30+ Days of Giving Thanks, Day 61: The Season Finale

I made it to the finish line! I set out on November 1 to mention one thing each day for which I am thankful. Once into the assignment, I realized that I would need more than 30 days to adequately (by my estimation) express thanks for the various blessings in my life. So I decided to extend the period of thanksgiving to the end of 2011, and today, I am gratified to see that I have met my goal (this one, at least!) of having something to be thankful for every day for the rest of the year.

So today, I am thankful for thankfulness. No, that’s not “double-speak” or an attempt at cleverness. I am thankful for the paradigm shift I have experienced over the past two months—going to some effort every day to think about, and express gratitude to God for, at least one way in which God has and is blessing me. A skeptic, agnostic or atheist might make a case, in reading my various posts, that God has had little if anything to do with most of the things I have written about. What does God care about a library, or system of libraries? Is He responsible for that? And so on. To that hypothetical person (who probably isn’t reading my posts anyway!) I answer: I choose to acknowledge God as the Sovereign Authority, under Whom all things, whether sacred and spiritual or secular and natural, mysterious and mundane alike, exist and flourish. Consider how the British speak of “the Queen’s this” or “the Queen’s that” when the Queen hardly has had any direct influence over everything in British society. Nevertheless, all things British exist under the sovereignty of the crowned monarch.

As I was saying, I am thankful for how being thankful for everything in my life, or at least, learning to be thankful for everything, has helped me to see more clearly how God has blessed me—and how He has blessed me over the long-term, the entire course of my life, as well as the short-term, the immediate needs in my life. It has been a distinctly transformative experience for me to deliberately, and with thought and occasionally with mighty effort, identify things, people, events, and systems in my life that bear witness to the Sovereignty of God and His Divine Providence acting in my behalf to provide for me physically, emotionally, mentally, intellectually, socially and spiritually to constantly nurture me and nudge me toward maturity—toward the Image of Christ to which God has intended for me to be conformed.

Thank You, Heavenly Father, for this lesson in thankfulness. I will try not to forget what I have learned under Your instruction, but rather, to continue to practice being thankful in all things.

30+ Days of Giving Thanks, Day 60: Temple of Praise Church of God

About 18 months ago, the First Baptist Church in Newburgh acquired a Friend: the Temple of Praise Church of God in Newburgh. Pastor Luklen Simpson and his congregation came to us looking for a place to be. God had been preparing our hearts for some time and was getting us ready for an opportunity to say “Yes,” where formerly we would have quickly said “No,” but of course we would have said, very kindly,  “go, we wish you well; keep warm and well fed” (James 2:16).

Since July of 2010, the Temple of Praise has shared our space. We have learned that the building is not truly ours at all—it is God’s House, and He has entrusted it to us as His stewards. It has been a good partnership, I think. Last Sunday, on Christmas Day, we joined our two congregations in worship as we celebrated the Birth of the King of Kings.

Of course, we have differences—different styles of worship; different ways of understanding certain points of our faith; different cultural backgrounds and traditions. These differences, though not divisive, can make shared worship times awkward and prickly. Even so, when one takes the time and patiently works through the awkwardness and overlooks the prickliness, these shared moments of celebration are priceless!

Thank You, Heavenly Father, for our Sister, the Temple of Praise Church of God. May You bless them, and especially bless their Pastor.

30+ Days of Giving Thanks, Day 58: the Library

Today I want to express my thanks for my local library, the Josephine-Louise Public Library, and the library system it belongs to, the Ramapo-Catskill Library System. When I want a book to read, or a recorded book to listen to, I can log on from home, reserve or request the material that I want, and, when my requested material arrives, I get an e-mail and/or a telephone call informing me that I can come in to the library and check out my materials.

If I find myself looking for a movie or a music selection, or even if I just want a place to “kill” some time, I can duck into a library—my home library or another one in the RCLS, and lose myself looking through the stacks and shelves.

I have always loved the library—whether the elementary school library in Afton Central School, then the High School library, the Afton Village Library, or any of the libraries I have held cards from over all these years. Thank You, Heavenly Father, for my library! Thank You also for the wonderful people who staff libraries everywhere!

30+ Days of Giving Thanks, Day 57: the Mid-Hudson/Union Association

Today I am expressing thanks for the Mid-Hudson/Union Association of American Baptist Churches of New York State (phew! that’s a mouthful!). This association of approximately 30 churches in our Hudson River valley area is a networked collection of local churches with some important points of common interest. In this association are several pastors who actively participate in monthly breakfast meetings. We gather to share concerns, opportunities, and just to encourage one another and be encouraged.

Not all of our member churches actively participate nor support the association, for which I am somewhat sad. Even so, in the nearly six years of my association with this group, we have seen more of our churches and individual members become more involved. I am thankful for the growth of our association, for the friends I have made here, and for the future that we share.

Thank You, Heavenly Father, for the people, the churches and the pastors of the Mid-Hudson/Union Association.

30+ Days of Giving Thanks, Day 56: Toby

One year ago today, we picked up our new “child,” Tobias Maximillian Rudolph Ashley, the First. Toby, as we call him, is a mutt: part Golden Retriever, part Yellow Labrador Retriever. He’s a dog who believes he is a people. He has front paws that he believes are hands. He’s a big dog who thinks he is a lap dog.

Toby is a miracle in our family. Some would say that the miracle happened first in the heart of his “adopted mother”, Kelly (but please don’t tell Toby that he’s adopted!) We expected, after we said goodbye to Blackjack, never to have another canine child in the house, except maybe as “grandparents.” Imagine my surprise when Kelly announced, without warning, that we ought to get a new puppy for Christmas!

One year ago today, we went to select our new “baby.” Thinking it best to let Kelly be the first to connect with the puppy, I quietly suggested to Ryan and Matt that we should hang back, and let Kelly take the lead. From that first day, Kelly and Toby bonded in a way that Kelly and Blackjack never did. So we have a dog again. He likes the water…so much so that he learned how to climb the ladder to jump into the swimming pool. He loves to run, especially with a stick in his mouth, and the bigger the stick, the better he likes it. He sometimes runs, and sometimes prances around the yard.

I cannot explain what changed Kelly’s mind, but whatever it was, I’m glad it happened. There have been moments, and not just a few, that we have wondered if we lost our minds that day. For sure, we’ve lost our hearts to this crazy canine.

Video of Toby the WonderDog

Thank You, Heavenly Father, for giving us a new life to nurture and to love. Thank You for Toby.

30+ Days of Giving Thanks, Day #55: My Most Valuable Christmas Present

Years ago, Kelly and I began a Christmas tradition: each year (or at least, most years) we have given a gift to ourselves—a “Family Christmas present.” The first was a stereo system we purchased while in Germany in 1988—I wrote about that in an earlier post (click HERE to read that post). Other gifts through the years have included a Foosball table, a trampoline, and many more that I cannot remember at the moment. One of our boys’ friends was heard to comment about the trampoline: “That’s my favorite your Christmas present!” That comment has stuck and has traveled with us all the years since.

Thinking about my “favorite” Christmas present is a short thought process. I have received many, many gifts from many people who have loved be, and whom I have loved, well. These gifts have been thoughtful, humorous, practical, frivolous, and more. Some have been handmade or homemade. Others have been purchased at considerable expense. I have and do appreciate each one of them, both for the gift itself and even more so for the giver and the love demonstrated toward me in the act of selecting, making or purchasing, wrapping, addressing, and presenting the gift to me.

The greatest of them all, however, is the first of them all, and the inspiration for every gift since. It’s described beautifully in the words found in the Gospel according to John, chapter 3 and verse 16: “For God so loved the world [including Dennis Ashley] that He gave His Only Begotten Son, that whosoever [still including Dennis Ashley] believeth in Him [I do! I do!] should not perish [yay!] but have everlasting life [hallelujah!].”

Thank You, Loving Heavenly Father, for this Gift of love, freely given to and for me, and to and for the whole world. Oh, that everyone would believe, and have everlasting life as Your gift, freely given and freely received.

To you, reader, if there are any, I say: please, if you have not already, accept the gift God is presenting to you. It is not yours until you receive it, but it does have your name on it!
Merry Christmas!

30+ Days of Giving Thanks, Day 54 (Christmas Eve): the Incarnation

Christmas Eve…those words carry a special thrill and meaning all of their own. As a child, of course, they meant mainly one thing…”Santa Claus Is Comin’ Tonight!” Last minute shopping, wrapping, baking…these things were all part of my Christmas Eve experiences, whether personally or watching my parents and others frantically working to get everything done.

In my adult years, while all of those things still fill my Christmas Eve experiences, the most important feature of my Christmas Eve is the church service. The candlelight, the music, the full sanctuary, the “passing the light” candle ceremony, singing “Silent Night”—these are the things that mean the most to me now.

On this Christmas Eve, I want to say “Thank You” to God for this miracle: the Incarnation. “The Word [God the Son] was made Flesh [Jesus the infant] and dwelt among us. And we beheld His glory, the glory as of the Only Begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14, Authorized Version, with emphasis and clarifications added.) It was unexpected. It was unheard of and unlooked for. It was a complete surprise, and some people are just now getting it. It was perfect.

30+ Days of Giving Thanks, Day #53: the Ministers Council

Today I am thankful for a special group of colleagues in ministry: the members of the Ministers Council. This is a professional organization that has a National component (professional ministers or “clergy” of American Baptist Churches across the United States) and a Regional component (professional ministers from around the New York state “Region”). Though the potential membership in our region is well over 300, less than 20% of our ministers are members in the Ministers Council.

This voluntary association of pastors serves a number of important functions for me. It offers a collegial network of pastors who can encourage one another, commiserate with one another, and counsel one another, when a pastor has no one in his or her own church to whom he or she can confide (which is almost always the case). The Ministers Council offers a forum for sharing ideas—especially those that have been somewhat successful elsewhere. It is a place for refining the pastor’s skills, for sharpening the pastor’s tools, and for maintaining the pastor’s spiritual vitality.

Since coming to First Baptist Church in Newburgh and becoming a part of the American Baptist family of ministries, the Ministers Council has become very valuable to me. Among the constellation of agencies and ministries associated with American Baptist Churches generally, the Ministers Council is unique in that it has the pastors as its sole focus. Oh, the Ministers Council is a crucial resource for our churches, because the Ministers Council exists to serve and to support the pastors. Improving and enhancing pastoral ministry is a particularly important piece of the puzzle of how to help our churches grow and thrive.

I thank God for the Ministers Council!

30+ Days of Giving Thanks, Day 52: The Dunnemans

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the singing group GoodNews. Today, I am thankful for another music ministry, also friends of mine: Reg and Gretchen Dunneman, The Dunnemans. I was introduced to this unique duo for the first time by my father (yes, my father!) Reg and Gretchen quickly became good friends, and have become part of the Ashley family. They even joined us for the Ashley Family Camping Trip at Westcott Beach on Lake Ontario a few years ago! 

Reg and Gretchen worked with us at Montrose Bible Conference for several years, leading worship, teaching music workshops, and producing our variety show for Teen Camp in those summers that they were with us. Reg routinely beat me in tennis, though he was always gracious in victory. They have sung in our church several times, and we are due for another Dunnemans concert in the coming year, the Lord willing.

The Dunnemans tour up and down the East Coast, from Canada to Florida, and also travel to the Midwest often. Check their website for their current itinerary. They regularly tour in Florida during the winter months (good planning there!) and will stop and sing at retirement centers, community events, fairs, picnics, conferences and retreats in addition to the traditional church concert. Their music is great, and their message is always uplifting and encouraging. If you’ve never heard them, visit their website where you can hear samples of their music and order their recordings. If they are singing near you, drop everything and go hear them. Tell them Dennis sent you!

Thank You, Heavenly Father, for The Dunnemans. May you continue to watch over them, and may they continue to minister for you, bringing Your message of hope and reconciliation through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

30+ Days of Giving Thanks, Day #51: Laughter

The ability to laugh, and occasionally to cause others to laugh, is something that I cherish. As a child, my home was filled with laughter. My mother had a distinctive laugh, which we heard often. My father loved to laugh also. They took turns playing the “straight man” for the other’s comic quips. One of the early lessons I learned was that “it is better to laugh than to cry.” Later on, I learned that laughing at myself is healthy; laughing at others is hurtful. These lessons have stuck with me and I still believe in their value.

Jesus Laughing

I believe in the therapeutic value of spontaneous and enthusiastic laughter. Yesterday in our Tuesday morning Bible study we all had a good, hearty laugh over something someone said, quite unexpectedly. It felt good! Several people mentioned how much better they felt after joining in an uncontrolled fit of laughing. I don’t understand the physiology of it, but I believe in it nonetheless. I’ve got theology to stand on here: Proverbs 17:22 declares that “A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones.” (Authorized Version). Moreover, according to Psalm 2:4, God Himself laughs: "The One enthroned in Heaven laughs..."

Thank You, Heavenly Father, for the gift of laughing, for the ability to laugh, for sometimes helping other people to laugh, and for the things and the people who have caused or helped me to laugh.

30+ Days of Giving Thanks, Day 50: Word of Life

Yesterday I wrote about the Montrose Bible Conference and its role in my life and in the lives of my family. Today I am thankful for another place where ministry has taken place that is very special to me. The Word of Life Inn in Schroon Lake, New York, is a beautiful setting in the Adirondacks of northern New York. The facilities there are comfortable and modern (at least the ones I have seen are modern!) and the dining room is marvelous.

I have attended a number of pastors’ conferences there over the years—sometimes with Kelly, and sometimes alone. The drive up in October is spectacular, and the scenery is breathtaking. I hope that all of my friends have the opportunity, at some time, to visit.

Though my connections are not as deep as those I have made at Montrose Bible Conference, I would enthusiastically recommend the Word of Life Inn and Conference Center to any church or group looking for a great location for a retreat or conference. They also have a great Bible Institute and great camps, both summer camps and winter retreats, for teens and children.

Thank You, Heavenly Father, for the ministry and the facilities of Word of Life International.

30+ Days of Giving Thanks, Day #49: Montrose Bible Conference

Today I am thankful for the Montrose Bible Conference (Click on the name to go to the Montrose Bible Conference website). Since 1994, when I was invited to fill in on short notice as the director of Teen Camp week when the person scheduled had to cancel, my family and I have been connected with the Conference in a number of ways. Seven years of Teen Camp, a couple of additional years as Bible teacher for Teen Camp, Snow Camps, Men’s Retreats, Ladies’ Retreats (okay, I have never actually attended a Ladies’ Retreat, but Kelly has, and I have benefitted indirectly from that!) and for the past several years, a place on the Board of Directors has forged a strong and enduring bond between this place of ministry and my family and me.

The Torrey Home, on the grounds of the Montrose
Bible Conference

Whether I am thinking about the place itself, with its buildings and grounds, or the programs that I have participated in there, or the people who staff the conference, or the friendships that I have forged there, Montrose Bible Conference is one of my very favorite places. For over 100 years, people have been “getting out of their routine and experiencing God” through this ministry. I thank God for the Montrose Bible Conference and I ask God to continue to bless and grow this ministry so that many hundreds and thousands of people like me can encounter God in His Creation and in His people.

30+ Days of Giving Thanks, Day 48: God’s Love

Today is the Fourth Sunday of Advent, and our theme for the day is Love. The Christmas story, and the season of Advent, speaks to me about the love of God for me, for you, for everyone. So today, I am giving thanks to God for this simple truth: God loves me! It is an amazing thing to consider, and seems like an impossibility, and yet “the Bible tells me so.”

(Click Here to listen to the Gaither Vocal Band sing "Jesus Loves Me")

Thinking about the love of God brought one of my favorite hymns, ‘The Love of God,” to mind. Perhaps you are familiar with the hymn; if not, listen to it here:

(Click Here to listen to the Gaither Vocal Band sing "The Love of God")

Thank You, Heavenly Father, for your love for me!

30+ Days of Giving Thanks, Day 47: the Local Church

A week ago, I wrote about the Universal Church (see This Post to read what I wrote). Today, I am writing about the “other side of the coin”—the Local Church. This is that expression of the Body of Christ that is visible, it is tangible, it exists within its time and its place. It is what the world sees when it looks at Christianity—for better and for worse!

In particular, I am thankful for the local church to which I belong. Note that I do not refer to it as “my church,” for “my” is a possessive pronoun that may have two meanings: (1) that which belongs to me, or (2) that to which I belong. I belong to Jesus, and am a member of His Body—the Church. He has placed me in the part of His Body which meets regularly  (for worship, for teaching, for fellowship and for service, and more) at 481 South Street in Newburgh, New York, USA, and is known by the name of First Baptist Church in Newburgh. This is my church, but it is not my church—it belongs to Jesus Christ!
Anyway, I give thanks to God for putting me here in this corner of His Kingdom, and in the midst of this local church. The people who belong to the Family of God meeting here are some of the finest people it has been my pleasure and privilege to know anywhere and any time. In the five and a half years Kelly and our sons and I have been a part of this church, we have seen our church grow in grace, in love, in forgiveness and being accepting of others. We have said “Goodbye, for now” to some dear friends, and we’ve said “Hello!” to many new friends.

We have worshipped, we have prayed, we have studied God’s Word, we have broken bread together, we have laughed and we have cried together. We have carried one another’s burdens, and helped one another back to our feet when one of us has stumbled along the way. We together have carried the banner of the Cross, and have planted it deep in the soil of our community. I give thanks to God for this church, and each of the people who are a part of it. Most of all, I give thanks that God has placed me here, and now, to be a part of His great work in this place and time.

30+ Days of Giving Thanks, Day 46: Communication Tools

Today I am going to expand on a point I alluded to a few days ago when I was speaking about the comforts and conveniences of modern living (click here to read that essay): the many and various tools available to me today to aid in communicating with others.

In particular, of course, I am thinking of various digital electronic media that I have to use today that were not available to me when I was starting college. Though I was already interested in computers back then, and even spent my junior year of high school learning about computer programming and data processing, computers were enormous and expensive, and only government agencies and large corporations were making effective use of them.

I went to college with an electric typewriter, stamps, envelopes and stationery. There was a coin-operated telephone in the rear stairwell of our dorm. Those were the tools available to me to maintain contact with my family and friends who were now separated from me physically by a minimum of 3.5 hours by car--a car, by the way, which I did not have. My letters home, and my letters from home, were very rare. Even more rare were the phone calls.

Today, I am sitting in the classroom in our church building, composing this entry on my iPad and listening to Christmas music on the same device. From time to time my iPad emits a soft chirp, notifying me that a new e-mail has arrived and is waiting to be read. Beside me on the table is my mobile telephone, a "smartphone" that also sends and receives e-mail. I am waiting for a phone call from the car dealership that will notify me that Kelly's car has been serviced and is ready for pickup.

If I need to look something up, the Internet is just a few keystrokes away. I can find virtually any piece of information that exists (though I wouldn't understand most of it even if I did look it up!)

In a few more minutes, I will have finished this entry, and one or two more keystrokes from there will publish this essay and make it INSTANTLY ACCESSIBLE to anyone with access to the internet, from ANYWHERE in the world! In theory, 6 billion people could read what I am writing now within minutes of my completing it. (Of course, the number of people who will actually read this is much closer to 6 than to 6 billion, but not because they cannot read it if they want to!

All of this communication technology makes me, a naturally introverted person who finds direct personal communication often awkward and intimidating, feel connected to people who I love, who I care about, and who I want to stay connected to. Granted, reading something I have written, even if it is directly addressed to you, is not an even exchange for a face-to-face conversation. I am often reminded of that fact. I am also aware that not everyone to whom I wish to be connected has access to the internet, and even those who do will not necessarily see what I have written, know that I have written it, or, even if they do, look at it and read it. I understand that.

Even so: writing and publishing this "blog," posting a link to it on Facebook, Tweeting that it is available, e-mailing a link to it, sending a text message, instant message, Kik message, or making a phone call to say that a new essay is available--all of these choices for communicating a simple message were not available to me 30 years, 20 years, or even 5 years ago. By this time next year, I may not even require a keyboard any more, because I will have figured out how to use the "speech-to-text" dictation program already installed on my iPad. For me, a confirmed geek and technophile, it is a great time to be alive!

Thank you, Heavenly Father, for the gifts of technology that assist in communicating messages. May You sanctify my use of these tools for Your service.

30+ Days of Giving Thanks, Day 45: The Artistry of God

I have been to a lot of places and I have seen a lot of things. However, there are many, many more places I have not yet been, and many, many, many more things I have not yet seen. I know this: the places I have been, and the things I have seen, are spectacular! I have seen the water crashing over Niagara Falls—from both the United States' and the Canadian sides. (The view is better from the Canadian side!) I have seen the coral reefs off Key West in Florida. I have been in the mountains of Bavaria, and in the Shawangunk mountains here in the mid-Hudson River valley. 

Today I was talking with a friend about the complexity of the human body's chemistry—magnificent and delicately balanced, and that is but one of the several systems in the human body that are designed (yes, designed!) to work in harmony with one another. I have held, and recently, a tiny example of the human race, and observed the tiny fingernails, little bigger than a single scale on the side of a sunfish (I almost said trout, but we both know better than that, don't we?) A miniature person, like his daddy in nearly every detail, yet tiny in comparison. (That'll change, of course.)

The beauty of the Green Mountains of Vermont was in my mind several days ago as I drove north up U.S. Route 7 from Bennington toward Rutland. Though the mountains are gray now in the late fall/early winter, I could still imagine the beauty of those mountains just weeks earlier when all of those now naked trees would have been aglow with the yellows, reds and oranges of fall foliage.

There is an admittedly small but nonetheless fascinating waterfall in my neighborhood. After a heavy rain I enjoy standing on the bridge that binds the two banks of the Wallkill River together on Route 52 in Walden and looking 50 yards upstream at that crazy tangle of water raging over the rocks of that cascade. It is hypnotic to me. I have walked along the beaches of Cape Cod, of Atlantic City, of Virginia Beach and Daytona Beach and enjoyed the endless repetition and the limitless variations of the surf washing along the sand and rocks.

I have watched many sunrises, and even more sunsets, and marveled at the palette of colors that God has at His fingertips. I have stood amazed at the power and terrible beauty of a thunder-and-lightning storm, and have watched through the windows at the silent snowfall buries the world beneath a thick carpet of snow.

All of these things, and many more beside, speak to me of the incredible artistry of God, and the beauty which He lavishes on all that He has wrought. Whether it is the steep passes and deep valleys of the Appalachian Mountains through West Virginia, or the mile after mile of flatland in Indiana and Illinois, it is majestic and inspiring. For me, everything that God has made sings of the greatness of our God—and even the music of "How Great Is Our God" and "How Great Thou Art" rolls through by mind and soul as I think about it.

Thank You, O God, for the beauty and majesty of this Creation of Yours. Thank You for making it, and thank You for sharing some of it with me for a little while. Maybe, one day, You can show me around the rest of it—You know—the parts I haven't seen yet. That would be GREAT!

And, oh yeah, God. I don't tell you enough, but I really love You, too.

30+ Days of Giving Thanks, Day 44: God’s Forgiveness

Today I am thanking God for His mercy and forgiveness. I am a sinner. Though some people might consider that I am a "pretty good" person, I know that in God's eyes, I have fallen short of perfection, and I continue daily to "miss the mark." My failures, sins, selfish thoughts and actions, pride, and many more thoughts and deeds mount against me and accuse me. I am not now, have never been, and never will be "good enough." That is the grim reality I live with every day. 

What I am thankful for, though, is that despite my many sins, God is willing and wanting to forgive me. He have His Only Begotten Son, a Perfect Man because He, Jesus, is the Son of God, and in fact, God the Son in human flesh. His sacrifice for sins, not only for mine but for the sins of the whole world—everyone!—is a sufficient payment for sin. So, on the basis of what Jesus did when He died on the cross and rose again on the third day, forgiveness of sins (mine AND yours) is possible, if I will confess my sins and my sinfulness to God and ask for His forgiveness on the basis of Jesus' finished work on the cross, my sins have been forgiven and I stand before God clean and whole.
 

Thank You, Heavenly Father, for forgiving me for my many sins.

30+ Days of Giving Thanks, Day 43: the Conveniences of Modern Life

Some people enjoy camping in rustic settings, without improved campsites, electric hookups, bathhouses with plumbing, toilets, warm showers, etc. They sometimes call it "roughing it." Today, we see this as a novelty, and we sometimes put up with the inconveniences and discomforts for the sake of overcoming "adversity" and "hardship." My parents, my grandparents, and everyone who lived before them called this "roughing it" by another name. They called it "living." 

My mother was a teenager during World War II. She wrote in her diary during the war years about the day that their first telephone ( a "party line") was installed in their house. A generation later, when my siblings and I would go to visit Grandma and Grampy at the house where my Mom grew up, there was still an outhouse in the side yard, about 10 yards from the kitchen door. By that time (in the 60s), their home had "indoor plumbing" but the outhouse was still there, and still worked! In fact, after a two hour car ride in a densely packed family station wagon, with too much milk to drink before we left home, and a too-small juvenile bladder, that outhouse often proved to work perfectly!

As a boy growing up in church, we would get an occasional missionary prayer letter from one of our overseas missionaries. The news contained in the prayer letter might be several weeks old by the time we received it. Sharing information back then was, by today's standards, ridiculously slow.

With these thoughts in mind, I am writing today as a person who is truly thankful for the many conveniences and comforts of modern life that we enjoy and often take for granted. I have not one but two working "flush toilets" in my home (and, ironically, a "working" outhouse in the shed in our back yard!) We have cable-based telephone service and internet access, with more channels in regular and high definition on our televisions than I can even remember. We have fifteen (yes, 15!) different devices in our home that can access the internet, including computers, game consoles, and smart phones. We can communicate around the globe in seconds both in text, speech and even video. I have a device in my car that constantly queries the network of 22 geosynchronous navigation satellites in orbit, and advises me of my exact location on the planet, overlaid on a detailed street map so that I can find my way to just about anyplace in the United States that has an address.

We have two refrigerator/freezers in our home, and both are filled to one degree or another with fresh and frozen food. Additional food is waiting in the pantry cupboard. We have fresh drinkable water that doesn't have to be strained or boiled before drinking it. We have hot and cold running water in what seems an inexhaustible supply. We have a natural gas-fueled furnace that keeps our home at a comfortable temperature, and fans and window air conditioners to help keep the house reasonably cool in the oppressive heat of summer. We have an electric stove/oven to prepare food, and a microwave oven besides. An automatic dishwasher stands ready to simplify after-dinner cleanup. A washer and dryer have replaced the need to take the clothes down to the stream and beat the dirt out of them with rocks in the running water.

If we don't feel like cooking, we can use our telephone and order food to be prepared for us and delivered to our door. We can even read our bank card numbers over the phone when ordering and we don't even have to be bothered handling money to pay for the food.

I could go on for many more paragraphs about various comforts and conveniences that we all enjoy, but I think I've made my point. It's a great time to be alive on Planet Earth! There are a few disadvantages too, but that's not my topic today. Heavenly Father, thank You for the comforts and conveniences that make our lives so much easier today than the lives our parents, and their parents before them, lived. May they not make us soft and weak, but may we ever be thankful for these blessings.

30+ Days of Giving Thanks, Day 42: GoodNews!

Today in my Thankfulness post I want to go back to my early pattern of being thankful for particular people that God has brought into my life. This weekend we had the "good fortune" at my church to have the Christian/Gospel quartet "GoodNews" (click HERE to "LIKE" GoodNews on Facebook!) I have been a fan, and a friend, of this group and its members almost from the time when they first began singing together. This quartet, which includes a husband-wife team and two friends, has "it"—that indefinable gift that goes beyond the excellent technical performance of music, the blending of unique voices and carefully rehearsed harmonies, and slick, polished stage presentation. These things are important, no question. But GoodNews has something more, and above, all of that. You might call it "chemistry" or "charisma" or something else. I call it the active presence and power of the Holy Spirit that introduces into a concert performance something transcendant.

In any case, I think of Al and Laurie, Russ and Annette, and Mark and Annette as my friends, and both together and individually they have blessed me, encouraged me, inspired me and challenged me to higher heights in my walk with Christ. They are musical artists, singers, songwriters, evangelists, encouragers, and servants of Christ. I am thankful for them and for their music ministry, and I wish that all of my friends everywhere get an opportunity to meet and hear this group sing. You will be blessed and enriched, and you, like me, will give thanks to God for GoodNews.

30+ Days of Giving Thanks, Day 41: JOY!

Today is the Third Sunday in Advent, and our Advent Theme this year means that today is the Sunday of Rejoicing. It makes me stop and think about the real underlying message of Christmas—an essential ingredient in God's eternal plan to redeem lost (fallen) humankind and restore us to a mutually-satisfying relationship with Him. Nearly every character making an appearance in the Christmas story, whether shepherds or wise men, Simeon, Anna…even the "little drummer boy!" (yes, okay, that was just for fun…) all responded with rejoicing at the news that the Messiah had arrived.

For this reason, most of the music of Christmas is joyful in its expression, and that music which is not joyful, like the melancholy "Blue Christmas" and other songs, is person-focused rather than Christ-focused. When considering the "good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people", it is the most natural of responses to rejoice and be glad.

Thank you, Heavenly Father, for the joy of living and the joy of knowing You, and because of Jesus, the certainty of doing both…forever.

30+ Days of Giving Thanks, Day 40: The Church Universal

Today I am thankful for the Church that transcends time and space, and is composed of all those whom God has saved, is saving and will save on the basis of His promise of forgiveness of sin and eternal life for all who believe in His Only Begotten Son, Jesus of Nazareth, known to us today as the Lord Jesus Christ. 

This Universal Church is made up of men and women, boys and girls, from every tribe and nation on earth. Between us, we speak every language and in every one of them, we praise God our Heavenly Father, His Son the Risen Lord, and the Holy Spirit who makes us all One. Tomorrow, Sunday, the Lord's Day, those individual members of the Universal Church who are alive on earth today will gather in groups—Local Churches—and celebrate the life that God has freely given us in His Son. We will sing songs and hymns in different languages and musical styles, with an unbelievably wide variety of musical instruments, or no instruments at all. We will deliver the message from God's Word from a thousands upon thousands of different pulpits, or no pulpit at all. The message will be preached in an infinite variety of styles by thousands upon thousands of preachers. Yet despite all of the varieties and styles and cultures and contexts, a single message will be common to every single sermon: the clarion call of God speaking to humankind and saying with the authority of the Creator: "Look unto Me, and be saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other" (Isaiah 45:22).

Oh, how I thank God that there is but One Church, glorious in its unity and consistent in its purpose. At least, that is how I believe that God sees us, even when we have trouble seeing it, believing it, and practicing it ourselves.

30+ Days of Giving Thanks, Day 39: The Music of Christmas

Today I am giving thanks to God for the wonderful music that helps to decorate the season of Advent and Christmas. While I have previously posted on the topic of music (Click here to read my article on Music) this particular subset of music is deserving in my opinion of its own entry.

Scanning my iTunes™ library, I see that I have in my collection of Christmas music 42 different albums, and 396 unique songs in the Christmas genre, further divided, in my list, between "Sacred Christmas" (227 songs) and "Secular Christmas" (169 songs). The artists recording this songs are sampling from across a very wide span of the music family: Motown, do-wop, rock, country, jazz, gospel, contemporary Christian, and crossover artists. Some artists recognized as "secular" have recorded some wonderful sacred Christmas music, and some Christian artists have taken a swing at some of the secular Christmas/holiday songs. I like it all (or almost all) of it. There are a few artists that I avoid (Clay Aiken comes to mind) and a few others that I play again and again (the Statler Brothers "Christmas Present") is my favorite Christmas album with the Carpenters' "Christmas Portrait" a close second. Kelly's favorite, we were just discussing, is the first of the two Alabama "Christmas" albums.

 I have no less than 12 different versions of "O Holy Night" in my collection, and two more versions (the Sandi Patti and the David Phelps versions) on my wish list. Thank you, Youtube!

Kelly and I began our current collection of Christmas music in 1988, our first Christmas in Berlin. That year our family Christmas gift (a tradition we began that year of giving a gift to our whole family, for our mutual enjoyment) was a new stereo system, including a dual cassette player, radio tuner, and 5 CD disk changer. We had that same stereo in our living room until earlier this year, when we finally gave it away. Naturally, we purchased 4 CDs to with the system. We didn't purchase a 5^th because we couldn't find one more Christmas CD that we thought we would like. Alabama's "Christmas," Ronnie Milsap's "Christmas with Ronnie Milsap," Statler Brothers' "Christmas Present," and one more CD by "Various Artists" rounded out our first year's lineup. We still have, and enjoy, all four of those, though we have long since converted the CDs to MP3 songs and added them to our iTunes collection.

Kelly has two little iPod Shuffle™ MP3 players she uses to listen to music in the car and in the house. One is filled with her "everyday" music, while the other (which happens to be red!) is filled with her favorite Christmas music. I have a "Smart Playlist" set up on my computer that plays every Christmas song in my library that has not been played in the last 11 months—I use this playlist to make sure that I play each one of my 396 songs during the Christmas season (okay, a little obsessive-compulsive tendency there, but I promise you, it is NOT a "Disorder!")

The music of Christmas helps me beyond words to prepare my mind and my heart to "keep Christmas" each year when "The Season Comes 'Round Again." Many of the songs, and certain versions of the familiar songs, hold particular sentimental or nostalgic value to me, and link naturally with memories of Christmases past that I want to remember. At the same time, Kelly and I are both always on the lookout for a new Christmas song to add to our collection. Last year, our daughter (in-law, but we don't keep score!) Katrina introduced us to the song "How Many Kings" when she played and sang it in church. We immediately found a version to add to our iTunes library. Even as I wrote the last sentence, that song began to play on my computer. Weird. (Not really weird. Cool.) A year or more before that, Ty Herndon's "Not So Silent Night" caught our attention. Another of my favorites is the Gaither song "Reaching" from their cantata "Still the Greatest Story Ever Told." Man, do I want to sing that song in a Christmas Eve service! Can't find the soundtrack commercially, but my sister Debbie played the song and recorded a track for me on her digital piano last year. 

Well, I've gone on about this subject too long already. I could keep going as songs play through my mind (which, by the way, is permanently set to "Shuffle" and "Repeat" now, as I've reached a certain age…) but it's time to wrap this one up. Thank You, Heavenly Father, for this wonderful music that speaks so deeply into my life and stirs in me anew this sense of wonder, peace, and joy. The Hallelujah Chorus!

30+ Days of Thanksgiving, Day 38: The People Who Serve Me

Today I am expressing my thankfulness to God for the various people who serve me regularly, often without appreciation or even notice. In particular, I am thankful for the person who delivers our mail, the people who drive the trucks that take away our trash and our recycling materials, and the people who maintain our utility services at our home (gas, electric, cable). 

I am also thankful for the people who drive the snowplow trucks that clear our roads when it snows, even when they plow a pile of packed snow, ice and sandy gravel into my freshly shoveled driveway mouth. I'm thankful for the emergency services workers that stand ready to help me when I really need it—the volunteer firefighters, the police officers, the EMTs and paramedics that are ready to assist me. 

I will mention here also our newspaper carrier, who faithfully delivered our newspaper right up until we decided to discontinue this service. Having done this particular job myself for 10 months recently, I can truly appreciate what a thankless and grueling job that is. In my memory, I cannot remember a single day that our paper was not delivered to the tube in a protective plastic bag, neat, clean and dry, and always on time. Though we have tried to show our appreciation at Christmastime with what for us is a generous Christmas gift/tip, I now know that it wasn't nearly enough.

To the best of my knowledge, these people I have mentioned do not know me personally, nor I them. We have no history together that would warrant their faithful care of me, my family, our home and property. It is their job, I understand. They are paid, or they have chosen, in some cases, to volunteer, to do whatever it is that they do. They most probably have no specific reason to take good care of me personally. Yet take care of me they do. They may be highly compensated for their service, though I think that unlikely in most cases. These people take care of me every day to a greater or lesser extent. They are anonymous to me, mostly. I seldom even see them going about their business, and when I do, I even more rarely speak to them, make eye contact with them, or acknowledge them in any way. Not because I don't wish to; it's just the way things are.

Having now thought about these people long enough to write this post, I wonder if I will pay more attention to these hard working people in the future? I hope that I will. I realize that I have taken them for granted for most of my life. They would probably say that nobody pays any attention to them, or at least, not until something goes wrong. Then suddenly, that person now is at the focus of my irritated attention—a condition that is hardly conducive to being thankful for them and what they do.

Heavenly Father, thank you for the people who attend to my needs every day, every week, or as they are needed. Thank you that they are nearly always present and efficient in the discharge of their tasks. Will You, Father, please help me remember not to take these people for granted, but to show to them, whenever and however possible, that I am truly thankful for them and for what they do for me? Thank you.

30+ Days of Giving Thanks, Day 37: Past Jobs

Today I am giving thanks for the employment I’ve had through the years (outside of church ministry positions), beginning in 1977 with a part-time after school handyman’s helper job working for Claude Rivendell up on Smith Pond in Coventry. Mrs. Rivendell fed me a steady diet of chicken-‘n-biscuits,a meal I disliked, but politely ate and complimented on the first day I worked there, and, because it was their favorite, she fed it to me EVERY day that I worked there. So much for politeness. It worked out, though, because I actually started to like it by the time the job was done. It was there that I learned to ALWAYS keep your shirt ON, wear long sleeves, gloves, and a dust mask when working with the pink Owens Corning Fiberglass rolled insulation. If you’ve worked with it, you know why.

1977--Summer jobs working for farmers putting in hay. Several farmers, several jobs. Hard work. Also very itchy. See note about fiberglass above. Farmers work as hard as anyone I know.

1978-1980--Three summers I worked on some kind of county-subsidized job program for the Village of Afton Department of Public Works. Afton, a small village, combined the job of Superintendent of Public Works with Chief of Police, and gave the job to Jack Bolster—a simple, homespun man who was one of the finest men I ever worked for. I learned a lot about a wide variety of things in that job. I worked with some interesting characters and had a really great suntan those summers!

1979-1982--Various jobs at Philadelphia College of Bible: dish room, washing pots and pans in the kitchen, breakfast cook (I learned to make that grill sing to me under the scrambled eggs or the pancakes.) Even a short stint as security guard. The Burger King girl tried to give me my meal for free at the drive-up window when she saw me in my security guard uniform!

1982-1983--Night auditor at the George Washington Motor Lodge, the Willow Grove Motor Lodge, the Horsham Motor Lodge, and finally the Vestal Howard Johnson Motor Lodge. These overnight jobs fit my college schedule, more or less, and left me tired all the time.

1983-1985--God miraculously provided a job right after Kelly and I were married. The job I thought I had lined up fell through. I was hired as a two-week replacement for a masonry laborer who was on vacation. I worked hard and two weeks turned into two-and-a-half years at Worthington Associates Construction Company, with two promotions and several raises in between. Another job where I learned a lot, some of which I can still remember. I was sad to leave this job, but my first full-time ministry position was starting and I moved to New Jersey with Kelly and 16-month old Derrin.

1986--Delivering newspapers (part-time) to less than 40 customers to supplement my youth pastor salary. A short lived job, partly due to my first knee surgery, during which Kelly had to cover my route.

1987-1992--Five years in the United States Army fits here. It seems like that deserves a post of its own, so I will say little about that now.

1993-1994--A series of assignments with various Temp agencies here. I did some administrative work at Arco Chemical and then at a Sunoco oil pumping terminal near the Philadelphia airport, rewriting the company’s Policies and Procedures manual. Sound interesting? That’s a mistake.

1997-1999—Part-time Bible teacher at Goshen Christian School. Great school, great faculty (mostly), great students (mostly), great parents (mostly). The administrator, Ted Vernon, was the son of my high school biology teacher in Afton. “Small world.”

1997-2000—Prudential Healthcare/Aetna US Healthcare. Started as a temp job, became a permanent part-time job, then a full-time job, then a promotion to Site Manager. An interesting job until they pulled the plug. As Site Manager, I was the last person left, supervising the closing of the office and turning the space  back to the building manager. My first, and only (so far!), severance package.

2001-2006—Levitan, Yegidis & Associates, LLP. Probably my favorite non-church job so far. The partners were fantastic to me. They allowed me the time I needed when my father was ill. They allowed me to grow with the job and with the firm. They were patient with me and taught me much about bookkeeping and accounting principles and practices. The admin staff I supervised were professional and competent and helped me do my job successfully.

2009-2010—Back to Goshen Christian School, again teaching Bible part time. The school was much smaller this time around, despite adding 3 grades of high school. Probably due in part to the troubled economy, the school struggled financially and could not open in September 2010.

2010-2011—Delivered newspapers again, this time for nearly 400 customers. The schedule nearly ruined me, and took a heavy toll in many ways. I don’t miss that job. Yet, I can say now that I am thankful to God for each of the opportunities I have had through these years.

My mother said that whenever finances got extremely tight, she would pray, and God would send her another job. She did income taxes for I don’t know how many customers on the side after coming home from her full-time job. (This was in the dark ages before Turbo Tax, in the days when everything was done manually with adding machines, pencils, pens and paper forms.)  God has many ways of providing for the needs of His children. These jobs I have listed above, and reminisced over, are just one of the ways He has taken care of me. I thank God for each one.