See You Later, Buddies!

Dear Mark and Luke,

I am sure Mommy has told you that Papaw is going to a country called Saudi Arabia to do some work. Saudi Arabia is a long way from Georgia and even farther from Texas. I will be building a college over there. I probably will not be able to call you every day the way I usually do, but I will think about you every day and I am taking some pictures of you both to look at when I think about you. I just wanted you to know!

I would like for you both to call Mimi often and check on her while I am gone. She will be lonesome, so it will be up to you and Mommy and Uncle Mark to make sure she is okay! Be sure and take care of your Mommy and Daddy too! You are both growing so fast that sometimes I would just like to stop time and keep you small like you are right now! But I know that is not possible, so I will just have to keep my memories of you both as you are right now. The best part is that God gave us a heart that can hold as many memories as we could ever put in there, so I will be able to remember you as you are now, but also as you grow!

You know what the best part of my trip will be? When I come back to Texas, you and your Mommy will be here at Mimi's and Papaw's house in Texas! In fact, you will come to see us and the very next day after you come to Mimi's, Papaw will return from Saudi Arabia! We will have some fun then. I have a lot of things I want to do with you two little guys. We can plant some grass and we can go over to Uncle Mark and help him with some of his building projects and maybe we can even find time to go out fishing in Uncle Mark's boat! How does that sound?

Well, remember that Papaw loves you both more than he can tell you and I will see you when I come back!

Love,

Papaw

It Will Be Your Favorite, Papaw!

There is a place that every child looks forward to visiting from the time they are old enough to understand about it. It is Disney World, aka "The Happiest Place on Earth!" Now, I am not sure that statement is somewhat hyperbolic, but there it is, nonetheless. This past weekend, our daughter and son-in-law took advantage of their proximity to Orlando, to visit Disney World with our grandsons. Mark Garrett was so excited that for at least a week, he could think of nothing else. In fact, I think he then got Luke hyped about the trip, even though neither of them had a clue as to what "Disney World was really all about!"



I believe they had an awesome time...at least according to Mark. He called me to tell me all about his trip and was he wound up! He explained to me that his favorite rides were the "parking lot tram", the monorail and the "Farmstormer (that is The Barnstormer, a kiddie version of a roller coaster for you uninitiated!) I think his mom and dad thought the parking lot tram was a bit of a waste, but as they say, "You can tell a three-year-old, you just can't tell him much!" Mark explained to me that, "The Farmstormer goes very, very, very, very, very fast, Papaw! It was my favorite! It will be your favorite too, Papaw!" I am sure it will be, Buddy, and I look forward to going to Disney World with you in the not too distant future. I love you and Luke!

I Like The Sound of That!

Most of you know that our son, Mark is getting married this summer. You also know that he is marrying a young lady, named Meghan, who is perfect for him. She is smart and sweet and has a beautiful spirit. She is also adored by Mark's two little nephews, who think she is awesome. They compliment each other so well and we are excited that Meghan will be part of our family.

We have been helping Mark and Meghan with remodelling the house they just bought, that will become their home after they are married. It has been hard work, but also a lot of fun. Last week, Meghan was laid low by a severe kidney infection and did not get to come work most of the week. On Thursday, she was feeling better and came over to continue working on the house. She met Mark and me at The Home Depot where we were selecting base moulding and bathroom fixtures. I was talking with her and mentioned that I had seen a wedding invitation on their counter that was addressed to Mr. and Mrs. Mark C. Miller. I laughed and said they were a little premature, but Meghan grinned and said, "I like the sound of that!" You know, I do too!

No More Doubt!

One of the most famous idioms in the English language revolves around an event that occurred only eight days after Easter. We use this idiom to express doubt or skepticism in a person, by calling them a "Doubting Thomas." In fact, Wikepedia defines this idiom in the following way, "Doubting Thomas is a term that is used to describe someone who will refuse to believe something without direct, physical, personal evidence; a skeptic." We seem to relegate Thomas to the position of second-class apostle because he had doubts about the resurrection. I am fascinated by the story of Thomas. It is told in the Gospel of John, in the 20th chapter. The story is a familiar one. On the day that Jesus was resurrected, it seems that Thomas was not with any of the disciples when Jesus made His appearances to them. Later, as they explain to Thomas that Jesus is alive, just as He said He would be, Thomas makes perhaps the most famous skeptical statement of all time, "Unless I see in His hands the mark of the nails and place my finger into the mark of the nails and place my hand in His side, I will never believe." A pretty strong statement, but I can't say I blame Thomas. Think about it, Thomas saw with his own eyes the death of his Lord, on a Roman cross. We don't know for sure, but Thomas was probably huddled in desperate sorrow with the rest of the disciples, as they watched what they believed to be the end of the story. He had no reason to believe that things could be different than what his eyes told him was true. Most days, I am very much like Thomas! However, the story of Thomas is one of love and grace, not sorrow, doubt and defeat! Verse 26 tells us the rest of the story, as Paul Harvey used to say. It goes like this, "Eight days later, the disciples were again inside and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, 'Peace be with you.' Then He said to Thomas, 'Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.' " Can't you see the love that Jesus had for Thomas? He knew that Thomas doubted His resurrection and He could have done what we do...write off Thomas and his doubts. After all, He had a room full of disciples that had seen Him and believed that He was alive. He didn't need Thomas to believe, but Thomas needed Him! And that's where grace and love overtook doubt and disbelief! Jesus made a special point of coming to the disciples specifically to meet with Thomas. And what was the result of that meeting? The same result that has happened countless times with other doubters! Thomas looks at the Lord and verse 28 says, "Thomas answered Him, 'My Lord and my God!' " In reality, when you meet the risen Saviour, there is only one true response and that is the same one Thomas had. So what happened to Thomas, after he saw the Lord? Tradition has it that he travelled to India and spread the Gospel there, ultimately giving his life as a martyr. Not too shabby for a doubter!

The story of Thomas always reminds me of one of my favorite Scriptures, found in Isaiah 49:14 -16. This is a word from God through the prophet Isaiah about the nation of Israel after they have been sent into captivity. The people cry out and ask God if He has forgotten them. It goes like this, "But Zion said, The LORD hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me. Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands;" This passage also foretells the type of death that Jesus would die and the fact that He would bear those nail marks for all eternity, not only for Israel, but for you and me. I have a lot of things that I want to see and do when I reach heaven, but there is one thing that I will do first. I will find my Lord and Saviour and I want to take His hands and feel those nail scars and I am sure that I will respond as Thomas, "My Lord and my God!" I hope you are there too!

Know What You Believe!

Over the past few weeks, there has been some interesting news that has come out of the 2008 American Religious Identity Survey ( for the summary survey report go to http://www.americanreligionsurvey-aris.org/ ). I use the term "news" rather loosely, because to anyone who has been doing more than just using up oxygen and space in this country, the results of the survey tell us nothing that we have not been observing! In addition, the latest issue of Newsweek magazine has a cover page article entitled, "The End of Christian America." You can click on the following link to read the article http://www.newsweek.com/id/192583?GT1=43002 . It makes for interesting reading, but again, it is not new. Apparently, there are fewer Bible-believing Christians in this country than ever before. To me, perhaps the most startling thing that came from the survey and the article, is the fact that there are more than 75% of the people in this country who claim to be "born-again Christians." The startling thing about this is that you would think that if more than 150 million people in this country were Christians, we would perhaps be expected to live that fact out in our lives. However, there is the rub!

Apparently, you can be a "born-again Christian" and not believe in the Deity of Jesus Christ. And here I always thought that belief in Jesus Christ and who He claimed to be was one of the foundational doctrines and truths of Christianity! The concept of "original sin and the total depravity of man" is also an option for more than 75% of all "Christians." Also, most American Christians (over 66%) were absent the day Jesus talked about hell, because they don't believe in hell...heaven, yes; hell, not so much! And the coup d'grace, over 50% of American Christians do not believe in the resurrection! To use my son's favorite comment, "I have no words!"

To me, the most disheartening thing about all of this is the fact that many of these doctrines that "American Christians" either do not know or understand are the same doctrines of truth for which early martyrs willingly shed their blood rather than renounce their beliefs. Today, we don't even know what we believe much less die for those beliefs. I believe when we meet some of the early church leaders in heaven, they too will be amazed at our lack of knowledge as to what we believe. I also believe there will come a time, in the not too distant future, when our beliefs will be questioned and we will be called on to stand for those beliefs in the face of persecution. In Hosea 4:6, the prophet speaks a word from God, "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee..." Know what you believe!

Not Me!

Well, another Easter celebration has come and gone and as always, I am amazed at the love God demonstrated to us when He sent His Son to this world as a baby and to live a sinless life and to die on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins! And then wonder of wonders, He raised Him from the tomb and defeated the power of death and sin! The empty tomb really does say all that needs to be said about God's love.



As usual, I taught a pre-school Sunday School on Easter. Anita and I attended the early worship, which was really great and then I taught 4-year olds. The weather was very cold and rainy, so attendance was very low. This resulted in a very small Sunday School class, which was nice because I was able to interact individually with the children. I am a firm believer that children are never too young to learn Biblical truths and to begin to understand the basics of the Gospel. So, Easter is always a great time to talk about the resurrection and yes, the crucifixion. I am always careful not to be overly graphic about the agony of the cross, but I do explain that Jesus had to die on the cross for the "bad things" we have done in our lives. Yesterday, as I talked about this, I made the statement that we had all done things that were not right and had disobeyed God. As I let this sink in, one little boy cocked his head and looked at me and said, "Not me! I've never done anything wrong!" Now, coming from any 4-year old, this would be quite a stretch. However, this particular little boy is 100% boy and I suspect that God got quite a chuckle over this! Obviously, the Holy Spirit has a little more conviction to do on this one!

Ooops! I did it again!

No, I am not referring to the horrific title of the alleged song by the alleged singer Britney Spears! I am referring to what inevitably happens when I watch the "children's video" portion of the wedding video made at our daughter and son-in-law's wedding. I am known as the crier in our family. I generally can be counted on to shed a tear at graduations (kindergarten through college), weddings, funerals, most sermons, patriotic events, family gatherings, good-byes, when the circus comes to town and when the circus leaves town! I blame this on my children and grandchildren. You see, I never cried before they came along. However, I digress!
Anita has become quite adept at producing videos from still photographs and adding appropriate music. She has produced several very professional quality videos for her parent's 65th anniversary, for my parents anniversary and for family graduations. I am very proud of the job she has done on all of these. She has been working on a "children's video" for my nephew's wedding and also for our son's wedding this summer. Last night, she wanted to see the video from our daughter's wedding, to refresh her memory about the special effects, etc. So, I popped it into the DVD player and we watched Alicia and Tim grow from babies through their engagement! Yes, I did shed a tear...again. Then to make matters worse, we decided to watch a video she had compiled for my parents and for her parents that showed Alicia, Mark, Mark Garrett and Luke through the years (or year as the case is for Luke!) The music on the video is perfect and really reflects the love she put into it. It starts with Twila Paris' "Your Whole Life Long", a mother's prayer that her little one will follow Him their whole life long and eventually ends with a song by Michael Minor, called "Let Them Be Little." All in all, it is guaranteed to make me reach for the Kleenex.
I know some people would be embarrassed to admit they shed a tear over things like this, but I count it as a blessing to have been given a heart that is so soft for the ones I love and care about. So, if it is all the same to you, I will continue to shed a tear...for joy, for sadness, for love and family!

Emotions or Fact!

Well this will be my third or fourth post about Easter and the resurrection story. You might say I am obsessed with it...and that's a good thing! However, today my post is really about the picture of Easter that we get in many churches and certainly in the world in general. As I have had the opportunity to hear a number of "Easter sermons" on the radio the past two weeks, I began to think that in many of them, there was something missing. Oh they were nice talks about how Easter is a "second chance", or a time of rebirth, or a time for hope and from most of them I walked away, feeling a little better about myself. However, the one thing that I did not do was walk away from them with a deeper understanding of the reality of the gospel message. You see, the problem with most of those sermons I heard is that they are heavy on the emotions of Easter, but light on the reality. It is almost as if, like most things in our world we have traded in the Gospel for Gospel Lite - a gospel that doesn't confront us with the real awfulness of sin and the price for that sin and the holiness of God. The real problem, is that we want the gospel and the Easter story to be all about us when in reality it is about a holy God and a sacrificing Saviour and the grace extended from them to us. My pastor often says, "It's not about me!", and that is the truth.
In the early days of the church, believers knew that the Gospel was a reality. It was a historical fact that was recognized by all. The Jewish leaders tried to make it go away and the Gentiles denied it, but there were over 500 witnesses to the fact that Jesus Christ came out of the grave, alive! Historians of that time record the event just as historians of our day recorded the attack on the Twin Towers in New York. The facts of the event were never in doubt in the minds of most people. The phrase, "He is risen!" and "He is risen indeed!", were not just "Easter" catch phrases. They were significant statements of truth! In fact, they state the single-most important difference between the Christianity of the Bible and all other religions of the world - the tomb of our Lord is empty and the others are not!
So this Easter, as you contemplate the Easter story, I hope you will see that the Easter story is a factual event that does not rely on emotion or self-help sermons but on the solid foundation of Jesus Christ and Him crucified and raised again. And remember, while Easter is emotional, it is even more importantly, factual! I pray that you would be richly blessed by the grace of our Lord this Easter!

I Will Have Papaw All To Myself!

After almost three weeks, my wife returned home from a visit with our daughter, son-in-law and grandsons. She had a great time and enjoyed the visit very much. She did her very best to provide Luke with his own personal Mimi and to help keep Mark Garrett on the straight and narrow. Luke decided that having Mimi at his beck and call was pretty awesome. On her last day there, she and Mark decorated cookies together. Mark told me that, "We did a really good job and they were very good!" As they worked together, Anita was talking to him about the fact that she would be going back to Texas that afternoon, but that he would be coming to Texas soon to visit Mimi and Papaw. He looked at her and very calmly said, "Mimi will stay with Mommy and I will have Papaw all to myself." I later asked him if he would share me with Luke, to which he responded, "No sir, he will stay with Mimi!"



He was my first grandson and he sure knows the way to his Papaw's heart! I love you, Buddy! And you too, Luke!