Pathwalk Publishing
 
Picture
Psalm 127:3 "Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD; and the fruit of the womb is his reward."
I've been a Boston Red Sox fan my whole life. I can remember sitting on the front porch with my Dad when I was 5 or 6 and listening to the games on our radio. I still enjoy that format of "watching" baseball today. The TV announcers just don't have that peculiar radio voice that adds to the enjoyment of the game. My kids will often turn on the radio to listen  as they lie down for bed. In the morning it's always "did the Red Sox win?" I have to check the internet for the results. 
My grandfather was a Red Sox fan. He died in 2003, one year before the Red Sox finally won the World Series. He never got to see that happen in his lifetime. Never mind twice within 4 years. My father is a Red Sox fan. Last year he took me and a couple of my boys to Fenway for their first game. It was a great time. Three generations of Red Sox fans. I first saw them at Fenway when I earned a ticket and bus fare through my paper route. I was 11. We really enjoy the Red Sox. 
This past Saturday one of my sons turned 5. We planned a party at our house with some of his friends and their parents. As I was outside getting some things ready, my wife brought me the phone. It was on old friend who was in town for a few days. He said, "I've got tickets to the Red Sox behind home plate. 4 o'clock. Are you in?" I couldn't answer him. The best seats I have ever had and might ever see in my entire life. The gears in my head began to grind. "I can't go." I had to answer right away or I would make the wrong choice. I thanked him for asking me but it was my son's 5th birthday and I just couldn't go. I hung up the phone, stunned.
Picture
My wife said to go. She would handle the party no problem. My oldest son without regard for my "noble" choice begged me to let him go in my stead. He said this was a "once-in-a-lifetime" chance and would never happen again. I blew it. So much for all those lessons in making choices. But I had made up my mind. My son only turns 5 once. It's kind of a big deal. I didn't want him to have to watch me on TV as the cameras focused on the batter at the plate. I'm sure he would have gotten over it. As a matter of fact, he was having so much fun at his party, he wouldn't of even realized I wasn't there. But I would have. 
Of course, there has to be icing on the cake. Not only did I miss the best seats ever, there just happened to be a "once-in-a-lifetime" event happen at the game. Minor-league outfielder Daniel Nava was called up from Pawtucket for the game. In the second inning the bases are loaded. He steps up to the plate and on the first pitch hits a grand slam. First major league appearance. Only been done once before on the first pitch. His dad was in the crowd to see it happen. And I got to see my son turn 5. Once-in-a-lifetime.
 
 
Picture
1Corinthians 10:31 "Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God."
Christmas 1981. I got my first video game system. It was the Magnavox Odyssey, black and white graphics. Came complete with a blip game like tennis and a "race through traffic" type game. Hours of fun. My friend had the Atari set up which was the current rage. He had Space Invaders and Asteroids. I think he even had Pac Man. On Friday nights we would head to RollerWorld, the local roller skating rink. In between attempting the newest moves like Shooting the Duck and some type of breakdancing, we would spend our time playing the video games they had. My favorite was Galaga.
Arcades were becoming v and I spent many an hour and quarter there. My friends and I would grab our bikes and head to the mall to spend all our paper route money on video games, pizza, and ice cream. Our bus stop for school was a small truckers' diner. Just inside the entrance was a pinball machine and a stand-up PacMan console. Pacman ate a lot of my money. One day a guy saw us playing and asked if he could show us something. We watched as he put a quarter in and proceed to dominate the game and get the high score. He had one pattern that worked on every level he did. As long as you didn't mess up, you could beat the game. Soon our names were at the top of the high score list. 
I'm older now and I have kids. I also have a Wii. For a while I was opposed to getting a game system for the house. I saw all sorts of kids "hooked" on gaming and today the games have really gone in a bad direction. Like anything else, there's discretion and discernment involved. I observed a friend's family playing his Wii and justified the purchase as it being family-friendly and even physically demanding. That was before I figured out how to manipulate the controller while laying on the couch. 
I have a love/hate relationship with the Wii. Sometimes it's great to get the kids to settle down and give us some space to do the stuff we have to get done. Sometimes I cringe at the phrase, "Dad can I play the Wii?" Depending on my mood I'll  ask rhetorically about reading a book or something more intellectually challenging. One day I watched as my 4 year old repeatedly beat my 10 year old in Mario Kart. I was dumbfounded. Personally I can't beat any of my kids. And I was the Pacman champ in my glory days!
I do have my boundaries. No violent games. No blood. No shooting people. I bought Cabela's Big Game Hunter and had to get rid of it. Way too violent for kids. A few bad words from the characters. I won't let my kids have a portable system either. I can't stand walking by a kid with his head hung low and oblivious to life around him because he's playing his Nintendo DS. They're so involved that they can't look up and say a courteous "hello". I think that goes too far. We still have a responsibility to raise the children and teach them good manners. We still have a responsibility to talk to our kids. To hug them. To show them that a video game could never love them the way Mom or Dad loves them. 
 
 
Picture
ROMANS 13:1 "Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God."

I had the privilege recently of helping a friend with some campaign work. He is attempting to unseat an 18 year incumbent in the race for a State Senate seat. This is my first close-up experience with any type of political activity and I must say I am excited for my friend. I'm one of those guys who does not get all fired up over politics whatsoever. I exercise my privilege as a US citizen to vote and let the Lord work out the rest. I can't imagine a candidate of my convictions would ever be elected. Most of the time it seems as if it is the lesser of two evils. But I won't vote for a baby-killer. 
My friend is a Christian like me. He has the same beliefs. We're from different backgrounds but will end up in the same place someday. For now he has decided that the Lord has something for him in politics. You have to believe that to enter such an arena. People from the get-go began their attacks and slander. It's interesting to read such comments. I personally know they are uninformed about my friend. It is almost like playground trash talk. Some of us never grow up. There certainly is a difference between political party allegiance. Some of the stereotypes are pretty accurate. One side has this world-view, the opposing has theirs. They sling the same mud. 
I try to look to my Bible for answers or at least guidelines for my life. I read the above verse about being subject to the higher powers for they are ordained of God. Did God put President Obama in the White House? According to the Bible, yes. Has God allowed Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to be the leader of Iran? Yes. Is the Lord going to put my friend in the Senate seat? Maybe. That's why I'm probably not as anxious about his race as he may or not be. I always say ,"If God wants him in, he's in". My prayers for he and his family are that they stay close to the Lord. That's what He asks. The rest He can take care of.
For the first time ever in my life I helped out a campaign. My kids made some homemade signs and stood on a busy street corner waving to the passing traffic. It started to rain. We waved some more. I looked at the passers-by staring at us from their safe and dry vehicles. I was doing something outside the safety net of life. Something a little bit dangerous. Something not everybody has done. For that alone I thank my friend for the opportunity. These are the little things in his campaign that make a big difference in people's lives. These are the things that count. Thanks, my friend.
This is your new blog post. Click here and start typing, or drag in elements from the top bar.
 
 
Picture
Deuteronomy 26:11, "And thou shalt rejoice in every good thing which the Lord thy God hath given unto thee, and unto thine house."
It got really windy the other day. We had sustained winds over 30mph, gusting to over 50. As the kids were eating their lunches the power went out. For young children this can be a bit confusing. I explained a little bit about how we get our power, our electricity. The conversation graduated to "what if the sun goes out?". I told them that nobody but God can throw that switch. They liked that. They didn't like the fact that they couldn't play the Wii.
After a few hours power was restored to our village and life resumed. My wife came home a little later and told me that one of the trees in the front yard had broken and was laying on the power supply line to our home. Sure enough that was the case, the whole tree had broken at the trunk area and was only being held up by our wires. Who do I call? This is going to cost some money for sure.
I called the local electric company which was being inundated with calls across the state due to the high winds and power outages. A friendly voice told me they would take care of it. I was relieved.
Picture
About 10 pm as I was in bed I heard a large truck stop in front of our house. It was the tree company. My first thought in my sinful flesh was, "you've got to be kidding me." It's 10pm, surely they're not going to cut a tree down with chainsaws and wake up all my kids and neighbors!" At that moment I was convicted. Hadn't I learned anything at our Missions' Conference? In many other parts of the world people don't even have electricity! In other areas if the power goes out it won't be restored for days, weeks, even months. Here I was in my cozy house in America complaining in my heart about my blessings. I asked the Lord to forgive me and I thanked Him for blessing me so abundantly. These guys are out here helping me late at night. I'm sure they would rather be at home with their families.
After an hour or so they were done. the tree was off the line and on the ground in pieces. The kids never woke up. I didn't have to pay a dime. I learned a spiritual lesson. We take so much for granted. Count your many blessings, name them one by one; Count your many blessings, see what God has done. (Johnson Oatman, Jr)
 
Too Much Stuff 04/28/2010
 
ISAIAH 55:2  "Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.
Picture
We have our annual Missions Conference this week at our church. Missionairies from around the world are here, sharing their burden with God's people. As I sat in my padded church pew and watched a slide presentation on different parts of the world population, I began to feel uneasy. I looked at pictures of people who were cooking over an open fire on a dirt kitchen floor. I watched as people washed their clothing in the river with cows bathing just upstream. I saw houses no bigger than a large shed, providing the needs for an entire family. And these people were smiling. They clung to their Bibles as they would a treasure. They owned only one. They were grateful. Their hearts and souls delighted in the Lord.
America is and has been greatly blessed of God. We lack for nothing materially. Spiritually however, we are famished. You would think that with all the material blessings that we have, we would serve God more. You would think with all the technology to make our lives easier, we would help people more. But we are busier than ever. We can do more and collect more. We have an abundance and variety of anything we "need." Just trying to make a choice between this or that requires time and research.  Possessions have possessed us. Materialism has become a trap. And the price we pay is spiritual apathy. 
There is a lot of talk out there of "simplify." I think it's a great idea. But who really does it? We may organize a little. Maybe throw a few things away or give them to someone. But soon we are back in the mire of stuff. If we could prioritize our lives to serve God first, we just might be able to part with one of our television sets. We just might be able to sit down to dinner with the whole family and enjoy the true blessings of life. We might have life and have it more abundantly. "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." Matthew 6:33