Dickens said, “It was the best of times…it was the worst of times.”

While that may describe our economy, our government and many other issues today, I want to pose another thought: Many of the best times of our lives turn out to be the scariest times!

I was reflecting on a trip I took to Switzerland a while beck to speak. During the day I was captivate by the paragliders I saw jumping off of the surrounding Alps. Seeing that you could sign up to take a leap I couldn’t take it anymore after about three days and announced to Cheryl (my bride) was was going to put my name on the dotted line.

To my amazement, she piped up, “Me too!” And since she hates risk more than most anything in life, I was dumbfounded. But off we went to the adventure of a lifetime.

Traveling in a rickity bus to about 4500-5000 feet up a steep road along the side of the mountain, I wondered if we would launch off…still in the bus! But arrive, we did. Got suited up. And then our respective pilots told us, “When the wind is right we’ll say Let’s Go! and when we do take off running, and when we come to the end of ground, keep running. Then sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride.” A WHAT A RIDE IT WAS!!! It will be branded into our memory banks for the rest of our lives!! Yet, running off of that cliff was one of the scariest moments you could ever have.

I bet David felt that way staring down ‘ole Goliath! Or how about Joshua facing the walls of Jericho? Or Daniel and the lion’s den? And how about Moses confronting Pharoah demanding, “Let my people go!”

Life just works that way. So, the next time you face unnerving circumstances, just throw your shoulders back…lift your chin…take a deep breath… and remember, this could be one of the greatest moments of your life!

In the recent MISS USA pagent Carrie Prejean, Miss California, may have lost the crown due to her answer to judge’s Perez Hilton’s question regarding same sex marriage. A gay himself, Perez forced the known Christian Prejean into a no win situation when he questioned her if every state should pass Same Sex marriage.

In that moment Miss California had to determine if she would answer politically correct…and probably win the pagent, or if she would honor her faith, values and principles and give Perez exactly what he asked for-her opinion. Thankfully her faith, values and principles won out over her ambition! She stated clearly and with distinction her belief regarding the sanctity of marriage between a man and a woman for life. Yet she hastened to quickly add that she was not trying to force her beliefs on others…merely stating hers.

What an example to today’s youth…and adults for that manner. It’s exactly what we need more of…leaders who will stick to their faith, values and principles regardless of the cost. And the crown? She lost it. BUT, she won the prize of integrity, honor and class. While the crown may have been lost, the future was secured as doors will be thrown open with opportunity because she was true to herself. May her tribe increase!

I think the days ahead will prove to be increasingly difficult for those with sincere Christian faith. I have said for several years that I see the days coming when, increasingly, the word “persecution” for the Christian with be spelled “p-r-o-s-e-c-u-t-i-o-n” as the courts will be used increasingly to put Christians in a pressure cooker. Laws will tighten…regulations will squeeze out…judgments will be rendered…and difficulties will increase for those who unflinchingly stand on their Christian beliefs in the face of human secularism an political correctness.

The present administration is watering down the term “a person of faith” in a similar manner to how “born again” got watered down under Jimmy Carter.

And violence is increasing against the realm of faith. My friend Ted Baehr just recently listed a sobering and staggering list of violence in Christian settings….
• February 18, 2009: A man committed suicide in front of a cross at the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, California.
• November 23, 2008: A gunman killed his estranged wife in a New Jersey church as Sunday services let out.
• November 1, 2008: A Cincinnatti minister, Rev. Donald Fairbanks Sr., was killed while he was attending a funeral in Kentucky.
• July 27, 2008: Two people were killed and six wounded in a shooting rampage at the church in Knoxville, Tenn.
• December 9, 2007: A man kills two young adults at the Youth with a Mission (YWAM) base before driving to a Colorado Springs church and opening fire on the congregation just after church was let out. A total of 5 people were killed, including the gunmen.
• August 12, 2007: A lone gunman opened fire in a Missouri Micronesian church, killing a pastor and two other churchgoers.
• May 20, 2007: A standoff between police and a suspect at a Moscow, Idaho church ended with three dead, including one police officer.
• Oct. 2, 2006, A man in Lancaster County, PA., killed five girls and then himself at an Amish school.
• May 20, 2006: Four were killed by a man at Jesus Christ Church in Louisiana.
• Feb. 26, 2006: Two people were killed at Zion Hope Missionary Baptist Church in Michigan by a man who later killed himself.
• April 9, 2005: A 27-year-old died after being shot at a church in College Park, GA..
• March 12, 2005: A man walked into the services of the Living Church of God in Milwaukee and open fired immediately, killing seven people.
• Oct. 5, 2003: A woman opened fire in Turner Monumental AME church in Kirkwood, GA., killing the pastor, her mother, and herself.
• March 12, 2002: During Sunday Mass, Peter J. Troy fatally shot Rev. Lawrence M. Penzes and parishioner Eileen Tosner.
• Sept. 16, 1999: Seven young people were killed when a man opened fire during a prayer service for teen-agers at the Wedgewood Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas

The days ahead do not promise to be easy, but will surely clarify who isThe time is coming when to take a stand will really mean something in America. I plan to be there. See you there with those who aren’t ashamed of the Gospel!

This last weekend I was fortunate, and honored, to return to a church I pastored in the 1990s. I was looking forward to getting there, as my wife and I drove from Atlanta to Tampa. Rain had hit us in driving sheets for several hours as I we drove south through Georgia. Finally, in the southern-most Georgia region the rains stopped, but the dark clouds hung like a wet blanket accompanied by an oppressive humidity.

But we still looked forward to getting with friends from years back and laughing, hugging, and reflecting.

It was as we approached the Bruce B. Downs interchange in north Tampa that Cheryl shrieked, gasped and covered her mouth in shock looking at the oncoming traffic on the other side of the highways median. Hurtling through the air was a car, flipping over and over, hitting the ground…only to bounce high into the air again, to once again crash to the ground and roll…before coming to rest upside down.

Shocked, we realized we were witnessing a tragic accident and we needed to act quickly. Cheryl grabbed the phone and called 9-1-1. I pulled our car over and dashed across the interstate to do whatever I could. Being the second person arriving at the upside down vehicle, I checked for gas leaks while two other men removed the door window and felt for a pulse on a young woman, who just moments earlier had probably been enjoying life on her way to some pre-planned activity, or to see friends or family, or to a meeting or engagement…who knows? But, suddenly–and tragically–life had taken a tragic and unexpected turn. Without moving her, one of the men with obvious training for emergencies made sure she had a pulse and could breathe, even though she was unconscious. And shortly…though it seemed an eternity…the emergency vehicles were there. The police and emergency technicians took over and I got in our car with Cheryl…and we drove on with heavy hearts. Wondering, “Whose daughter was she? Was she married? Who was in her family?” …and praying that God would be with her, and with teh medical personnel who would untimately care for her at the hospital.

And we were soberly reminded how quickly life can change and be altered. unexpectedly..how very precious every moment is…and how valuable each day with those we love a care about is. We would learn several days later that the young lady tragically died. Our hearts ached for her family and friends who experienced such a tragic, premature end to life.

So today, be sure and tell someone you love and care about and tell them how special they are to you!

take time to tell someone close to you what you admire most in their life!

tell someone who has made an impact on you that they have done so, and how, and what
it means to you!

thank God for the gift of life and commit to savor it and enjoy it to the best of your ability!

After all, we have no guarantee of tomorrow.

And in view of that, if life suddenly ended for you today…or tomorrow…have you come to the place in your spiritual journey that you know FOR SURE what would happen with you? That’s what the message of the Bible is all about!

DO YOU MISS RONALD REGAN THESE DAYS WHEN YOU READ THE PAPERS, WATCH THE TV NEWS, OR HEAR THE LATEST REPORTS?

JUST REMEMBER THE STRAIGHT FORWARD MANNER WITH WHICH HE HANDLED ISSUES!

‘Here’s my strategy on the Cold War:
We win, they lose.’ – Ronald Reagan

‘The most terrifying words in the English language are: I’m from the government and I’m here to help.’ -Ronald Reagan

‘The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they’re ignorant; it’s just that they know so much that isn’t so.’ – Ronald Reagan

‘Of the four wars in my lifetime, none came about because the U.S. was too strong.’ – Ronald Reagan

‘I have wondered at times about what the Ten Commandments would have looked like if Moses had run them through the U.S. Congress.’ – Ronald Reagan

‘The taxpayer: That’s someone who works for the federal government but doesn’t have to take the civil service examination.’ – Ronald Reagan

‘Government is like a baby: An alimentary canal with a big appetite at one end and no sense of responsibility at the other.’ – Ronald Reagan

‘The nearest thing to eternal life we will ever see on this earth is a government program.’ – Ronald Reagan

‘It has been said that politics is the second oldest profession. I have learned that it bears a striking resemblance to the first.’ – Ronald Reagan

‘Government’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it’ – Ronald Reagan

‘Politics is not a bad profession. If you succeed, there are many rewards; if you disgrace yourself, you can always write a book.’ – Ronald Reagan

‘No arsenal, or no weapon in the arsenals of the world, is as formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and women.’ – Ronald Reagan

‘If we ever forget that we’re one nation under God, then we will be a nation gone under.’ – Ronald Reagan

OH, HOW WE NEED THAT KIND OF LEADERSHIP THESE DAYS!!!!!

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