Suffer Not the Little Children

It's unofficially summertime. School's out and the children are all at play. It's times like this that I tend to reminisce about my childhood.

I spent many mornings at my friend Ralph's house. We would go into the garage and make wooden swords for our little group of buddies. Once we were satisfied with the amount of swords we made, we would then go into my field and proceed to beat the tar out of ourselves. On really good days, we would have enough friends over, we would divide up into teams and beat each other up.

As we progressed into high school we figured out how to make different styles of swords, along with different types of hand to hand weapons. The most amazing thing is that we didn't lose an eye, break bones or get concussions from all the fighting that we did.

One day we were out goofing off (beating the tar out of each other) and we were approached by a kindly gentleman. He politely informed us that we were wasting our lives by having frivolous fun and that Jesus did not approve and that he would punish us (His exact phrasing can not be published). The six of us stood there in stunned silence at this gentleman's condemnation of us.

As I sit back and ponder this scenario, one thing really begins to bother me. If we had not known about Jesus that day, we probably would have turned away from Jesus on that day. The fear tactic only serves to push people away, especially children. He does not want people to push children of any age away from him. One of the few times that Jesus was really angry, was a time that the disciples would not let children near him, “The people brought children to Jesus, hoping he might touch them. The disciples shooed them off. But Jesus was irate and let them know it: "Don't push these children away. Don't ever get between them and me. These children are at the very center of life in the kingdom.” (Mark 10:13,14 MSG).

What that gentleman did could have pushed us away from Jesus. Christians should not do anything that will push a child away from Jesus. Imagine if a police officer walked up to a group of teenagers sitting at the park and the police officer said, “You kids are nothing but trouble and I know your type. I want you to know, I have my eye on all of you.” The families of those children would go berserk. Why? Because a police officer is to be a friend to the children, not the judge, jury and executioner. If any of those children were in desperate need of help, would they approach any police officer after that point? No. Such is the same with Christians. Instead of condemning kids for being kids, we should embrace them for being kids. Christians need to be friends with the kids, not their enemies. For Christ is their friend and not their enemy.

As for my group of friends that day. One is teaching Hebrew at a Christian university. One is a chaplain at a hospital and he and his wife are youth leaders in their local church. One is currently the supply Pastor at a local church. Not bad for a bunch of kids who were only concerned with beating the tar of ourselves.

Golfing with Richard

I like to golf. How much do I like to golf, my bachelor party was me playing golf with my cousin Kelly, my uncle Ralph and my good friend Jeff. I'm not good though. The best I've shot was a 54, then I moved to the second hole. Seriously, the best I've shot was a four under. One under the bush, one under the tree, and two under the water. I judge my golfing expeditions not by score, but by how many balls I lose. If I lose 3 or less, it's a good day, 4-7 is an average day, 8 or more. . . I'm just thankful that I buy the dollar balls out of the lost box.
There is one person who I truly loved to golf with. Richard Palmer. Now as many know, he had a stroke a few weeks ago. He is recovering at the pace that God wants him to recover, that is something that I am learning, since I am selfish and I want him to recover rather quickly.
I can say I learned a lot about life and the ministry while on a golf course with Richard. He was giving me ministerial advice long before I even felt I was called into the ministry. While golfing, Richard had only 3 rules, and as I think back on those rules, they also should be applied to life.
Rule number 1: Have fun. He would say to me, if you're not having fun, don't do it. The same can hold true for so many aspects of our lives. If it's not fun, why continue to do it. God wants us to be blessed and he wants us to be full of joy, “You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.” (Psalm 16:11 NIV)
Rule number 2: In order to ensure rule number 1, improve your lay. We weren't playing in tournaments. We were out having a good time. Instead of getting frustrated because we hit the ball in the deep rough, just flip it out onto the fairway. If you wanted to, go ahead and tee up wherever you are located.
God wants us to improve our life. We do that by coming to Him through His Son. God wants us to discard our sinful nature and live according to His Spiritual nature, “For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.” (Romans 8:13,14 NIV)
Rule number 3: In order to ensure rules number 1 and 2, don't keep score. This is one reason why I don't judge my golf game based on score, but by balls lost. I had no idea what I shot, but I know how many times I had to dig in my bag. More importantly though, if we are to have an intimate relationship with anyone, we must never keep score. Love does not keep track of wrongs committed, “It (love) is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.” (1 Corinthians 13:7 NIV) Don't keep score of anyone, no matter who wronged you feel.
As much as I like to golf, I haven't golfed since August 10, 2007 (my bachelor party). I haven't golfed with Richard since 1999. I am fortunate enough to have played with him and to soak in a lot of his wisdom. I am in continuous prayer that he will be well again. I really could use more of his wisdom now.

Added note: I wrote this on Tuesday, April 28th. It appeared in the Friday May 1st edition of the Abilene Reflector-Chronicle. On Sunday May 3rd, Richard was healed completely. He was called home at 8:00 in the evening. Though we mourn physically, we rejoice in our spirit.