Pulling for the Underdog

What is it about ole' Bob Crachet that just tugs at our hearts during the Christmas season?

You remember the miserable little fawning clerk in the sadistic employ of Ebenezer Scrooge, don't you?

It's possibly the same emotion that draws us to George Bailey as he tells off old man Potter in It's a Wonderful Life!

We tend to pull for the underdog.

I think that is why we like Bethlehem so much. It was apparently a town without much going for it, a small town that was destined to stay that way. They were so tiny and ill-equipped that you let one Roman Tax Convention come to town and every Motel 6 in the land is booked to the gills.

This week's Advent Candle focuses on that little town. As we talked about that candle tonight, we read Micah 5:2 (NKJV)...But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Though you are little among the thousands of Judah, Yet out of you shall come forth to Me The One to be Ruler in Israel ....

We began our devotion with a few clues, a map, and a magnifying glass and a challenge to find Bethlehem, Georgia on the map in three minutes...

With Mom's help, they achieved their goal with about 10 seconds to spare.

Bethlehem seemed small and insignificant, but there is history there:

• In a "revival move" of sorts, Jacob and his clan were on their way back to Bethel - a place where he had had an experience with God. En route, Rachel - the true love of his heart - gave birth a second time to a son whom Jacob would call Benjamin - "the son of my right hand". And it happened in mid-journey, right there in Bethlehem. Much in the same way that God's own "Son of His right hand" would be born on the road there centuries later.


• Rachel also died there while giving birth (all this can be found in Genesis 35).


• Much later, Naomi returned to her hometown, Bethlehem, after she had lost her husband and two sons in Moab. Naomi had nothing left ... except for Ruth, her faithful daughter-in-law. Ruth would later catch the eye of an eligible bachelor named Boaz. They would fall in love and marry. Out of their marriage would come children and grand-children - one of which would be David... a little shepherd boy.


• It was to Bethlehem that a nervous Judge by the name of Samuel would be dispatched by God to anoint and appoint a replacement for King Saul. . . the replacement was that little grandchild - the shepherd, David.


• David would give us some timeless lessons on underdogs.


• One day after he was firmly in place as the King. He found himself outside of his little hometown, Bethlehem. Only this time he couldn't go into town. The Philistines - chief enemies to the Israelites- had taken the city and were firmly ensconced. As David languished outside the gates with his men, he mused about a longing for the sweet water from the well inside the gates of Bethlehem (there is nothing like the water of your hometown). Almost instantly, three devoted "men of valor" burst through the line risking it all. They grabbed a bucket of water from that well and rushed back to safety. David was smitten. He could not bring himself to drink this water which his men had risked their lives to bring to him. He could only offer it to God - so he poured it on the ground.

You see, there was a lot of history in that little insignificant town.

A great deal of people are that way. They seem small - not very valuable.

Yet significant events have happened all along their journey. People of influence have crossed their path.

God has been working over their entire lifetime to bring them to the point that Christ will be born in their hearts.

Just like that little town, Bethlehem.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.You can read more details on these stories in the Bible: Ruth, 1 Samuel 16, 2 Samuel 23 and Luke 2

A Day that Will Live in Infamy

Before 9-11....

Before the Kennedy assassination ...

Everyone remembered where they were and what they were doing when they first heard about the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor - December 7, 1941.

At times I think about those young men and women that gave the last full measure of their devotion at Pearl and in the resulting battles of WWII. Many of them were kids.

Laying down one's life, seems like an act that we would more expect from a person of maturity. These were kids - they went down and enlisted after hearing about the devastating attack on Pearl Harbor.

When I was eighteen, I was making important decisions like whether to go to Wendy's or McDonald's for dinner.

These kids had the sobriety and courage to make decisions that -for some- would mean they would never return home.

I am humbled each time I remember their sacrifice.
It saddens me to think about what they missed.

But, when my mind travels down those avenues, I tend to end up remembering that we were all created as eternal beings. This lifetime is just like a pre-game show. The BIG DEAL is what comes after this life.

Those who gave their lives are still alive ... somewhere.

Now, in this jaded 21st century there are still young men and women with the same patriotic devotion. Many have already made the supreme sacrifice... others are risking it everyday.

All for people they don't even know.

That is amazing; and it is even more remarkable when you consider that their predecessors that signed up after the Pearl Harbor attack, were already tempered by the Great Depression. They knew harshness and privation.

Most of these patriots (I dare not call them kids) today, have not known the want of that former generation; which makes their offering that much more honorable.

So today we remember. . . and are grateful.

Hanging of the Greens

I hope you enjoy these decorating moments . . . (watch for the one flashback to a Christmas long ago) . . .

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

For Christmas I Would Like ... a "Do-Over" Button, Please

Some people do a good job of hiding their dirty laundry; some people do a good job of displaying the dirty laundry of others; sometimes I tend to wear my dirty laundry - Madonna-style - on the outside....

Yesterday was typical of the rushed pace that often ensues in this season - it is my chief complaint with the holidays - we try to cram too much in and enjoy hardly any of it. We had a Christmas recital to attend immediately after work, R. was on the road back and forth across our little berg handling details most of the day (she IS the detail person in this household) - so I was feeling some sympathetic stress as well ("sympathetic stress" is a term I just made up - it refers to the times in which you are not particularly stressed about a situation, but because others are stressed you go ahead and take on some of their anxiety out of guilt).

I had learned at the last minute that I needed to travel a little in order to take part in a recruiting event at a college in Alabama. Usually, when I have such events to attend, I will work from home a little and not try and go by the office, but yesterday I thought I needed to go in after the event.

So I arrived in time to work for an hour and one-half before I needed to leave in order to attend the recital.
Then I got a phone call - someone was panicky over a little "forest fire" someone else had suddenly gotten concerned about, and they felt that I should join them in their anxiety.

So I did.

I jumped into trying to put in some activity on their issue.

As many of you know, part of my duties include recruiting for a healthcare system and we use an on-line applicant tracking system. One of the advantages to this system is that I can get applications and information in front of a hiring manager almost instantly. I address a particular applicant with a hiring manager just by highlighting that manager's name on a list and when I have added my communication, with one click the information is emailed to that manager.

I believe that it is a modern maxim that the higher the level of technology one employs - the less forgiving is that technology. In other words, technology means no take-backs.

For instance, with a handwritten letter, one can take all the time they need to edit and to be sure the letter says what they really mean.
With the telephone, there is a higher level of technology. If you actually reach the party you are calling, your communication is instant. That means that sometimes, we might say something that is taken the wrong way. But if that occurs and we are sensitive to it, we can clear things up fairly quickly.

Voice mail, on the other hand, is much less forgiving. Once you have left a voice mail - there are no take-backs. I know this first hand, because in contacting applicants, employees and references, I often leave detailed messages - sometimes my voice mails tend to go on and on. I often say that is my only opportunity to talk without getting interrupted so I take advantage of it. Once I was calling someones' previous employer for reference information, I left a long and droning voice mail about the information I needed... and when I finished, I closed with ... "Amen."
I have no idea why - unless, my voice mail seemed to closely resemble a long and monotonous prayer. Anyway, despite my efforts to lunge into the phone lines and physically grab my words in order to take them back - I could not.

That gentleman never called me back ... I wonder why?

Email is a higher brand of technology and the least forgiving.

In my effort to react to the anxiety of others, I began making some additional contacts and sent over information about an upcoming interview to the hiring manager. I highlighted their name on the Applicant Tracking System page and prepared to send a note. But then I remembered that another manager should see that information as well, so I decided to include them.

With this system, you can click a name on a list, hold down the CTRL button and click another name and both will be highlighted and both will receive your note. HOWEVER, if you accidentally hold down the SHIFT key instead of the CTRL button, every name between the two is highlighted and they all get the email message!

That is what I did.

So in one click, everyone on that list from early in the "D's" to somewhere in the "S's" got the same email, telling them that an interview had been arranged for them next Tuesday with a particular applicant.

About the moment that I realized my mistake, my phone began to ring. Shortly after picking up the phone, my emails began to ping with all the responses!

It was amazing how many managers and directors were sitting at their desk at 4:30 on Friday! It restored my confidence in the good ole American Work Ethic!

30 to 40 people received this errant email - with my name clearly attached - including one Vice President and the CEO (oh when I goof - I do it up BIG!).

People that I report to began, contacting me - they were getting emails and calls as well.
I was attempting to clear up the mistake but was having to do it one email at a time, and every interruption cost me more reaction time.

This all happened in a matter of minutes, but about 45 minutes of my one and one-half hours of work was spent attempting to take back this error.

For the most part, people were nice - with the exception of one manager who called me up to ask if I was smoking crack. Most of them just wanted to let me know that they thought they had received the message in error. Most probably thought they were the only ones that received the incorrect email and didn't realize that I was fielding calls like a radio station receptionist during a $10,000.00 give-a-way!

So I finally left the office - only about fifteen minutes later than I had planned, but with very little to show for my time and effort.

I like to share this kind of thing because if you can laugh at me and I can laugh at me - well then, we have something in common. And that can be the foundation of a meaningful relationship.

Tidings of Comfort

In my humble opinion, the deleterious effect of comfort has been overstated.

Comfort seems to be a goal or objective we have left behind.

In Christendom, we urge one another to “step out of our comfort zones” and we feel guilty when we don’t. Now I fully understand and agree with the fact that God calls us to “walk across the room” in order to reach out to others and compel them into the kingdom. But I don’t believe that implies that we should leave comfort behind.

Christmas reminds me that comfort is not a bad thing. And it is actually a great gift from heaven; it is the consolation that the Promised Messiah brought with Him.

Handel broached the subject early in his Messiah which we hear a lot this time of year. “Comfort ye … Comfort ye … Comfort ye my people…” the song says; it’s a quote from Isaiah 40. That chapter begins a section in the book of Isaiah that is focused on bringing comfort to the nation of Israel. There are numerous references to Christ’s Advent in that section of the book.

Jesus came to bring comfort.

When the angels first appeared to that labor-wearied band of shepherds working the graveyard shift, they first attempted to comfort them. All of the excitement of heaven coming near the earth made them afraid; the angels essentially said… “chill 'bro' – it’s all good!” (okay that’s not exactly “King James’ Version”).

We can truly know comfort because He came to earth and then He went a step better and moved into our hearts – if we welcomed Him.

Just like those haggard sheepherders- when we bring heaven near to people outside the kingdom today… it can scare them. Perhaps that is why we are reluctant to share the kingdom - we don't want to be thought of as scary.

At the time of Christ's incarnation -it was comfort that people longed for. Isaiah said they were like people living under the shadow of death... a "sword of Damocles" was constantly hanging over their heads.

In a sermon I heard last week, the Pastor pointed out that Isaiah's prophecy was divided into three sections: the first 30 some odd chapters dealt with judgment and God's anger at Israel's waywardness over the years; then there was a brief "current events" section which recorded
some things that were happening in King Hezekiah's reign; and finally, chapter 40 began a section of consolation and a reassurance of God's love.

I think when Jesus came, folks were pretty sure God was mad at them. They were under the direct oppression of a wicked (and frankly crazy) king who had no real heart for Israel - he served as a puppet under the even-more-oppressing Roman government. And apparently there had not been a fresh Word from God in nearly 400 years (talk about a "dry spell").

They needed comfort.

People today are no less in need of comfort.

Some time after 9-11-2001, someone produced an article about America returning to "comfort food". It seems that in troubled times, people quit watching carbs and fat grams and returned to the food grandma made - i.e. biscuits, streak-o-lean, and the like. Even today - in troubled times; people long for comfort.

That's where the message and the Spirit of Christmas can make a difference.

We will feel less un-comfortable when we step out of our comfort zones, if we bring the "tidings of comfort and joy" with us.

The Rough and Ready Gang

I believe "Rough and Ready" was a moniker that was born by the colorful Teddy Roosevelt - maybe I am thinking of his "Rough-Riders" ... anyway the title hearkens the image of that icon.

In the early Pentecostal (and later Charismatic) movement in the South during the early part of the last century, there was a preacher by the name of Buckalew that folks called "Rough and Ready" because of his unrefined character. He was once jailed when a little community in Alabama didn't like what he was preaching from his tent. They burned his tent and put him in jail. Soon after, people began to gather around the window of his cell, so he preached to them right through the bars.

We began the Advent season this week, and I have been thinking of the gang of "Rough and Ready" characters that made up the Prophets that gave the world a preview of the Messiah. The first candle in the Advent Wreath is the Prophet's Candle, we use it to remind us of the role God's Prophets played in foretelling the birth of Christ.

I must confess that "Advent" has been a mystery to me for a great deal of my life. We celebrated the Christmas season for its true meaning in our home growing up, but we never celebrated Advent.

A number of years ago, I became interested in this practice and when R. and I were blessed with children, we began trying to observe Advent with the lighting of Advent candles.

We visited a church last Sunday that observes Advent and I was thrilled by the fact that this congregation sets aside an entire month to focus on the first coming of Christ, the fact that He is still with us today, and the hope that He will come again.

I read an article that indicated that the practice of lighting candles in an Advent Wreath came into practice in many homes following World War I.

Sunday night we lit the first candle in our Advent Wreath.

Now this year we have a wreath; I should point out that, that is quite a jump from some of our previous years. Some years we used an assortment of scented candles of various shapes and sizes. At least on one occasion we set the candles up on a paper plate instead of a wreath.

But it is -for the most part - a sweet time. Although I do remember a time last year or the year before in which I got so aggravated with the kids that I either sent one to his room (AA) or I cut the ceremony short; mercifully, the memory is fading on that one.

Last Sunday, I asked the kids to present a little report on one of the prophets since were were lighting the "Prophet" candle. They both chose Isaiah but they brought interesting and diverse facts.

It stood out with me that Ab told us that because he spoke the truth, he didn't have many friends; AA pointed out that he gave details about Christ's birth that actually came about 700 years later.

The prophets are proof that God is in control, He has a big plan, and He's got all the time He needs.

So I have been thinking about these folks.

Some were very "rough"- Amos, for instance was a shepherd. Some were quite aristocratic - Isaiah for example, seemed to be at ease with the monarchy. Jeremiah was said to have come from a priestly family.

God used people then from all walks of life - the same way He does today.

Many of them lived miserable lives. . . consider the prophet Hosea whom God told to marry a woman from harlotry. And when she ran away and back to the gutter; he went down into slums and ghettos searching until he found her. He paid the price to those that had her bound and he took her away and spoke kindly to her. All this so that God could display His endless love for us.

In one instance Jeremiah sent a letter to the king, it contained important messages from God. The king took out his Barlow pocket knife (okay the Bible says it was a "pen-knife") and cut the letter to ribbons casting it in the fire.

Sometimes these special people suffered because they felt the heart of God and knew His sadness.

In a children's Christmas book by Gloria Gaither called, "Ordinary Baby: Extraordinary Gift", she refers to these prophets as "special listeners" who heard God speaking to the people. The story goes that they told the people that God wanted to get back the friendship He had enjoyed with people back in the garden. And some day God would send Someone to set things right and restore what had been lost.

I just wonder if these guys knew the gravity of the words they were saying? I feel sure that they knew God was urging them to say them... but did Isaiah know what he was talking about when he uttered, "For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given..."?

Micah just sort of adds a parenthetical statement to his prophecy as he turns to Bethlehem - "though you be little among the families of Judah, yet out of you shall come He that will rule over Israel..."

No, I am of the opinion that these guys (and gals for that matter, as in-Miriam, Deborah, Huldah, Anna...) were just ordinary folks who obeyed God. Folks like us.

What about you (I'm asking myself these questions too):

What did you say today? Anything weighty? Anything people will talk about after you're gone? Was God leading what you said?

Did you stand for the truth - or proclaim it... maybe in a quiet way with one of your kids?

And what about your "place" ... do you feel as if others are just better equipped, or more strategically placed to do God's work in the earth?

Lord, can I learn from your "Special Listeners"?

Will You help me to be always ready;

In spite of being rough around the edges?

Will You help me to listen to You

and then speak the truth that I have heard?

And like that band of rough neck prophets.... will You help be always to be pointing people to the Messiah, Jesus Christ?

Traditions - Black Friday @ Waffle House

I do not like referring to the day after Thanksgiving Day as Black Friday. But I figured it communicated my point.

In an earlier post, I mentioned the "tradition" of sorts, we try to honor each year - going to breakfast at the Waffle House on Friday after Thanksgiving.

I like the hustle and bustle of the season and in the past I actually liked hanging out at malls and other retail establishments during the fury that is the Christmas shopping season. I thought the Waffle House would allow our kids to see some of that excitement ... and they always shout "Good Morning!" when you walk in... it's just festive!

One Christmas Day, my parents and I stopped at a Waffle House for breakfast en route to my Grandparents home and it was a memorable occasion, one wait-person was singing Christmas Carols, it was crowded because most other restaurants were closed... but it was a neat atmosphere.
So we went again this year; but I am rethinking the feasibility of this tradition.

In our town, we have three Waffle Houses and a multitude of them within a fifty mile radius.
We usually choose the newer one that is on the other side of town, but this year, I decided we would go to a smaller town nearby. They now boast a Walmart Supercenter AND a Waffle House so I thought we would go there since it was closer.

I was not impressed - and my expectations were not exactly lofty.

We like to sit at the counter so you can see all the action going on around the grill. Unfortunately, we didn't sit at the front counter but rather at the lower counter to the side... closer to the floor. We could see all the staff trudging through grease and bits of food that looked as if it had been there awhile. It was not very appealing.

I then looked down at the floor under my feet on the other side of the counter. I saw very little difference.

Apparently the restaurant was doing their part to conserve water because they never offered us any and they didn't appear to be wasting any water on dishtowels with which one might wipe down a counter!
Sometimes, restaurants will use a menu or place mat in case the surface doesn't appear to be -clean - not these folks, they were highly transparent... just piled the menus over in the corner.

Our first wait-person immediately evoked pity from me because I thought she must be in pain from the hardware hanging from her lip.

She called Ab by name and we all looked at her like the folks in George Bailey's dream on "It's a Wonderful Life!" when Clarence was showing him what it would be like if he'd never been born.

I looked down and saw that Ab's book bag had her name monogrammed on the front so I felt better. The "clever" wait-person had seen that.

When she walked away, Ab said, "I didn't think anybody with a pierced lip knew my name". I like to encourage open-mindedness and tolerance but honestly, I was cautious about this person in great part because of her appearance...

I thought she may be considering selling my daughter to the gypsies.

Wait, I'm not sure if I can say "selling her to the gypsies" - that may be considered insensitive.

Anyway, we got another wait-person - and not because we requested it. I think some of the other employees were correcting her in an insensitive manner because I heard one wait-person tell another that she was crying (they probably said something about gypsies).

Despite the atmosphere and the filthiness (by the way, I am of the opinion that "filthy" is a higher degree of unsanitary . . . it goes: dirty, nasty and then filthy), the food was pretty good and the kids scarfed it down quickly.

As I mentioned, I may be re-thinking this tradition in years to come - or at least I will try and do a better job of scouting our location before we visit.