Truth vs. Tolerance

We hear a lot about tolerance these days. Things that were considered sinful and shameful just a generation ago are widely accepted today. In our post-modern society, anything goes. If we speak out against such things as abortion and gay marriage, we're called 'haters' and 'judgmental.'

I respect the right of everyone to have their own opinion, whether it's on politics or religion or anything else. But there comes a time when we must stand up for the truth and defend the way of righteousness. We must measure our beliefs based on the truth found in God's Word. It is the standard by which we should judge everything.

But non-believers, and even some believers, don't want to hear the truth. "Do not judge," they tell us and they love to quote Matthew 7:1-2: "Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged."

That is probably the most misinterpreted verse in the Bible. It's not judging when you are agreeing with what God has said. God has set a standard, commanding us to love what He loves and hate what He hates.

His Word spells out certain sins. Galatians 5:19 says, "The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies and the like."

WOW! Some of those hit pretty close to home! Jealousy. Envy. Who hasn't had those feelings at some time in life? But the Bible plainly says those who live this way will not inherit the kingdom of God.

No one likes to hear that they're in the wrong or living in sin. But what the Bible calls sin IS sin, and we must take a stand against it, even if society labels us as intolerant. Whether it's a "small white lie" or drinking or adultery, it's sin and it's wrong. As believers, we have a responsibility to speak the truth and warn others. We must do it boldly, but do it in love.

We may not be popular if we speak (or write) the truth, but we should care more about what God thinks about us than what people think. Our society may have changed its standard of right and wrong, but God's standard will never change.

Legacies

Three prominent high-profile people died last week. Actress Elizabeth Taylor, politician Geraldine Ferraro and nationally-known prophecy teacher J.R. Church all passed away in the past week. They each left their mark on our society, but will their legacies count in eternity?

Elizabeth Taylor was a great actress. She gained fame as a child actress and later became an award-winning movie star. She was known for her glamorous lifestyle and great beauty. Her much publicized private life included eight marriages, several life-threatening illnesses and decades spent as a social activist championing the cause of AIDS awareness.

She won the Academy Award for best actress twice, and The American Film Institute named her seventh on its Female Legends list. She starred in some great movies, like "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" and "Cleopatra." She lived a very fascinating life, that's for sure. She was 79 when she died.

Geraldine Ferraro was one of my favorite Democrats. I disagreed with her most of the time, but I liked her because she didn't practice "hate politics." She respected her opponents even when she disagreed with them. I liked to watch her debate conservatives on Fox.

She is best known for becoming the first woman to run for vice president on a major party ticket when she became Walter Mondale's running mate in 1984. They were defeated in a landslide by President Reagan, but she was a trailblazer for women in politics. She remained active in politics and championed women in both parties until the end of her life. She worked on Hilary Clinton's 2008 campaign and praised the selection of Sarah Palin as John McCain's V.P. pick. Ferraro was 75 when she died on Saturday.

J.R. Church was 72 when he passed away last week. Who's J.R. Church, you ask? He may not have the name recognition of Liz Taylor or Geri Ferraro, but he also left a legacy on the world. He spent his life serving the Lord and others as a pastor and a prophecy teacher.

He was a pastor in Lubbock for 18 years. He later founded the "Prophecy in the News" television ministry and diligently pursued its outreach until his health declined. Even in his final years of life, he hosted a daily radio commentary and Web cast, teaching on end-time events. His mission in life was to win others to Christ.

Three lives. Three legacies. I don't know if Elizabeth Taylor and Geraldine Ferraro were saved. I hope so. I pray they were saved, even though they never made a public confession of faith. I know where J.R. Church is today. His life of service to God tells us that he is in heaven, and his legacy will live on through those he reached for the Lord.

What kind of legacy will we leave behind when we die? Will our memories quickly fade away or will we leave a lasting mark on our family, friends and those who knew us? Everything we do in this life will pass away and be forgotten, but what we do for God will be remembered forever. I want my life to count in eternity. How about you?

Extra, Extra

I worked for a newspaper for 17 years, so it's kind of strange that I don't read the newspaper much now. Judging by the size of The Pampa News, I don't think I'm missing anything. The mantra of newspapers used to be "All the news that's fit to print." Now, it's just "All the news that fits."

I was one of the copy editors at the Amarillo Globe-News for those 17 years. It was our job to find mistakes and correct them before they got into the paper. We were the last line defense. We weren't perfect, but we worked hard to put out a good paper.

Copy editors seem to be a dying breed at many newspapers today. That is evident by the number of mistakes I see in The Pampa Snooze. That trend is happening at bigger newspapers, too.

When the Globe-News merged its morning and afternoon papers in 2001, we had more than a dozen copy editors. That number has steadily declined since then. Just last week, two of the best copy editors I worked with at the Globe-News were let go. One of them had more than 20 years experience. I think that leaves just two copy editors and the janitor to edit the whole paper. Wait, I forgot, they canned the janitor, too. Staffers have to empty their own trash. (I'm serious. That actually happened before I left a year and a half ago.)

It's all about making more money for the greedy newspaper owners. They will cut faithful long-time employees to boost the bottom line. It's not right. I saw it happen over and over at the Globe-News. It happens in other industries, too.

Owners have a right to make a good profit, but it shouldn't come at the expense of long-time employees. People dedicate their lives to a company, and then they are thrown out like the trash. It's sad.

Newspaper circulation is declining every year as its readership dies off and younger generations turn to the Internet for their news. I miss the way things used to be when I started in the newspaper business. But newspapers will never be that way again. The printed newspaper may even become extinct, much like eight-track tapes and cassettes. And that would be a very sad day.

The Incredible Shirking President

Between the budget battle, violence in Libya and the earthquake in Japan, Obama has had to make some tough decisions lately. . . like whether to play golf or shoot hoops today! The world is falling apart, and Obama is on ESPN making his brackets. Nice!

The mark of a true leader is decisiveness. A strong leader makes bold decisions and does not back away from them. Obama has dithered on every major issue. He was virtually silent on the Libyan uprising for more than a week before endorsing a no-fly zone over Libya. He approved missile attacks on Friday. The next day, he left on vacation. But I'm sure that's just a coincidence.

Obama needs to get tough. He says our mission in Libya is not to oust Qaddafi. It's not? It should be. We should do everything possible to depose this Libyan dictator. He must be stopped from killing more civilians. Instead, Obama is giving him a slap on the wrist.

Ronald Reagan wasn't shy about how he felt about Qaddafi, calling him "The mad dog of the Middle East." Reagan said, "Qaddafi counted on America to be passive. He counted wrong." And Reagan took strong actions against the dictator.

Under Reagan, America was proud to be the leader of the free world. Obama seems to think these world crises are a nuisance, so he shirks them off, heading off to the golf course or planning another vacation.

This is par for the course for Obama. Remember the oil spill in the Gulf last year? Obama sat idly by for days before he said or did anything. He's also been passive on the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt and even on the budget. He made a lot of promises before he was elected and he hasn't kept any of them, except passing his precious health care bill which he ramrodded down our throats.

I just hope America doesn't have to pay for Obama's passivity. The rest of the world sees him as weak. Let's pray they don't take it out on our country through another terrorist attack. Stop shirking your job, Mr. President. It's time for you to get a backbone.

Perilous Times

Conditions in Japan look pretty bad, and things seem to get worse each day. It's been nearly a week since the powerful 9.0 earthquake ravaged the country. Now, there are threats of radiation leaks and a meltdown at the country's nuclear power plant. Add to that the uprisings in Egypt, Libya and all across the Mid-East and this world is in one big mess.

So why don't more people get it? Why don't more people realize the perilous times we're living in?

I listen to the talk shows where they discuss and analyze these events almost nonstop. They bring in "experts" and ask them why all these epic weather events and disasters are happening more frequently today. The so-called experts say the record earthquakes, tsunamis and floods are just "part of a cycle" in the earth. They point to the past and try to say these things happen in cycles.

They just don't get it. Just once, I'd like to hear a talk-show host ask the experts: "How do these events relate to the end times and the soon coming of Jesus?" That would flip their wigs. The experts wouldn't know what to say!

There are some on TV, such as Hal Lindsey, who has been sounding a wake-up call and telling us we are at the very end of the last days. But there aren't many like him in the media, and certainly none in the mainstream media who would dare to mention the rapture.

Instead of looking to the past to explain these things, as the so-called experts would have us to do, we need to be looking to the future. These things are a sign of things to come. Things may look bad in the world right now, but they are going to get much worse, especially during the tribulation after the rapture.

For believers, we shouldn't be afraid when we hear about the earthquakes and disasters in the world. We should be alert, aware of what is about to take place. Luke 21:28 says, "When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near."

Take cheer today. Jesus is coming soon!

As Time Goes By

I watched last week as bulldozers ripped through the old Baker Elementary school building where I went to kindergarten. The building is being torn down after sitting empty for many years. I drove by there last week to watch the demolition. Only a small section of the building now remains, and it will soon be gone, too.

It's sad to see the old building go. I went there only one year for the headstart kindergarten program. That was more than 35 years ago. The building was old and rickety even then. Mom went to the first and second grades in that school. My Grandmother Altman worked in the school's cafeteria. So the building had been around a long time, and it was a piece of Pampa's history.

I can still remember going to school there and being in Mrs. Morgan's class. I can remember classmates from there. I saw a post on Facebook where some of the Baker kids were meeting in front of the school last week to reminisce and say goodbye to their old school.

That was certainly a long time ago when I went to school there, but it doesn't seem that long. Time passes so quickly. It makes me realize just how fast time goes by and how we should make the most of every day we have.

Each day is a gift. I want to make each day count by focusing on the things the really matter. For me, that means cherishing the time I'm able to spend with my family and my friends. It means spending more time reading God's Word instead of so much time watching TV. It means taking time to recognize and be thankful for the blessings in my life.

The Bible says life is like a vapor, here today and gone tomorrow. And this life is just practice for the life that is to come. Don't waste time worrying about things that don't matter. Focus on the things the count in life and make the most of every day!

The One Thing

Only one thing matters. We spend nearly the first two decades of our lives learning and going to school to try to figure out what we're supposed to do with our lives. We spend the next 30, 40 or more years working to make a living and be productive citizens. We spend our remaining years on this earth, if we're lucky, enjoying what we worked so hard to get.

In the end, where does that get us?

Even if we finish the rat race in first place, that only makes us the No. 1 rat! We can work hard all our lives and accumulate all kinds of "stuff" and still come to the end of our lives to find out that none of that "stuff" even matters.

So what's really important in life, and how do we get it?

We should approach everything we do in light of eternity. What we do in this life affects how we will spend eternity. There are only two possible outcomes: we will either spend eternity with God in heaven or we will spend it separated from God's presence. The choice is ours.

The one thing that matters, then, is making sure we're right with God. It starts with a relationship with Jesus and asking Him to take over and lead us on our life's journey.

God wants us to be happy and prosperous in this life. He has good things for us. He has a plan and a purpose for our lives. We should give Him our best in everything we do, whether it's in our jobs or in our families.

Some people come to Christ at an early age and walk with Him all their lives, but others don't find Him until much later in life. Whatever stage you're at in life, you can begin a relationship with Him today. You can make the decision to live for God and then follow Him! Then, at the end of your life, you will hear Him say, "Well done, good and faithful servant." And that truly is the only thing that matters.

Step By Step

It's been a while since I have given an update on my walking, so here's a progress report:

Since I finished my physical therapy in December, I have continued to work on walking at home, and my legs are getting stronger. Each day, I make this confession of faith: "I am stronger today than I was yesterday." And, with the Lord's help, I see it happening. I'm walking more and farther than I was just two months ago.

I wear my leg braces most weekdays now. I park my scooter next to my recliner in the living room and from there I can walk to the computer room or the bedroom. I can go almost anywhere in my apartment with my walker. I haven't walked outside yet because my balance is still shaky sometimes, and I don't want to risk falling outside.

I haven't fallen in several weeks. Even then, it wasn't really a fall. Sometimes, my legs just get tired and I go down on my knees. I'll rest a few minutes and then I'm able to get up and continue on.

This just shows that nothing is impossible for God! It's nothing that I have done, but it's God's power that has given me strength to start walking again. It has now been a full year since I moved to Pampa. When I first came here, I would fall while trying to get from my scooter to the recliner. I would have to call someone to come and help me get up.

I am much stronger now. If I do fall, I know that I can usually get up by myself. I am amazed at how far God has brought me in one year, and I know He's not through with me yet!

***** ***** *****

I took advantage of the 70-degree weather yesterday to do a little off-roading on my scooter. I didn't actually plan to go off road. It just happened that way.

There's a little park about a block from my apartment. But there are no curb cuts around the park to let me get on the sidewalk with my scooter. I have to go to the next park over to get up the curb and then go under a bridge to go back to the first park. Yesterday, I decided to take a shortcut and cut across the field instead of going all the way over to the trail.

My scooter goes pretty good in the grass, so I didn't have any trouble and it was kind of fun. It was an adventure anyway.

It's odd that the city doesn't put curb cuts at all the parks. I've found several parks that are inaccessible or only partially accessible. Maybe that will be my next mission: To petition the city for curb cuts in all city parks. We've come a long way toward making places more accessible for the disabled, but there's still a lot to do to make it a barrier-free society.