.”

[Or is this your preference? “I would rather be depressed, down, gloomy, negative. I prefer worry, anxiety, fear, turmoil, stress, and chaos. I like hopelessness and living in despair.]

We all want and need these qualities of hope, joy, and peace; and yet even among believers, very few can legitimately claim to be filled with all joy and peace and abounding in hope.

What describes your life right now? Do you have some hope? Little hope? No hope? Completely hopeless?

I cannot imagine that any of us would say, “I do not want more joy and more peace, and more HOPE.

That is a good reason to join in this study of the #1 Textbook. There is HOPE for you and for someone else in your life without hope.

HOPE IS THE CONFIDENT EXPECTATION OF EXPERIENCING ALL THE FUTURE GOOD GOD HAS PROMISED…SOMEHOW…SOMEWAY…SOMETIME.

Hope is a Certainty. Not a wish like hoping for rain. Not a possibility of this or that happening to change your circumstances. Hope is Assurance. You do not know HOW God is going to do it…You do not know the WAY God will do it …or WHEN God will do it…but your confidence is in God.

Your confidence of faith, hope, and love is in the God of Hope who is trustworthy, sovereign, supreme, sure, strong, steadfast and sufficient. That is Biblical HOPE.

Psalm 27 ends, I would have DESPAIRED UNLESS I BELIEVED THAT I WOULD STILL SEE THE GOODNESS OF GOD in the land of the living. That is HOPE

Psalm 23 concludes with the hopeful declaration: For surely the mercies and goodness of God pursue me all the days of my life. I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

A common factor among those who are depressed is that they lack hope. Discouraged people and those who are apathetic about life also lack hope.

This is a most practical verse for us all as we navigate life’s trials!

The God of hope wants you to be filled with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

How does that prayer become a reality in you?

I want us to REXplore five things:

Part 1: (1) What is hope?

Part 2: (2) Why do you need hope? (3) Where do you find hope?

Part 3: (4) How do you get hope?  (5) What should you do with hope? 

Let’s get started digging into the trustworthy truth of the #1 Textbook.

  1. What is Hope? HOPE IS A PERSON.: God identified Himself as the God of Hope, Now may the God of Hope.

“The God of hope,” points to God as the source and giver of hope. He is also the object of our hope; but the focus of this verse is on God as the source of hope.

In this verse, the is a definitive article in the Greek calling attention to emphasis, which literally translates God THE hope.

Our first lesson: Hope is a Person. If you get to know the Person, you have Hope.

Romans 16.20 is another reference with the same principle. God THE Peace. Peace is a Person. Joy is a Person.

There is nothing you can do of greater worth and importance than knowing the Person of God…through studying the Word of God, which is the purpose of the written Word of God. The #1 Textbook is God’s Self-revelation guide to Relationships of love, joy, and peace.

For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide, WE MIGHT HAVE HOPE. (Romans 15:4).

Therefore, if we lack hope, the first place we should look is to God, who is the GIVER of true hope. Repeat the Rexploration definition of hope.

HOPE IS THE CONFIDENT EXPECTATION OF EXPERIENCING ALL THE FUTURE GOOD GOD HAS PROMISED…SOMEHOW…SOMEWAY…SOMETIME.

We have reason to hope! What a name for God, – the God of hope, the God of certainty, the God of assurance,

God is our God of hope, not just for tomorrow, not just for the future. He is the God of hope for today, our hope in the present. Make a note of this in your mind and heart: The God of hope changes our view of our present situation.

When you know the God of hope, you have a different outlook on the whole world. These verses are your spiritual binoculars for the changing circumstantial cloud formations. This is your lighthouse for the rough seas in life.

Everything starts with God. If there is hope for joy that is deep and eternal, it will be hope that is founded on God. Any other foundation will fail. Whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. (Hebrews 11:6).  

THE SOVEREIGN GOD IS A GOOD GOD. GOD IS A GOD OF HOPE. We must know and believe God exists as God, and that he exists as the God of hope.

That is the first and most fundamental step toward hope. KNOW GOD.

The first and most fundamental truth from this verse is that God identified himself as the God of hope.

Biblical hope is certain because it rests on God’s promises.

PART 2

(2) Why do you need Hope? THE PROMISE OF HOPE IS YOUR CONNECTION TO JOY AND PEACE AND ALL THE GOODNESS OF GOD.

The goal of hope is to fill you with all joy and peace. May the God of hope fill you.

Here is the GOAL of Hope. The Bible is the Promise of God’s everlasting goodness to us.

It will take all the coming ages of everlasting time for God to show us the immeasurable riches of His kindness and infinite goodness to us (Ephesians 2:7). 

The God of hope speaks words of promise.

For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees (Romans 8:24).

But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly to be filled with all joy and peace (Romans 8:25).

In difficulties, we often lose sight of our God.

  1. Joy is the deep-down sense of well-being that abides in the heart of the person who knows all is well between himself and the Lord. God-given joy is independent of whether circumstances are favorable or unfavorable

The Christian life is to be a life of “JOY”. It is founded on faith in Jesus, whose life on earth began as “good news of great joy for all people” (Luke 2:10).

  • Peace is soundness of mind…literally. bound together…not coming to pieces, not chaos in your circumstances.

Peace is an inward state of quiet which is independent of circumstances.

It is time for a Big Question:  Where would the world notice you have joy and peace? In the best of times or in the midst of your most challenging circumstance? Sickness? Suffering? Stress? Sorrow?

  • Fill means literally to fill to the brim. Metaphorically, the Greek word, pleroo, means to take over, to pervade, to take possession of, and ultimately to control.

This is the same verb used by Paul to command the saints at Ephesus to be continually “filled with the Spirit.” (Ephesians 5:18). The idea is that what fills a person, exercises control over that person’s affections, attitude, and actions. 

  • All joy and peace – “All” in Greek means all without exception. In other words, this is not a prayer for a percentage, portion, or fraction, but for all the joy and hope that God has promised. Complete. Total. Never-ending.

O God of Hope, fill us up to overflowing with Hope.

007 and the Snow Bunny

The opening sequence of the James Bond film A View to a Kill involves a thrilling ski chase down the icy slopes of a mountain in Siberia. The 007 spy graciously glides and smoothly swerves on an improvised snowboard to evade pursuing enemies with all the iconic action set to the background music of the Beach Boys’ California Girls.

That is how I envisioned my first downhill snow ski on White Mountain. Some winter enthusiasts would not describe my mountainous descent as skiing.

I quickly transitioned to another James Bond classic, You Only Live Twice! White Mountain snow became a burial site for my Black-and-Blue Ego.

I grew up in a small Midwestern town near beautiful lakes which became the playground for boating and water-skiing. The ease with which my younger brothers could pop out of the water and slalom across the lake forced me to be an adaptive learner.

It did not take exceptionally long for me to learn the difference in water and snow skiing. At the lake, you lean backward. That style causes awkward out-of-control falls on the ski slope. There you lean in over the top of your skis and there is no going back.

I pictured myself sipping hot cocoa beside the fireplace at the ski lodge instead of wildly careening down the mountainside at breakneck speed.

When our leader declared it was time to “hit the slopes,” I took his admonition literally. I hit the slopes so many times I had bruises on my bruises.

I wore my new jeans and a wind breaker. I did not want to be overdressed. No one advised me to scotch-guard my blue jeans. I left the hillside with patches of blue-dyed snow, and the mountain left me with icy wet clothing.

Someone loaned me a jacket, beanie, gloves, and goggles. I rented the rest of the ski ensemble. I wrestled with getting into my rental ski boots. Closing the clamps sounded like the Clydesdale horses traveling a brick road with a limp.

I stood in a lengthy line for a ride on the ski lift. It looked as if the people had enough gear for a fortnight in Norway.

I awkwardly shuffled onto the lift, unaware it was not headed to the bunny slope. The lift creaked to a stop at the very top. The wind howled. I slid off the chair—sort of. I tumbled off, skis going one way, hat the other.

I needed assistance just to recover from the full split that left me painfully planted in the snow powder. The thrill of it all is the realization that I paid someone for a ski lift ride up the mountain so I could freefall all the way back down.

As we reached the summit, I noticed the black diamond sign, “Experts Only.” The sign’s skull and crossbones really set the mood. Think steeper and more hazardous.

Expert. Ex-describes “a has been” while spirt signifies “a small drip.”  I am qualified.

My friend took off as he yelled, “There is only one way to go!”

George leaned forward and he was gone, rocketing down the black diamond graveyard like a hyper-charged penguin on Red Bull with flapping poles and flying snow. He was gracefully magnificent as he whizzed out of sight.

I eventually pulled my gear and my heart together as I got my first peek of the view from the top of the mountain. It was a vertical drop into oblivion. Tiny dots—actual expert skiers—zipped gracefully down the run as if auditioning to be extras in the James Bond snow-themed action movie.

The sweet singing sound of Karen Carpenter filled my mind.

I’m on the top of the world,
lookin’ down on creation,
And the only explanation I can find...I am so stupid!

This was a vertical ice slide for a nincompoop–Latin for “not of sound mind.” I stared at the multiple bumps on the slope. They later introduced themselves as “Moguls.” Avoid at all costs.

Where was George? He had been to the ski lodge for a cup of hot chocolate and back on the ski lift eager to make a second run. He waved at me from his chair as he passed by above. “Just let gravity do the work.”

My ski equipment did not work satisfactorily. Apparently, when the skis point downhill, they take off whether you are ready or not.

Suddenly but not intentionally, I was speeding downhill.

Torpedoes full speed ahead; I flailed in the wind and bounced like a rubber ball down the black ski trail. This is probably how all future Olympic downhill racers begin their journey to the gold medal.

My first stop was a face-plant dive into a snowbank. Exactly like it sounds, falling flat on your face, nose first.

I followed my sixth white powder pileup with an “OH-OH-7!” headfirst plunge into a snowdrift. Spectacular wipeout! I needed assistance to get upright.

My suave snow ski maneuvers included somersaults, pirouettes, and creative snow-eating dives. I left a trail of hats, poles, skis, and pride in the rear-view mirror.

I do not know how I survived my first ski trip down White Mountain. I finished the “run” with a bad limp as I traversed down the hill in those big boots looking for my runaway ski.

My mind raced as my feet trudged onward in need of a bathroom. It absolutely did not matter if it were Bunny or Expert.

In the end, I conquered White Mountain…if you count making it all the way to the bottom, skis in hand, boots on, and only minor frostbite on my pride.

My bruised backside could not diminish my triumphant spirit. I was ready to try this adventure again. On White Mountain, a snowbank holds the clear imprint of a surprised, grinning Spiro lad sliding down with arms flailing.

I left an impression on White Mountain and snow skiing left some impressions on me.

First, snow is significantly less forgiving than water.

Second, “bunny” is a better slope for flailing and flying beginners than the less traveled “expert” slope.

Third, the scene of someone snowplowing into a snowbank and buried upside down is not so funny when it is you. My attitude did not improve when a little kid stopped to offer to help me out of my embarrassing predicament.

It is amazing how many people one can meet while buried in a snowbank.

I met gawkers, advisors, paramedics, and one guy introduced himself as Saint Peter. He said something about crashing into the gate.

I also came away with spiritual lesson reminders about trusting Jesus on the slippery slopes of life.

Life can be exhilarating as well as fearful and dangerous. No one starts off as an “expert.”

When you stand at the top of a snowy mountain, no matter what degree of slope, you must trust your equipment, your training, and the path that lies ahead.

In many ways, this mirrors our walk with Jesus.

Just as a skier must lean into the slope and let go of fear in order to move forward, the #1 Textbook for life instructs us to lean into our faith and trust Jesus, even when the way seems uncertain or intimidating.

Here is some great advice for life moguls or icy slopes. Learn to pray like Jehosophat, “I do not know what to do, but my eyes are on you” (2 Chron 20:12).

We cannot control all the circumstances or minimize the unsuspected moguls. But we can learn mental balance and spiritual confidence in the Lord’s presence and guidance. A sense of rhythm and freedom comes from familiarity with the #1 Textbook.

God’s Word is all the equipment you need to mark the way to go, the path not to follow, the correction for when you made the wrong turn, and the training to love the journey (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

For I am the Lord your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, “Do not fear; I will help you” (Isaiah 41:13).

The phrase “do not be afraid” is written in the #1 Textbook at least 365 times. Why? Because God knows we are afraid as we face new slopes in life. No one starts out as an ‘Expert’ in marriage, parenting, career, and retirement.

There are no Bunny Slopes for practice. Suddenly, you realize the ski lift of life dropped you off at a challenging spot beyond your life skill level.

Nevertheless, it is possible to successfully navigate and overcome challenges encountered throughout one’s life. You can triumph over any terrain.

Jesus invites you to release your anxieties and trust in Him as your guide, instructor, and support. Even when the path is steep or the visibility is low, you are never alone—He is with you every step of the way, even in the snowbanks.

Every day in this life is challenging. God’s Word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path (Psalm 119:105).

Not seeing the outcomes or the ending can be frightening. We can never see the entire picture of what lies ahead. God designed life for us to see a little of what is in front and around us. That is not comfortable but comforting.

As you navigate the slopes of life this week, remember to surrender your fears, trust in Jesus, and enjoy the journey He sets before you.

This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls (Hebrews 6:19).

This hope empowers your heart to pick yourself up from that last disappointing fall and get on with the journey. There are places to go and people to help. There are snowbanks of faith to be shared with fearful beginners and crippled experts.

Clip on, buckle up, lean in, and fly down this next slope of life. When the snow powder gets deep or the mountainside steep, enjoy the journey. You will have a story to tell and a God to praise.

EYES UP! SKIS STRAIGHT! FULL SPEED AHEAD!

LOVE YOU!

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope (Romans 15:13).

THE GREAT OUTDOORSMAN

My new college freshman friend was a decorated Eagle Scout. I was kicked out of my Boy Scout pack before reaching the Tenderfoot level.

George asked if I liked being outdoors.

I enjoyed playing football and baseball outdoors, and I practiced basketball in my backyard almost every day.

George was the real life protype for Robert Redford’s Jeremiah Johnson and Leonardo DiCaprio’s Revenant. George had more merit badges than common sense as he convinced a group of small-town refugees to accompany him on our first-ever mountain camping trip.

His cry continues to echo in my memory. “Nature builds character.”

George was an outgoing outdoorsman. He planned a weekend camping trip on White Mountain so a few of us could get away from the classroom grind. The tallest place where I grew up was Cavanaugh Hill, the highest hill in the world. It was only slightly taller than the county landfill.

I packed for the adventure using his supply list. I read up on survival skills, which was its own challenge since Google search was still years in the future.

Our first challenge was climbing the mountain. It was fun, filled with laughter and stories from our high school days. Finally, we found the perfect place to rest. How do I know? George de Guide said it was our spot for the night.

Setting up the tent was the next camping challenge. General George laid out the stakes with military precision, then handed us the instructions. Twenty minutes later, my tent looked like a deflated kids’ bounce house.

The flashback memory was too much. I had a confession to make to George and the crew about my traumatic youthful experience in Cub Scouts.

My parents wanted me to become an Eagle Scout. They placed me in a Boy Scout troop, sacrificed precious dollars to buy me the blue uniform, pay the club fees, and purchase the books and project materials.

I failed to achieve the rank of Tenderfoot, the lowest scouting rank.

I FLUNKED OUT OF CUB SCOUTS!

That is right! I memorized all the mottos and lessons. I learned the salutes and pledges. I did the projects to earn merit badges. However, I failed tying knots!

I could do math and science but not knots. It has been a lifetime problem.

My grandmother used a knitting needle to untie the tight knots in my childhood shoelaces. Thankfully, she was not as forceful as Alexander the Great with the famous Gordian Knot. He untangled the complex knot in one quick strike with his sword.

In Cub Scouts, I struggled to learn different knots: square knot, two half-hitches, and taut line hitch. No knots meant no tent, and no tent meant no Tenderfoot badge.

I was trustworthy, loyal, courteous, and brave; but my mental block was just as tangled as my rope. My knots had names like” Unbelievable” and “What in the World” and “Inextricable.” Yep, boys and girls, my scout knots could not be unraveled!

I lost hope of becoming a Scout Tenderfoot during our Cub Pack’s overnight camping trip. I had to set up the leader’s tent, but it rained that night and the tent fell down, soaking our leader and his clothes. It was funny, except to the Cubmaster.

I was eventually dismissed from the club and kicked out of the Pack. “Do Your Best” was a catchy motto, but if your best failed to correctly tie knots, you were “Knot” in the club.

That failure haunted my life then and now. Humiliation. PTSD!  Knot frustration! A mental Knot Block! Tanglephobia!

Anything with a knot starts as a nuisance and ends as a nightmare.

My associates laughed at my story and my current tent debacle. George was more understanding. He diplomatically called my poorly erected tent “modern art” and rebuilt it in under three minutes, narrating his every move like a future YouTube tutorial.

Tarzan swung on branches while we collected wood for the campfire. Our Eagle Scout scolded us for using matches to start the fire. The show-off caveman created fire by rubbing sticks together.

Dinner was next on the agenda. If we had waited for cell phone invention, we could have ordered pizza delivery. Hot dogs and S’mores made up our menu. The crackling fire provided welcomed warmth.

Connection, reflection, and campfire stories fed our souls with lessons learned around the flames of friendship.

As night fell, the woods came alive with mysterious noises: twigs snapping, leaves rustling, and what sounded suspiciously like a frightened roadrunner fleeing Wiley Coyote.

Our Daniel Boone alerted us that the bears in the area were friendly. Camper friend Joel sarcastically asked if we should expect a visit from Yogi Bear and his loyal sidekick, Boo-Boo.

George reaffirmed we had nothing to fear. How did he know? The Boston Strangler was still on the loose. We were also camping near Fall River, home of the famous axe-murderer, Lizzie Bordon.

They are called campfire “ghost stories” for a reason.

As the full moon rose over the pines, the winter night was filled with howling coyote sounds similar to the music track from The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.

The climb, the cold, the cooking, and the campfire chats were memorable. The sub-freezing temperature and the proximity of howling wolves were not as pleasant.

I crawled into my sleeping bag, leaving only my eyes visible, like two disco balls in the dark. Our host suggested putting heated rocks from the campfire in our sleeping bags for warmth. It worked, but my sleeping bag’s bottom melted.

We woke up before dawn from our peaceful sleep, relieved that there was no bugle blast, just the sound of Jungle Jim doing his morning exercises.

I extracted my feet from the melted encasing and stumbled toward the campfire. This was one of the few times in life I sipped coffee. No one brought a Coke or hot chocolate. The breakfast was phenomenal.

Somehow, we made it to the summit just in time for the clouds to roll in and block the view. As we tripped and laughed our way back down the mountain, it hit me: I survived the night and it was fun.

I learned some valuable lessons. I discovered that the wilderness is full of adventure and beauty, and the realization that next time, I am booking a cabin and bringing a cook.

Outdoorsman? Jesus was an outdoorsman.

From the hills of Galilee to the shores of the Sea, he found solace and purpose beneath open skies. He rose with the dawn. He climbed mountains, slept under trees, and walked on water.

He sailed in boats and taught multitudes on the mountainside. He walked down dusty roads, miles and miles from village to village. He noticed the birds and gazed at the clouds. He laid his head on rocks to rest. He meditated in olive groves and along quiet hillsides.

He moved among the rocks and desert wilderness. He appreciated the flowers blooming in the spring and enjoyed the fresh fruit of summer. He moved through the wheat fields ready for harvest.

Jesus taught lessons about seeds needing to be sown in fertile ground, not the rocky byways or among the weeds. He observed the lilies clothed more beautifully than King Solomon in all his splendor,

He taught how the sparrows were so much loved by God that they had no worries. He understood sheep and their need for a shepherd’s care. He called attention to the resilience of the smallest mustard seed.

Storms never frightened him. Surging waves obeyed him. Some nights, he slept in a boat on the sea.

Outdoorsman?

Jesus listened to fish stories and acted as a fishing guide for failing fishermen who landed their largest catch following his instructions. He built campfires in the sand and cooked fish beside the lake.

He shared bread under the stars, the same stars Abraham once tried to count as his heart pondered his promised descendants. The same stars Isaiah declared were beyond innumerable, but all named by God. The same stars in David’s songs that unceasingly declare the glory of God.

Jesus traveled over sea and land to find a lost man crying in the cemetery. He reminded Legion and all his followers that they were never alone, even in the wilderness, even in the darkness, even in the storms of life.

The world was his classroom, the earth his canvas—and in every sunrise and sunset, he saw the handiwork of his Father. In every day, in every place, and in every face, he saw his purpose…to love first and to love most.

Yes, Jesus was an Outdoorsman!

The #1 Textbook describes him as the Rose of Sharon, the Lily of the valley, the bright and morning Star, the Sun of righteousness, the Rock of salvation, the Good Shepherd, the Maker of heaven and earth. Fisher of men.

I hope you will get outdoors or at least look outside. Gaze at the stars. Feel the early morning rays of the sun. Marvel at the moon. Notice the birds in the trees or the geese flying by. Smell the flowers.

Pause and reflect on the glory of God highlighted in the grandeur of a majestic mountain, the beauty of a clear lake, the countless grains of sand on a gorgeous beach, the cascading waves of the incessant tide, the cool freshness of an evening breeze, the rhythm of a sudden rainstorm, the purity of a Winterland snowfall.

The canvas of creation was designed to stir our senses, lift our spirit, and draw us closer to our Creator, the lover of our soul. The outdoor creation invites us to gaze on God and breathe in his life afresh and anew with stewardship and wonder.

Everything was created by him as a display of his glory. Every time we see something that strikes us as beautiful or awesome we should praise the Lord Jesus for giving us this great outdoors to enjoy.

Yes, Jesus was an Outdoorsman!

Jesus prayed and wept in a garden. He hung on a cross on a hill called Golgotha. He saw the skies darken as black as our deadened hearts. And he refused to stay inside the closed tomb.

Jesus was a great outdoorsman! The light of the world!

Let His light shine on, in, and through you…Inside and Outdoors!

EYES UP…ENJOY THE JOURNEY!

Don’t Judge a Book by its Cover: Renew Your Resolution

Voted Top Favorite story again.

I received a late-night call from the police. A body was found in the backyard of the missionary house adjacent to our church parking lot. A neighbor had called 911. The person was either drunk or dead. The law enforcement asked me to be there as quickly as possible to ID the person.

What did I feel at that moment? Shock. Apprehension. Worry.

That hot Louisiana August night became unforgettable.

I arrived at the church parking lot within fifteen minutes of the alert. It looked like a crime scene. Police cars, flashing lights, yellow tape barriers, officers with flashlights inspecting the backyard area of the missionary house.

A policeman stopped me to confirm my identity. The officer explained that a neighbor had called the emergency hotline reporting a lifeless body in the darkened backyard next door. Upon investigation, the police startled a young man outside the house. As he sat up, guns were drawn. The suspect was ordered back to the ground where he was handcuffed and questioned.

The police suspected drunkenness or drugs. They inspected the surrounding area for corroborating evidence. They also searched for another body.

I watched from a distance as the police put the arrested man through the field sobriety test. They checked his balance, coordination, and attention span. The officer ordered the handcuffed man to gaze at a moving flashlight, walk a straight line with a turnaround, and stand on one leg.

When the field test was completed, I was escorted to where two police cars faced each other. In the midst of their headlights, a shadowy figure stood in handcuffs, surrounded by several officers. The young man was barefoot, dressed in blue jean overalls with no shirt.

The lead officer asked if I knew this person. As I approached, the shackled young man grinned and spoke, “Hey, Brother.”

The center of suspicious attention was Jim. Jim McCarty was one of my preacher school interns. Oh, my!

Under intense questioning, Jim explained he was lying in the backyard, gazing at the stars, and contemplating the greatness of God’s glory while reciting Bible verses. He was shocked to find his explanation rejected as insanity,

The officers thought this was delusional or drug-induced hallucinations.

I quieted the policemen and freed the handcuffed Jim with a simple statement. “This is Jim. I can assure you that his testimony is absolutely truthful. As strange as it sounds, this is not unusual for him. Jim is different, in a good way.”

The officer responded, ” I would have sworn he was in a dope daze. It only goes to show that you don’t judge a book by its cover.”

Jim was part of our first group of preacher school interns. Each guy was unique and yet similar in his big-hearted love, courageous faith, and God-honoring usefulness to the kingdom. I love them all like sons.

God sent Jim to us by way of a suggestion from my brother who pastored a church in Texas. He had a young man whom he thought could benefit from being in a new environment. Jim had recently dropped out of college for the second or third time. Joe was concerned about Jim’s social development, his aversion to education, and his lack of direction in life. Would we consider taking him under our wings?

Jim arrived in his trademark overalls. He did wear a shirt underneath and, for the church greeting, wore shoes. Jim was a “yes sir, no sir” young man. His slow Texas drawl was noticeable in this Deep South environment. He was polite but slightly socially challenged. He could appear quiet and cautious in his surroundings.

Let me just lay it out there with no intention of alienating anyone. This is just an observation, not a cancel culture comment.

Jim looked and talked like a country boy from Texas. He would definitely not be mistaken for a sophisticated city slicker.

Mr. Green Jeans

This is not an insult, just a meet-and-greet characterization. His appearance reminded me of Captain Kangaroo’s sidekick, Mr. Green Jeans. Since that childhood TV show would be unfamiliar to most of you, think of Festus (Gunsmoke), Gomer (Mayberry), Jethro (Beverly Hillbillies), Woody (Cheers), Hank (King of the Hill), Darryl, Darryl, and the other Darryl (Newhart).

These television characters were not dumb. Old-fashioned to a fault, they were innocently naïve, out of touch with the bad stuff in this modern world. Most of these characters were noted for being friendly, loyal, and philosophical. Their insightful wisdom usually sounded comedic in its simplicity. Jim fit the part, but it was no act.

Social Development? Jim quickly endeared himself to our church family. He was a regular weekly dinner guest for several families. He mowed lawns and made house repairs for widows which, in return, kept him well-stocked in food. No one in our city ate more desserts than Jim. Pies, cakes, pastries, and cookies. He could have opened a Sweet Shop. Somehow, he retained his lean frame.

Jim ran errands, dug ditches, and put-up fences. He was not afraid of work. He joined the ministries to the homeless and neighborhood outreach. Everyone loved this young man in overalls.

Aversion to Education? Jim was an eager and quick learner. He studied the Bible and asked thoughtful questions. His looks and demeanor were different, but he fit right in with the other preacher interns. Deep thinkers. Sensitive hearts.

My goal for the preacher training school was to deepen their devotion to the Lord Jesus Christ before they embarked on more intense theological studies or careers.

We put them through rigorous reading assignments and challenging discussions. We explored Scripture in-depth. We engaged the young men in ministry to at-risk youth to expand their love for others. Then we tested them.

The tests would cover the latest Biblical book. The interns would need to recall verses and passages and expositional points. These were the best and brightest young men I had been around. The tests were challenging.

Something interesting was revealed during the testing time for the Gospel of John. As the preacher guys recalled Biblical references, Jim’s test recited large passages of the text, word for word. On further investigation, Jim admitted he had memorized the entire book of John, all twenty-one chapters.

I have been to school with all kinds of students. Some were very smart and some were educationally challenged.

Carl did not know which way was right and which was left. He was a very fast running back who scored a lot of touchdowns because this quarterback directionally pointed when I called out the play, Right Twenty-Eight Quick Pitch. Our co-captain, Daryl, was greatly disappointed in his English assignment when he discovered that Shakespeare’s Hamlet was not about football. No, Hamlet is not the same as Helmet…so close and yet so far away.

I also attended college with guys who had perfect college admission scores, but no common sense. One knew Latin and Quantum Physics but failed the basics of etiquette. Another could not organize a dorm function but became our country’s Vice-President.

However, this version of Mr. Green Jeans was the most impressive student I have ever known.

As I continued to quiz Jim, he stated he had memorized the other Biblical books we had studied. At one point, Jim memorized the entire New Testament.

As I got to know Jim better, he revealed why he quit college several times. He would register for the classes, buy the books, and read them all before the first class. When the professor began with an overall introduction and slowly waded through chapter one, it left Jim bored and uninspired.

Jim confessed he saw no reason to continue to go to class to listen to something he had already learned! That certainly bested all my reasons for skipping classes.

Jim read all of the #1 Textbook only to discover he had only begun to mine its truth and treasure. This Book cannot be judged by its cover. It is the Word of God. Its supremacy and sufficiency are unfathomable. Its value and worth are immeasurable.

Life Purpose? The country boy was brilliant. However, the most impressive hidden characteristic was the size of his heart. He was also missionary-minded. He traveled with Charlotte Norman and a church group to Oaxaca, the poorest area of Mexico.

Miss Charlotte was a former Garden Club Society member who gave her heart to Mexico missions, inner-city Porch Church, and women prison ministries. Charlotte’s big heart had a huge impact on Jim.

Jim returned to Oaxaca to spend some extended time helping Victor Castanon with missionary work to the outlying mountainous regions. Victor will someday lead the rejoicing of multitudes of the Mixe Indians gathered around the heavenly throne.

The next time we saw Jim, he was accompanied by his new bride, Maria, Victor’s daughter. Maria is the sweetest, kindest, hardest working young lady anyone could meet. God used Maria to focus Jim on his life’s calling.

Jim came back determined to become a doctor. He and Maria planned to return to Oaxaca to open up a medical clinic in the village, as well as provide assistance to the thousands in the surrounding area without medical care.  

This required Jim to finish his college studies which he did in eighteen months. Then he had two months to study for the medical school entrance test, the MCAT Exam.

The time and the educational challenge seemed impossible, unless you were Mr. Green Jeans with an arrest record for loitering in the backyard gazing at stars.

Jim knocked it out of the park. He finished in the top one percent of all applicants. He could get into any medical school. However, Jim thought it best for him to study medicine in Mexico.

So, Jim passed the medical exam again, only this time in Spanish. Medical education is brutally challenging, even more so in a second language. Jim even attended his classes. Upon the successful completion of his training and intern practice in Mexico. Jim and Maria returned to her hometown where they opened a medical clinic for the poor people of that area.

That Mixe medical clinic was just the book cover. Exploits, dangers, drug cartels, late night medical emergencies, long journeys by burro and on foot, and training preachers are all storybook stuff. They are all written in the heavenly journals.

Jim traveled throughout the mountainous area preaching and doctoring. He once preached one of the best Psalms expositions I have ever heard. I imagine he memorized all of it.

Since those early years, Jim has gained physician certification in the United States. The patients have no idea that this “country doctor” in the big city has one of the most brilliant minds and one of the biggest hearts they will ever encounter. They certainly do not know this doctor was once arrested for stargazing.

There is an old saying, “Do not judge a book by its cover.” It is a metaphorical expression which suggests one should not judge the worth or value of someone or something by its outward appearance alone.

You can’t judge an apple by looking at a tree,

You can’t judge honey by looking at the bee,

You can’t judge a daughter by looking at the mother,

You can’t judge a book by looking at the cover. 

(Don’t Judge a Book by its Cover, sung by Bo Diddly, lyrics by Willie Dixon)

Oh, how often we fail to heed that advice. We look at someone’s outward appearance and quickly form some judgment regarding their character or motives. We check off our social media “like” or “dislike” without listening, without learning, and without loving. That is not how the Lord loves us.

“The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” (#1 Textbook).

Judging others is not a spiritual calling. Loving others is our universal challenge.

Whether Jim’s steps lead him over sparsely populated mountainous regions or crowded and bloodied emergency rooms or church parking lots, he will most likely greet you with a smile and a “Hey, Brother!” I can guarantee you he will not judge you by your cover.

Let us all be better at not judging others by first impressions. Misjudgments arise when we focus on the color of someone’s skin, their outward dress, or their dialect.

“We must never forget this as a nation: there are no gradations in the image of God. Every man from a treble-white to a bass-black is significant on God’s keyboard precisely because every man is made in the image of God. One day we will learn that. We will know one day that God made us to live together as brothers and to respect the dignity and worth of every man.” (Martin Luther King, Jr.)

“The Gospel is the power of God to change water to wine, death to life! The whole story is about Him. We just get to be vessels carrying the divine glory!” (Dr. Jim McCarty)

Join me in the march to love first and love most. We are vessels carrying the glory of love. When we love like Jesus, we discover a glorious and defining truth. If every human being were a book, every book would have the same book cover. It would say, “Made in the image of God.”

Life is not about outward appearances. It is about love and character and integrity and faithfulness. A heart will tell you much more about a person than appearance.

May we all work more on our inner resources than our outward appearances.

May we give greater value and worth to the inner beauty of others.

And may we find some time in our busy lives to gaze at the stars as we contemplate the greatness of God’s glory, goodness, and love to us.

NEXT YEAR’S PANEL OF JUDGES

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