Another shooting

Proverbs 15:1 "A soft answer turneth away wrath; but grievous words stir up anger."  It has happened again. Two young men, age 17 and 19 get into a disagreement about something and a gun is pulled out. The 19 year old is dead and the 17 year old is facing murder charges. Why can we not learn to walk away? Why do we have to be right? I remember a  saying hanging on a supervisors wall many years ago, "just because you have silenced a man doesn't mean you have converted him." It happens so much. Why would it not be better to be wrong and live another day. What is so serious in any argument that it requires taking a life. It is stupid stuff. Every time I hear of another killing like this, I think of me and Edwin talking about a Dog fence. It was stupid stuff, but he doesn't like what I said and he runs for a gun. Walk away, call the police and live another day. I know when disagreements arise we get so serious. Political, religious, family issues, what ever it is. If we can walk away and think about it, is any thing so serious it requires taking another life? I would think the 17 year old is now regretting his actions. Could not one of them had enough sense to walk away when it got heated? Does it mean you are less of a man because you can control your emotions and walk away?  Doesn't it show some intelligence to be able to walk away instead of pulling a gun? So many senseless killings, over stupid stuff. What is so important it requires taking a life? I understand if you are protecting family or yourself or any other human being to take a life to save yourself or our family. It would have to be a serious threat. What becomes so serious in a plain old every day argument to pull a gun. Humans do not think alike, in marriage, politics, religion or what ever. Are we not allowed to think differently than the next person? O that we could value life over our feelings. God bless, LVZ.

Forgiving again

Forgiving is a core value for a christian. Just today I heard someone say to not forgive is like drinking poison and expecting someone else to die. I think a lot about race, perhaps it is because I am a white man married to a black woman. I spent approximately 12 to 15 years attending different Black congregations. I am beginning to think differently than I have in the past. Perhaps that is why I felt I was in God's will moving to the deep south.  Mississippi has probably the most racist past of any state in the Union. Back to the subject Forgiving. Regardless of what a white man did in the past, a black man must forgive. Regardless of how badly white men have treated Native Americans, taking their land and putting them on reservations, usually the poorest land available, the Native American must forgive to be right with God. The white man must also forgive. When people treat us like the abusers from the past, even though we weren't there and have tried to do right, we must still have a forgiving spirit. I think more than ever we were intended to be one race, but having different races sometimes brings out what is really in our hearts. I have heard many a word spoken in a black church that makes me think they still feel like we owe them something, they don't trust us. That does not show a forgiving spirit. Some will say well if a dog bites you, you don't want to be bitten again. That is not the same as what Christ taught, forgive 7 times 70. That does not mean 490 times and then you can develop a mean spirit. We must develop a forgiving spirit. If we forgive not then neither will Christ forgive us. I do not like to be put on the same level as racist whites from the past, but if someone looks at me like that, I must still forgive. If we keep separate races, are we really forgiving? John 17:21 "That they may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me." This is a verse out of a prayer Jesus prayed for us. That we may be one. I remember when I started on this journey, it was because of something said in a Promise Keepers meeting, urging us Christian men  to cross racial boundaries. That is where it started for me. I tried to do just that. I believe God has developed me way beyond that point. I now feel freely to state what I think, like blacks and other minorities must also forgive us White men. I saw saw no difference when I was part of a black church, they needed God just as much as a white man. Many but not all in a black church were just as racist. Just as imperfect as any place else I have been. I believe Churches like Church for All Nations in Tacoma that try to be diverse and serve everybody are on the right path. Hope Church is also striving for that type of unity among believers. I am reminded of the praying hands on the bulletin from Second Baptist Church in Everett WA. One hand was white and the other black. We must strive for unity among all believers. Second Baptist was the first black church I ever attended and became a member of.  They treated me just like one of them. I was on their trustee board and really felt like I belonged even though much of the time I was the only white person there. There were times when I actually forgot I was the only white person there. How do we get past the past if we still expect to be reimbursed for the evil done to us in the past. If I was treated badly in a previous marriage and do not forgive, is that any different? All of us have suffered wrong in some fashion, but we must still forgive, whatever the wrong we suffered. God bless, LVZ.

God knows us

As I am reading Psalms 139,  I am struck by how well the word says God knows us. God knows my downsitting, God knows my thoughts, God is acquainted with all my ways. Verse 4 "For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether." We cannot hide from God, if we go into the heavens, God is there. If we make our bed in Hell, God is there. We cannot hide from him or hide anything we say, think or do from him. The Psalmist ends asking God to search his heart and see if there is any wicked way in him. I do that from time to time. Perhaps I see some character flaw in me, perhaps it was God that brought it to my attention in the first place. I remember my early years and thinking I needed to be perfect, but I knew I wasn't and therefore there was a conflict on the inside of me. God knew it all the time. God also tells us all have sinned and fallen short. Think of the best Christian minister you know, he sinned. Think of many Bible characters, they sinned. That is why Jesus, who was without sin went to the cross. For my sins and yours, he died and rose again, that we might have eternal life through Jesus. He knows us, don't even try to hide. He knows the words in our tongue. God bless, LVZ.

imperfect Christians

Look around at any Christian you know. They are not perfect, somewhere they have a flaw. We strive for perfection. It seems we are constantly trying to improve in some area of our lives. Sometimes we feel we got it together, sometimes we don't. We can't base our life on our feelings alone. God word tells us we are created in his image. God did not make a mistake when he created us. Psalms 139:14 "I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well" . Even before we were born God saw us in the womb. He has plans for us, for each one of us. When you read in Genesis at the very start, God wanted us to be fruitful. To bear fruit. Life can discourage us as we go through things. Even when you read in the bible, our past generations experienced difficulty. King David was a person I often looked at. God had a plan for his life to be king. Sometimes he did what was right and good. Other times he pursued things he wanted and did some bad things.  David spared King Saul's life, when King Saul was pursuing David to kill him. David did what was right and because King Saul was God's anointed King, he waited for God to take him out of the way. David knew he was to be the next king, God had already anointed him, but still he waited on God's timing. Then when David became King, he did wrong. He killed a man  to cover up his sin, his affair with that mans wife. God told David what he had done through the Prophet of God. David repented, saw the sin he had committed and turned back to God. We too fail, but I think the most important thing to learn from David is he repented and turned back to God when he saw the error of his ways. We will mess up. I wanted to be a better Dad, Husband, Grandfather, friend than I have been. All I can do is from where I am at. I can't go back and change anything. I, like David have failed and have repented. God blessed David and many of the Psalms we read today that uplift us and encouraged us were written by this imperfect man. The real person to follow and imitate is Jesus Christ. He did not sin. Jesus did die on that cross for our sins. He alone was perfect. He is the one that can change a life. He is God, to know Jesus is to know God. He alone can help us and change us. We cannot go off our feelings, sometimes we are up, sometimes we are down. God made us and he alone is sovereign. God knows our beginning and our ending. We can base our beliefs about our self on his word, but not on our emotions alone. When we are up, we are fearfully and wonderfully made. When we are down in the dumps, we are still fearfully and wonderfully made. God has a plan and if we will trust him, he will bring us through whatever life brings our way. Just as he was with David, just as he was with Joseph, Jonah, and many many others. Our faith and trust needs to be in God. Don't look at the circumstances around us, but on God and his word. He knows us, imperfections and all and still he extends his grace to all who will accept it, God bless, LVZ.

Grace for a lifetime

Grace for a life time was a phrase I read in "Losing Cooper". I think about that and the grace I have received over my life time. I think about the recent incident when I lost a tool and didn't feel it was right for me to ask God's help in finding it. I told God just that, I don't want to treat him like a heavenly GO-FOR. But as I finished talking to God about that, there was the tool I had been looking for. I feel like God said that's grace. You do not deserve it but God gives it anyway. Grace for a life time. When I married more than once because of foolish decisions, still God extended his grace to me and helped me. It was my fault I got into bad situations, but still his grace was extended to me. I am sure I faced unnecessary hardship because of my decisions but still God's grace was there to help me. I am not like him. I have not learned to love  unconditional like God. That's just it, God's grace is not extended one time and that's it. Over and over just like that tool when I didn't deserve God's help, God extended his grace again and again. It's not just when we do wrong, but as life happens, we don't always understand every situation. But again and again through out every thing that comes our way through life, God is there. John 10:27-28 "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand."  Matthew 28: ...."and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world." Hebrews 13:5...."for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." And so it is, we have seen God's people go through difficult times - Joseph thrown into prison - Daniel in a lions den - David after being anointed King ran for his life - The three Hebrew children into a furnace. In more recent times -Corrie Ten boom in a concentration camp. Martin Luther King Jr in jail and eventually shot. Medgar Evers shot. Countless others that served God went through some things but I'll bet eternity is worth it all. If any one says that you become a christian and every thing is going to be good from there on, they are lying to you. Being a Christian does not mean you will never face a hardship again but you will not go through it alone. God tells us it rains on the just and unjust alike. There will be enough of God's grace to get you through. Not everyone will face a tragedy like JJ and Melanie Jasper. What ever you go through will be painful to you, it may be more or less than the person next to you, but God's grace will get you through. JJ and Melanie did not feel they could have made it through their ordeal without God's help. Are you ready for what life will send your way? You can be when you are anchored to the Rock of Ages, Jesus Christ.  God bless, LVZ.

God's way for marriage

In our society we have easy divorce. I know from experience. God's plan has been one woman / one man until death do part. I hear it all the time, friction in the second marriage because of children belonging to another partner from a previous relationship or marriage. It is the norm anymore for people to just live together as husband and wife without legally being married. It happens inside the church as much as outside the church. When all the children have the same set of partners there is not the fear of mistreatment of the kid that belongs to another parent. It hurts the kids as well. I experienced a partner that didn't trust me to discipline a kid that I raised from birth because I was not the natural father. I felt like he was mine and I tried to treat him as such. The result was his little sister could not come to her daddy when there was a problem. Mother wouldn't allow it, for fear I would discipline the older stronger brother. Even though much of it was hid from me, I did at one time take my son out of Karate. He constantly wanted to practice on his younger weaker sister, who also wasn't in Karate and I was afraid he would hurt her. It is almost like the younger sister was a second class citizen compared to her older brother. She didn't have the right to come to her daddy or she would be in trouble with her mother who was with her all day. What happens when you are in a second relationship and your children are from your first. Do you trust the second spouse to care for your children and grandchildren as she would her own if something happens to you first?  This is a non issue if the children have the same set of parents. We are able to so casually enter into a marriage when we are young and do not see all the character issues that may be there. This spouse still has as much influence and possibly more over the children and grandchildren as you do. I though a lot about this as I read Losing Cooper and the wonderful home life he had. He had good parenting headed the same direction, same goals, etc. You can make mistakes and God can help and does help you through it. But tell me if you take a good close look at it and consider all the issues. Isn't God's way so much better. I do not advocate staying in a bad relationship. You can do bad all by yourself. Trusting God for the right partner and listening to his voice is not a waste of time. It will save a lot of heartache and drama in the future. Even for the next generations following you.  Proverbs 18:22 "Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the Lord." And I like Proverbs 19:14 "Houses and riches are the inheritance of fathers: and a prudent wife is from the Lord."  He who formed us can find us a better partner than we ever will. He knows us and them better than we know ourselves. I wonder if I had waited on God's timing perhaps he could have worked out issues in my life before I married the first time. Or the second time. I have never been one to wait for God, Perhaps that is the lesson he is still trying to teach me. Wait on him, trust him with your life. He is sovereign over all. He is in control. I think about the devastating way people feel when they lose a child, yet all of us have numbered days. We have no guarantees, and no one but God knows that number. God accomplishes his purposes eventually, but I wonder could things have been easier if I'd learned to listen early? I look at these people that learned to trust God early in life. They have been blessed. That doesn't mean they don't face hard times, but they have learned to trust he who is over all and he takes them through any difficulty with grace. God's will in any situation is better. It may not always look like it in the present, but years and miles down the road you can look back and see God's way would have been better.  God bless, LVZ.

God's way is better

Some think television and violent video games have desensitized our children. Every so often we hear about a shooting and some kid gone bad. This society that allows the freedom to create and sell violent games and TV is the same society that is against spanking our kids. One would think this would prove the bible to be correct. I don't understand how we can regulate smoking and alcohol and legalize marijuana. We want to have gun control but allow the freedom to create violent games. Our society is changing. Some say it is control of the masses, and that is why they changed global warming to climate change. The scientific facts didn't add up to support global warming. The name change will work no matter what the weather does. I have recently watched more soaps than I care too. I wonder if the lack of morals depicted on TV has shaped the thinking of many Americans? So many woman think that's just the way men are. Does a steady diet of adultery on TV influence the way we view the world around us? I'm not sure but it is something to consider. What happened to honesty and do not say anything bad about your neighbor? We see a constant negative campaigning during just about any election. The Bible tells - spare the rod and spoil the child. Also tells us not to slander. But I guess we know better than our creator. We think we can do it better but look at what is happening to our world. Makes me think about guardrails and Pastors message. What happens when we have no guard rails anymore?  Often we hear about the lack of work ethic in the younger generation. I saw it on my crew, so many want pay but don't want to do anything to earn that pay. There are blessing that come with a good work ethic. In so many things, God's way is better. Name anything where God's way is not better for society? Maybe we do not see it up front, but after a life time we will.  God bless, LVZ.

Eight days of Hope

Eight Days of Hope is a volunteer organization that started in Tupelo some years back. Yesterday it came back to the city it started in. There were a lot of volunteers in Church today. At least half of the Church had the green eight days of hope t-shirts on. It was hard to find a seat. I so thought I was going to be a part of this, especially since it was in Tupelo, but with my knee surgery and the pain I am dealing with, it isn't happening. But it felt good to see so many green t-shirts in church. I never have trouble finding a seat, but being 10 minutes late, one of the ushers pointed out a couple of seats still open. Eight Days of Hope will be working on under insured or uninsured properties damaged by the April 28th tornado.  I was mowing the lawn for the Salvation Army here in Tupelo but with this knee surgery I haven't been able to do that. Their riding lawn mower is not working and I cannot do it with a push mower.  I really wanted to do more volunteering, but I may have to find a different avenue because of my knee. Eight days of hope will be here through the 19th and I hope to hear more about what they accomplish.  If I had a trailer to haul my rider, I could still do the Salvation Army lawn, I just can't do the push mower. I haven't even done much around the house with this knee, and I have a lot to do. I can't kneel and I am still depending on pain pills to get through the day. I like being outside, and I had hoped doing stuff like the lawn was just up my alley. What next? I really don't know. I just want to be without pain. God bless LVZ.

peoples view of me

We were talking about the last killing here in Verona between an Uncle and some of his Nephews. Don't know what the disagreement was about, it don't matter, it was stupid stuff. As we were talking, a lot of people expected me to take further action against Edwin. They thought he'd end up dead because I am a white man and he had the nerve to pull a gun on me. I realize I am in the south and I am beginning to see there are a lot of prejudicial views down here both black and white. It was stupid stuff, all I said was "I think you just talked yourself out of a dog fence." Edwin had mentioned squatters rights and in the same conversation he was asking to put a dog fence on Barbara's property.    Stupid stuff.    We were at Catfish Craving and there were 6 of us, 3 adults and 3 kids. 5 of us were white and just Barbara was black bringing up the rear. The lady behind the cash register rang up two adults and three kids, and was going to ring up Barbara next. I clearly said 3 adults.     I was at a bible study and you know, Christians have issues. One guy said we need more people that look like Americans and I challenged him. What does an American look like? I am beginning to see things in a different light. When Black Churches started back in the days of slavery, the black minister was about the only black in the community that could read and write. He was their tie to the outside world. I think the black church today helps keep blacks separate. Maybe I am prejudice, but I think the black church needs to go away,  and black history does not need to be a separate history. We need to be one people. God only created one race, the human race. I still hear many people call me Mr Leon, when those same people expected me to take out Edwin because I am white, I don't think they have a very good view of me. I am not like that and I don't want to be called Mr Leon. I believe God created one race, the human race. God bless, LVZ.

new computer

What a frustrating experience. We moved our Comcast service including Internet to new house. It took almost 2 weeks for this to happen. As I am trying to get computer set up, my screen broke on my seven year old laptop. I couldn't see anything. I could fix it but as old as it was I figured it was time to get a new one. So new service address and new computer and I couldn't access the Internet and wasn't sure why. Comcast is in Barbara's name and they want to talk to her and she wants them to talk to me. That was fun.(not). Every time they reboot the modem we ended up disconnected and if we called back we got someone different.  Finally I got one guy to listen. This is new service and new computer and Comcast is not loaded on this machine. He listened and we got to the Xfinity site and then realized it needed a new user name for the new account. New house that never had Comcast = new user account etc. Finally got it working, still in Barbara's name. I think they thought I was a hacker and not Barbara's husband and I couldn't do anything until Barbara got home. If that last guy hadn't listened to me about new computer and new service I think I would have been so frustrated and quit comcast altogether. Every time I see the Xfinity commercial  about the guy moving, I think false advertising,  they are not that helpful and it took two weeks to get an appointment to install service. I suppose it would have worked better if the house had had previous Comcast service. Anyway up and running again. God bless, LVZ.

Put those tools away

Today I was looking for a tool. I looked in the shop, I looked in the shed, I looked by the storm shelter, around the outside of the house and I just couldn't find it. I thought maybe when Johnnie borrowed it, he may not have brought it back. I thought, I am really sure he did. If I asked him, Johnnie would say; "don't I always tell you to put your tools away." I can't call him because I do have a bad habit of not putting my tools away after I use them. I though about how many times I have lost keys and tools, glasses and whatever and I'd pray about it and right after I prayed, I'd find it. I thought, its not fair to ask God because I haven't yet learned to put the tools away. Why should he help me? I spoke words similar to those to God because I really didn't feel it would be right for God to help me because I don't put them away. So I am really not asking, but I do want to thank you for all the times you have helped me. Just then as I was walking toward the back of the yard I saw the tool leaning against the oak tree where I had left it. The thought came to me that's just like grace. I don't deserve it, I can't earn it. I could never have enough money to pay for it. I really do not deserve God's grace, but he gave it anyway. And he gives it to any one who will accept it. Ephesians 4:7 "But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ." Wouldn't learning to put my tools away almost be like being able to fix our lives to be able to call on God? That's not the way it is, we come to God just as we are. God in his goodness just showed me another picture of his grace. I certainly don't deserve it, but he gives it anyway.  God bless, LVZ.