McClurg's Musings

Colors of Autumn…

alanmcclurg — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 15:05:01 +0000

I enjoyed the drive in to work this morning. The fall colors are bursting and today they were juxtaposed against clouds of dark grey, with hints of sunshine coming through, that made those colors seem much more vivid than normal. There were leaves of all colors gathering in the middle of the road and leaves literally “raining” down on those of us in early morning traffic. I love it. I love the change of seasons. Although autumn is my favorite season, it is closely followed by all the rest. Truth be known, winter used to be my favorite time of the year, but since we decided to live in the mid-south over 30 years ago, winter here has taken a back seat to autumn. My wife and I love the snows of winter, but we see so little of it here, we have learned to satisfy ourselves with the colors and falling leaves of autumn.

I was thinking this morning of the colors each season has to offer and how the Christian might learn something from them. For example, as the snow of winter begins to fall, we are amazed at how beautiful it can be. The “whiteness” seems to bring a new purity to everything it touches. It reminds me of the purity of Jesus Christ. I am continually awed by the fact that God came to live on earth among men, allowed us to touch Him, allowed Him to touch us, and lived out His time on earth in front of us with one hundred percent purity. Everyone He came in contact with was blessed, and in some cases purified, by His touch. I think about the soft pastels of the spring and am reminded of the wonderful mercy and forgiveness and gentleness shown to us by our Father in heaven. I think about the fresh and brilliant greens of summer and it reminds me of the refreshing renewal that the Holy Spirit brings us if we focus our minds on eternal things instead of that which is worldly and finite. And I am thinking especially today of the yellows and oranges of the fall and am reminded of the spiritual glow of my fellow Christians as they allow the love of God to burn within their hearts. And finally, when I see the red colors displayed by the tulip poplar and maple trees, I am reminded of the blood shed upon the cross by our dear Savior that has allowed us to be enjoined in a relationship with God. Truly, our God is an awesome God!

See you later…I have some leaves to rake…

Mouse House…

alanmcclurg — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 15:54:55 +0000

The bank’s customer was not prepared for what came out of the ATM machine early Saturday morning. It was cash to be sure…but it looked like it had been…well…partially eaten. And it had. It seems that some time during the night on Friday night, a mouse had found his way inside the cash machine, found the warmth inside the machine satisfying, and spent the next several hours turning the cash stored inside the machine into what was very comfortable, not to mention expensive, mouse bedding. Bank experts are still befuddled as to how the mouse could have gotten inside the machine, but there it was nonetheless. By the time the little fella had been found, he had successfully shredded thousands of dollars, made himself quite a home, and had lots of cash leftover to purchase a big screen TV and a DVR player.

There’s a lesson here for us. Some of us, like the mouse in our story, try to make money our home. We immerse ourselves in it, try to surround ourselves with it, brag if we have it, cry if we don’t, and generally spend much of our time thinking about it. This is, however, directly opposed to the teachings of our Savior on the subject. Jesus asked his followers to make His Father their priority. Not to worry about the worldly things of this life, but to think on things of a spiritual nature. He taught us that God takes care of the flowers of the field and the little birds of the air, and if He takes care of those things which are not eternal, how much more will He take care of us who have spiritually become His little children and are created in His eternal image. Those of us who, like our little friend, try to make money our home, will be sad to find that the home Jesus said He was building for us in John 14, will have no money in it whatsoever. The glory of God will be our sustenance there. Come to think of it, God’s glory should be our sustenance on earth as well.

See you later…there’s a withdrawal I have to make…

Birds on a Wire…

alanmcclurg — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 14:07:50 +0000

It always makes me smile…sometimes it makes me laugh…I love seeing birds sit on a wire. While traveling to worship one Sunday morning, my wife and I saw what looked to be about fifty birds all lined up sitting on a wire. My wife said to me “birds on a wire” referring to the movie titled “Bird on a Wire”. I looked at her and chuckled and said “they’re on line…it’s called ‘Bird-Net’”. I got the laugh from her I was looking for. But it is funny looking isn’t it? I have wondered why when you see birds doing this, what it is that make them all sit facing the same way. On rare occasions I have seen a few that face a different direction than the majority of the group, but for the most part, every bird lined up on a wire faces the same direction. Wildlife biologists seem to have the answer. They tell us that birds all sit facing the wind. That way when it is time for them to abdicate their perch and hit the skies again, the wind resistance makes it easier for them to begin their flight. Also, those same biologists tell us that if they sat in the opposite direction of the wind the wind would ruffle their feathers. And, after all, none of us like to have our feathers ruffled.

I wonder if God’s people can learn something from this. What kind of congregations could we have if, number one, we were all headed in the same direction? Isn’t that what the apostle Paul was entreating the church at Corinth to do when he said “Rather, be of one mind, united in thought and purpose.”? God has always intended that his holy people be united in purpose and in mind. Additionally, think about what the biologists said about the birds all sitting so they were facing the resistance of the wind. I find this interesting. They face the resistance together. Now the resistance we as Christians face is because of Satan, the enemy of God and our enemy as well. The church of God should not flee from this battle but enjoin themselves to it. Paul would tell the church at Ephesus to clothe themselves with the armor of God, arm themselves with the sword of the spirit, and march into battle against evil. And further, they were to do it together. What’s the alternative you ask…the alternative is to position ourselves in a way that the evil influences are always coming up behind us and “ruffling our feathers”. Even our little bird friends teach us that is no way to live.

See you later…I have some bird watching to do…

Umbrellas…

alanmcclurg — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 18:39:53 +0000

I lose things…always have. I have lost at least 5 wallets, 1 social security card, two bowling balls, at least 3 pitching wedges (golfers will understand), 2 putters (again, the golfing reference), tools of every kind (which just seem to vanish into thin air), at least 4 sets of car keys, a 25-page paper I wrote for English class in my sophomore year of high school (don’t even ask), two flash drives with all my computer files on them, and about 238 umbrellas over the course of 50-year existence. I suppose if I tried very hard I would never lose anything, but my mind works oddly and I am almost always “ahead of myself” and thinking about something different than I should be at the time.

Today though, it’s the umbrellas I am thinking about. Seriously, I bet I have lost as many as 40 umbrellas in my lifetime. My personal record for losing an umbrella is two and a half minutes. It was raining one day and I was going into a Walgreen’s for something. The manager must have seen me coming, because when I walked in the door there was an umbrella display right inside that had my name written on it. I thought to myself “why not?” and I selected a nice compact model off the display. It was black and it was one of those automatic dudes where you hit one button and you have “instant coverage”. Best of all, it was on sale for only $6.99. After grabbing the umbrella off the display, I made my way to the back of the store to purchase what I was in there for in the first place. But when I got back to the items I wanted, I couldn’t remember the exact brand and style I usually get. I had brought the empty package from home with me, but I left it in the car. Yeah…you get it…I paid for the umbrella, used it to get back out to the car, got the empty package, and went back into the store. I set the soaked umbrella down right inside the door, purchased the item I was there for in the first place and promptly left the store WITHOUT my brand new umbrella. 30 minutes and 24 miles later I would remember the $6.99 umbrella from which I got approximately 25 cents worth of usage.

I wonder if some of us are like this with God. Do we only use Him when we need Him? And further, do we tend to forget about Him because, all too often, we do not use Him on a consistent enough basis for Him to warrant our total attention while we live out our busy daily lives. Is it only when trials are raining down upon us that we ask God to shelter us from the storm? When the sun comes out again and the trials and struggles of life dry up, blow away, and leave us alone for a few days, do we remember God then also? Are prayers of thanksgiving offered up to our wonderful God who is constantly working out His amazing providence in our lives? I am most likely destined to lose many more umbrellas as I continue to get older and even more forgetful, but I pray that I will never “lose” God. I pray that I will remember to use and call upon the blessings of God on a regular and continual basis…and I pray you will do the same!

See you tomorrow…I have a weather forecast to watch…

Which Foot is the Right One?…

alanmcclurg — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 17:20:24 +0000

I like considering old sayings and trying to find out where they came from. We have all heard the expression “he got off on the wrong foot”. Huh? This begs a couple of further questions, does it not? Firstly, which foot is the wrong one? And further, which one is the right one? Now I know the difference between right and left when it comes to my feet…but what about right and wrong? And further, why did God create me with a wrong foot? I thought He looked down at His handiwork after each completed day of creation and saw that what He had made was VERY GOOD. Why then do I have a wrong foot? And which foot is that? I am somewhat confused about this. I am teasing, of course. I do not spend any time during my day trying to figure which of my feet is wrong!

According to tradition, this saying came into existence in ancient Greece. It was considered unlucky to enter a room with your left foot first. Of course, it would follow that it was also unlucky to leave a room in the same way. Pythagoras, (that’s right, the guy responsible for that agonizing little mathematical equation called the Pythagorean Theorem where A squared added to B squared is supposed to equal C squared) was known to consider it necessary to always put the right sock on first (which, of course, brings to bear the question of which sock is the right one…but I digress) and to follow that action by putting the right shoe on first as well. Iamblichus tells us that this symbolized that man’s first duty is reverence to God.

Now I don’t about all the shoe and sock stuff, but on the last point I agree wholeheartedly with Iamblichus. And further, the wisest man to have ever lived on this earth is in agreement with this statement. King Solomon learned a great deal during his life about what it meant to hold God in high esteem. He had great riches, many women to love, many hours spent in enjoyment of pleasure, and was the king of the most powerful army on earth. And yet, he would say that all this was “striving after the wind”. In other words, those things brought no meaning to his life. He would conclude his thoughts by saying the way to bring meaning to our lives would be to remember God. We should remember God in our youth. We should remember God before we are too old, too feeble, too hard of hearing, too unsteady in our legs, and our tongues cannot praise Him as we were once able to do. We should remember God, respect Him, and keep His commandments for this is our whole duty. According to Solomon we are to reverence our amazing and wonderful God before “our lives start to get off on the wrong foot” and we no longer are able to let God fulfill in us the meaning He meant for our lives to have. What will it take for us to put God first …to give Him the place of reverence within our lives He so richly deserves and demands? Solomon would say the first step would be to simply remember God. That should get us off on the right foot…

See you later…I need to find my shoes…

Where’s the Bacon?…

alanmcclurg — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 15:57:02 +0000

In 1883, three railway workers discovered a cave containing hot springs in the mountains of Alberta, Canada. Little did they know that their discovery would turn out to become the centerpiece of the world’s third national park. Over the years, the rangers and guides at the park have conducted thousands of park tours and have heard questions from hundreds of thousands of tourists. One ranger says the dumbest question he has ever been asked was “Can I keep an open bag of bacon out on the table or should I keep it in my tent?” Now I am no rocket scientist or anything but even I know that if you are camping in a national park there is probably a very good chance you will encounter a wild animal or two if you are not careful where you go and how you camp. The person who asked this incredibly dumb question was just asking for trouble. Did this person want a bear in his campsite, or in his tent? Which would be better?

It occurs to me that Christians sometimes tempt fate in the same way. Over and over again in the Bible we are encouraged to flee from temptation, to be vigilant as to the wiles of the devil, and to avoid those who have yoked themselves to the world and cannot unburden themselves from it. But, how often do we, as the people of God, not heed those instructions? We allow our children to attend concerts that have a history of encouraging unbridled behavior by teenagers. We befriend co-workers who do not share our Godly views and who we allow to invite us into situations in which we should never find ourselves. Some Christians actually believe they are able to handle these types of situations without succumbing to the evil influences of the world and its prince. In short, we tempt fate.

The prophet Haggai would record the following for us in the 2^nd chapter of Haggai…God told him to ask the priests this question: “If a person carries consecrated meat in the fold of his garment, and that fold touches some bread or stew, some wine, oil or other food, does it become consecrated?’.” The priests answered, “No.” Then Haggai said, “If a person defiled by contact with a dead body touches one of these things, does it become defiled? “Yes”, the priests replied, “it becomes defiled.” The point is this…it is much easier for the world’s influence to soil the Christian than it is for the Christian to “unsoil” the world with his good influence. The next time we find ourselves in a situation where a wise and Godly decision is needed…we should reflect a little upon the question asked by an unwise park tourist.

See you later…I have go put something in the fridge…

Is Under Further Review…

alanmcclurg — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 19:36:46 +0000

This past Saturday, like almost every Saturday in the fall, I parked myself in front of the TV and absorbed myself in college football. It was a particularly special day for me as my team, the Arkansas Razorbacks, were set to play the number one team in the nation, the Florida Gators. I go to great lengths to make sure that my wife knows exactly when those “important” games are played. I do this so that for the duration of the game I am not asked to go anywhere or do anything that will pull my attention away from the game. I even make sure that I take care of all my bodily essentials in such a way that nature is only answered at halftime of the game. After all, these things have to be planned very carefully when it comes to college football. In other words, I am a college football-aholic, especially when it comes to the team for which I so eagerly root and cheer.

To my surprise, my beloved Arkansas team not only held their own against the mighty and powerful Florida team, they were winning the game with just over nine and a half minutes left to play. And then it happened…twice in less than a minute as a matter of fact. The referees made two of the worst calls against Arkansas I have ever seen in my life and, in the twinkling of an eye, the momentum of the game swung heavily in favor of the mighty and, dare I say, lucky Gators. My poor Razorbacks lost to the Gators by only 3 points. After the game I felt like someone had ripped my heart right out of my chest. But as I have had time to consider the really important things of life in the hours and days since then, I have focused my attention on a lesson that I have learned from it all…man has made and will continue to make many bad calls as history unfolds itself.

In the 7^th chapter of Acts, a man of God by the name of Stephen delivered a dissertation on the history of the Jews and their response toward the teaching and instruction of God. Stephen was speaking to a large group of Jews who knew all too well that he was accurate about things of which he spoke. They became angry nonetheless. The honesty of the things spoken by Stephen had convicted them as sinners and evildoers in God’s eyes, as well as their own. And then it happened…they made one of the worst calls in the history of mankind. They stoned Stephen to death.

Although a tragic story to read about in the Bible, it contains a great lesson. Man will never be able to do the right thing or make the right calls with regard to righteousness unless he calls upon his Creator and Sustainer to guide him down the right pathways of life. A group of men made a very bad call that day and the Son of God saw it all as He stood next to the right hand of His Father in heaven and watched the unfortunate events. As Stephen was about to die, we see a different call. We see Stephen remembering the call of God in his own life and asking his Father in heaven to forgive those who were killing him. In that moment, Stephen reflected upon the call of the One whom he preached to the crowd about that day…our wonderful and awesome and merciful God. And that is one call that should always be under further review…

See you later…I have a replay to watch…

A “No Win” Situation…

alanmcclurg — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 14:43:44 +0000

Yesterday, the entire nation became involved with a story about a weather balloon and a 6 year old boy that was thought to have inadvertently floated away with the balloon after climbing into a compartment on the balloon. The balloon landed two hours later, 50 miles from the boy’s home, and the boy was not found in the compartment as expected. Authorities in the state of Colorado, where the events took place, began a massive search for the boy whom, it turned out, was hiding out in the garage and was never on the runaway balloon. The media got wind of the story and it was “Katie bar the door”. In a few minutes the nation’s media outlets were broadcasting the live events for everyone to see. Now I am no fan of the way the media sensationalizes stories, but as I reflect on the events of yesterday, it seems to me that the media was put in a “no win” situation with regards to this story. If the media had taken their time to report the story and it turned out that the boy really had suffered some sort of dire consequences, then we would have been blaming them for not getting the story out sooner so that more folks could have been involved in finding and subsequently treating the boy. But after the events of yesterday were brought to a conclusion, I heard folks everywhere complaining that the media blew this story completely out of proportion, as usual, and reported the events in a completely irresponsible and quite hasty manner. The very definition of a “no win” situation.

In the 8^th Chapter of John, the religious leaders of the day brought a woman caught in adultery before Jesus while He was teaching in the temple. Imagine that, you are caught in the action of a sin and hastily brought before the One whose words will judge the world while He is teaching in the building wherein the very presence of God dwelt. Would there be a worse “no win” situation than that in which you could find yourself?

But Jesus brought the events to a swift conclusion. He instructed those, who had judged this woman to be a sinner, to reflect upon their own sinful nature before passing judgment on this woman. Upon “looking in the mirror” at their own spirituality, they left the scene and left Jesus alone with the woman who had suffered such disdain. But Jesus took the opportunity to turn the woman’s “no win” situation into a life changing moment. Jesus told her that He did not condemn her and instructed her to go her way and sin no more. It wasn’t that Jesus ignored her sin. Jesus cannot ignore sin. It was simply the fact that Jesus looked into the heart of the woman and saw potential for her life to be something far different than it had been. He had given the woman another chance to live rightly before His Father. How wonderful is our Savior! Jesus has the ability to turn our “no win” humanity into a “win win” spiritual relationship with our Father in Heaven! Jesus does not wait for us to sin so He can pounce upon us with righteous judgment. No, our compassionate Savior looks upon us with forgiveness and mercy and extends to us the opportunity to look introspectively at our own lives, using His words as the mirror for our souls, and become the Christian that God can make us to be.

See you tomorrow…I need to find a mirror…

A Pig in a Poke…

alanmcclurg — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 14:19:54 +0000

I have heard the expression “a pig in a poke” nearly all my life. My mother used to use it a lot. But not until the other day did I consider what this expression really means. In the 16^th century, it was common for there to be an open market in many of the world’s biggest cities. Folks could buy and sell their wares and bartering for the highest or lowest price was normal. Many folks brought piglets to the market to sell. They would normally put those piglets in a “poke”, a small bag that was used to keep control of the animal during its transportation to the market. Occasionally, someone looking to “get something for nothing” would carry a common house cat in a poke, negotiate with a buyer for the best price for the “piglet” in the bag, and make a fast exit before the buyer could “let the cat out of the bag” and find he or she had been duped. The expression “a pig in a poke” is used to describe a deal foolishly entered into before being carefully examined.

In Luke 14, Jesus talks about the careful examination one should make before entering into a relationship with God. He told the crowd on that occasion they should “carry their own cross” and follow Him. He went further to say that one does not begin to build a building unless first assessing whether or not he has enough money to finish it. And further, what king would consider bringing his army against the army of another without first considering whether or not his own army had the strength and cunning to survive the battle?

Being a Christian is not easy. Those of us who have already taken that path know of what I speak. Life still has its trials and struggles, still throws curve balls at you, and Satan still knows where you live. Couple these thoughts with the fact that God asks the Christian to be holy, even as God is holy. Now that is hard, isn’t it? Indeed, the cost of being a Christian is much…but, as with anything in life, something with great cost usually returns great value to the owner.

See you tomorrow…this little piggy needs to go to market…

Labels…

alanmcclurg — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 13:54:46 +0000

Decades ago the city of Seattle was all about the lumber industry. Nestled in the middle of the mountains, the area contained hundreds and thousands of trees that could be harvested. You may not know how those huge trees got down the mountain to the lumber mills. You may not know that once those trees were cut down, the lumberjacks would position those trees length-wise in the middle of a muddy trough and let them “skid” all the way down the mountain. As you can imagine, there was a lot of activity at the bottom of the mountain where those huge pieces of timber ended up. This activity was cause for the sprouting up of many businesses. However, over the years of harvesting, the area began to see the abundance of timber in the area dwindle. As the timber business dwindled, the businesses at the bottom of the mountain moved elsewhere. As happens with any downtown city region that loses businesses, the poor and homeless ended up taking over the once thriving section of the city. It is interesting to note that that area was named “Skid Row” because of the way the trees were transported down the mountain. It is also interesting to note that, today, we associate the term “Skid Row” with poverty instead of prosperity. It was named “Skid Row” during prosperous times but is now associated with nothing but those who we associate with poverty.

For some reason, Christians today are associated with the word “conservative”. Politics is largely responsible for this, but Christians are also considered “conservative” because of the way they raise their families, the way we would like to see our children taught in school, and for the very way we think…period. Christian thinking is said to be diametrically opposed to the “liberal” thought processes of some in our society. Isn’t that interesting? Isn’t it interesting that something taught by Christ in the first century would be construed in later years to be something to avoid. Christ taught those of His day to be liberal with their money, with their time, and with their love and care for others. He left us instructions to “share” the gospel with those we come in contact with, to freely give as we have freely received. Paul said he had been given a treasure and that he was indebted to others to pass it on to them. Does any of that sound conservative to you?

As the term “Skid Row” has become synonymous with poverty, the term “liberal” has become synonymous with something evil and to be avoided. I wonder what Jesus would say about that!

See you tomorrow…I have to make a conservative estimate as to how liberal I really am…