Stand Up and Be Counted

1 In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2 (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 And everyone went to his own town to register. 4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. Luke 2:1-7

The above Christmas Story passage is something many of us can recite from memory and is generally cited in most Christmas Eve services. It has become so ingrained in our Christmas traditions that we tend not examine the sheer mechanics involved with the story. We focus on the birth of Christ, which is the reason for the season, but there is a deeper untold story of faith and obedience by Mary and Joseph.

Mary’s obedience began when the angel of the Lord told her that she would have a child even though she had not known a man (Luke 1:26-35) The females of this family must have an inkling of what would have gone through Mary’s mind and what she would have to say to Joseph. We have many daughters in the family and I can assure you that I would have a hard time hearing what Mary said about an angel telling her that she would be giving birth to the Messiah. It is intriguing to me that there is little or no mention of Mary’s parents and extended family and their collective response to the news. By this omission, is God telling us that we shouldn’t concern ourselves with what others think and that only obedience to Him is what is the most important?

Joseph’s obedience begins when he responds to a dream commanding him to take Mary as his wife (Matthew 1:18-24) even though she was pregnant and he was not the father. He looked at the larger picture and sacrificed himself and his pride in order to obey the Lord. It was within his prerogative (during those times) to put Mary away and disgrace her but he chose to obey and marry her as the angel in his dream instructed. Up until recently I have taken that passage and the obedience of Joseph for granted. Think about what The Lord was asking Joseph to do. The men reading this posting must have an inkling of what ran through Joseph’s mind not to mention the pressure he had to feel from his family; and yet he obeyed! Again, throughout the story there is no mention of Joseph’s family’s response to the news either. Is there a pattern here?

With trust in the Lord complete between Mary and Joseph we must examine the mechanics of their 90 mile trip from Nazareth to Bethlehem. Travel in those days was difficult at best and people generally did not migrate very far from the place they were born. Recognizing this, the idea of travel for Mary and Joseph was compounded by the fact that she was 8-9 months pregnant. How many of us would consider a 90 mile hike or donkey back ride for ourselves or our extremely pregnant wives. The emotional and physical stress on Mary had to be beyond what we would be willing to endure. But they were obeying the law of Caesar so they could be counted in the census. But why? How would anyone know that they didn’t go? There were no computers to compare lists of non-compliance people. So why did Joseph take his pregnant wife on a grueling 90 mile ordeal just to be counted in a census? Again the answer lies with obedience.

The response of obedience comes from the fear of penalty for not obeying. However, Joseph obeyed the census edict because he wanted to be counted. He took Mary as his wife because he wanted to do what the Lord asked. Nowhere in the dreams or visits by angels was penalty or punishment mentioned for not obeying. So can there be obedience without the promise of punishment for non-compliance?

When we are within the will of God and, knowing that He wants nothing but good for us, seeking His direction and obedience to His guidance becomes second nature and our own selfish ambitions become less important. Obedience becomes easy.

With Christmas over and we begin a new year, I hope we can recognize the hand of God in our lives and embrace those tasks He asks us to perform. Some will be easy but I guarantee many will be out of our comfort zones and will require complete obedience without complete understanding. The more we step out, the more we will acknowledge the prompting of the Spirit.

The more we see the promptings bear fruit, the more we will be eager to Stand up and Be Counted as a great and faithful servant.

Peace to All and Happy New Year.

Our New World Odor

Tuesday, the President that we thought would usher in a conservative, faith based Presidency, will be selling Israel down the river Styx from whence he, himself, came. To say I feel betrayed is an understatement and is overshadowed only by the 50% devalued dollar, $100 oil, a credit crisis that we have no clue of how far it will go, a nuclear Iran, an angry Russia and a surging China. Yet most Americans are only concerned about the latest scandal, romance or sale price. The pabulum produced by the 5th column is running in the streets and the American public is sitting along the curbs with straws sucking in every ounce they can consume.

I am nauseated every time I remember that I voted for this “false prophet” twice and arrogantly snubbed friends who stated this guy is not quite right. As a natural political animal I felt that “W” was everything we needed to right a ship scuttled by a narcissistic womanizer whose only goal was power and his daily nut. However, my choices were limited on purpose. Whether I voted for Al Gore, John Kerry or George W. Bush, the outcome for Israel would be the same.

The antigen, better known as Israel, has to be dealt with and who better to do it than a self proclaimed, recovering, Christian whose father is the most publicized Globalist of them all. Is it me or is 41 always around when 43 is entertaining world leaders these days regardless of the venue. Think about it and look at the video.

Playing both sides in arms sales within the Middle East has profited many an American corporation over the last 60 years. Only now are we seeing true parity being provided to Israel’s enemies because time is short and they are an impediment to Globalization. Remember how the unpopular kids are always pushed out of the party.

Isn’t it quite the coincidence that Tuesday is sixty (60) years to the day that Israel was created in the UN and now “W” is dismantling it? Are we witnessing prophetic moments here? I think we are.

What are we, a God fearing extended family, to do? We need a plan and need to execute it now!

So what are all these ramblings doing on a family blog dedicated to Tita you ask?

Well mostly because she and I talked about these same things quite often before her death. She was sorely disappointed by George and said to me, on the same porch where Manda found her: "I have never been so disappointed in my life by anyone more than I have been by "W".

Strong words coming from a woman who had many a disappointment over the course of her life. We all know that if Tita were still here, she would be mad as hell about what is happening this week! I can only imagine the daily calls raving about how we are all doomed if we abandon Israel.

Pray, my brothers and sisters, pray! Pray for our own deliverance for we know not what we have done. Amen, and Amen.

Chat Room

Get your own Chat Box! Go Large!

Normalcy

I still remember the call as if it happened last night. The phone rang and the voice on the other end said "How are you doing baby boy?". Mom wanted to know how Elena and the kids were doing and remind us to hunker down as we were in the midst of a series of thunderstorms. We laughed together as Mom made a few wisecracks, and as always, said that we would talk to each other later. We didn't say "Luv Ya" because we both knew that there would be time for that during one of our next phone calls. Not to be. Four months later, I am still asking myself "How are you doing?" How are we all doing? The Summer of Discontent has now set and Fall is upon us. As have most of us, I think about Mom on a daily basis, especially now as the cooler weather begins to move in. Fall and Winter were Mom's favorite times of the year. She would love to call each of the kids (Ross and Didi included) and quiz us about our plans for the cooler evenings. The conversations always included two questions: "What are you having for dinner?" and "Are you having a fire tonight?". It is hard getting used to not having to answer those questions on a daily basis. It has been four months since Mom's passing and I ask myself everyday "how are you doing?". We have all gotten back to our lives, but with me, life is still lacking normalcy. Everyday, something reminds me of mom and how much I miss her. Nate's first day of school or my first day of work, there was no phone call from her to see how it went. Jasmine and Emily's birthdays, there was no phone call from her proclaiming that "your mommy feels better today than she did so many years ago". Texas' comeback against Oklahoma State would have brought a bevy of calls from her. We go on with our day to day routine but with the expectation that those days will be lacking in some way. In these past four months we have all had to lean on someone, be it family or a friend to find some level of comfort and normalcy. For Elena, it has been her best friend Lisa, but for me personally, if it had not been for Ross and his daily phone calls, I would have been carted off to the rubber room factory for sure and for that I am eternally grateful.
In the grand scheme of things, Life goes on. It will. It is our job to go on with our lives but with the understanding that the memory of Mom will never dim. That she will always be there, cigarette in one hand, glass of wine in the other, laughing as we laugh, and saying to herself: "You done good Toni, you done good".

Tita Moments

19 My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, 20 for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires. James 1:19-20


Those of us reading this blog have all recently endured 4 sequential deaths since May and yesterday we found out that Bob’s father has gone to join Rosalie in Heaven only after 30 plus days of her passing. This makes 5 deaths in 4 months within our extended family. Tough summer to say the least!

It would be easy to be angry at G-d and question his existence because of all the tough stuff we have had to endure. James warns of that in the passage above. We need to listen to the voice of G-d calling us to be his servants! Time is too short to be angry.

As each of us ponder the meaning of each death, I can’t get over the number of times I want to call Tita and tell her how I feel about all of this. Unfortunately she was one of the casualties of this dreadful summer. This is a hard time!

I want to call her and tell her about Philip’s new dorm and school, Sarah’s goal of hitting 4.0 this semester and Lizzy’s future driving ( even in her car). As hard as this is, I have found that we have circled the wagons and depend on each other more than we ever have before. Whether it is by phone or email we are communicating better as a family than we ever have before!

What a huge breakthrough this is for us. It sucks that so many people have had to go be with the Lord for us to do this but G-d works in very mysterious ways to say the least. His Will is what we need to seek regardless of the impact to us.

My heart goes out to Bob as he faces another parent being gone but I hope he knows how much we care about him and that we are here for him.

I know each of you have your “Tita Moments” as I do and in some instances breakdown while openly sobbing in grief and I hope you do because that is the cleanest part of recovery. If we didn’t mourn and openly cry then I would question what we are about!

Wednesday brings another, and I hope the last, death for us for a long time. Regardless, we must acknowledge that G-d is in control and loves us beyond all measure!

Come Father and envelope us in your Grace and hold us close to Your bosom as we mourn our loved ones who have gone ahead of us to your Heavenly Kingdom. Amen


Peace be to all.

Time is Short

35"Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, 36 like men waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him. 37 It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. I tell you the truth, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them. 38 It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready, even if he comes in the second or third watch of the night. 39 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. 40 You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him." Luke 12:35-40


The passage above directs us to expect our LORD at any time! He directs us to prepare for his return. What does being watchful entail? What, as believers, should we do as we wait? What does the job description of watchman include?

These are normal questions that we ask ourselves everyday. Knowing expectations of any task makes it easier to excel if we are willing to do the work to “get’ur done.” Being American workers we expect evaluations of our job performance at least once a year and we hope for a raise based on our contribution to the success of the organization.

But how do we do this in the Spiritual realm? How do we “stand-ready” for the coming of the LORD? I think the passage above is very clear on what we are supposed to do and I believe it stares modern “don’t worry, be happy” theology in the face.

There is a distinct pabulum being preached that we do not need to prepare either spiritually or physically for the coming trouble ahead. Our primary media outlets minimize bad spots and endlessly spew the need for us to spend our earnings on things that our fellow citizens are OCDing about. We are bombarded by messages that intimate that “if you don’t have the latest, you are the latest!”

So what does waiting really cause us to do? I think the answer is being prepared for most eventualities. Whether we are able to withstand a hurricane, electrical outage or a full blown terrorist act that changes the way we look at freedom, economics and our own futures; regardless of the situation we need to be prepared to care for our immediate and extended families.

Most readers of this simple blog know that I have embraced the preparedness movement with vigor. The stigma of this is the fact that most outsiders think that I believe in the soon end of world as depicted as Armageddon in the Bible. WRONG. I believe that we are approaching the end of the world as we now know it in America. This is not a loss of hope or belief in an omnipotent G-D who loves us, but simply a cause and effect response to our own sinfulness. I, as you, am one of the perpetrators of this sin.

Recognizing that G-D forgives us for all of our past, present and future sins through the Blood of Jesus Christ, we must move ahead as children of a loving G-d to prepare.

Time is short! We must accomplish the following in short order collectively to be steadfast watchmen:
1. Reaffirm our Faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of our lives and families.
2. Submit to baptism and affirm our faith in Him if we haven’t done so already.
3. Help each other to grow in the Lord.
4 .Develop a plan to utilize our individual skills in a “Worst Case” scenario that changes the way we view our country .
5. Develop a family retreat to flee to in the event of catastrophe.
6..Build charity into our preparations to help our brothers and sisters that haven’t been able to prepare.

This blog entry has been a long time coming and there is much to do in a quick period of time.

We must work together to accomplish heavy goals because time is very short!

Peace to All.

Please Pray for Kim

I am asking for everybody to pray for my friend Kim Banner Storm. She had a baby on
July 4, 2007 and has been hospitalized with a major breast infection that has been antibiotic resistent the last 3 days. She has been very sick with 104 degree fevers and they are trying to get the infection under control. I thought this would be a good way to get a prayer circle going. Thanks for your help, Manda