You In My Five

Recently one of my closest friends died from an cancer

, causing me to reflect on him and the other four men who are in "My Five" list.  Now before I go any further let me say that the Lord Jesus Christ is the number one and my Bride is also a number one?  Wha?  How can that be?  You guys always ask the best questions.  They are different list's.  The Lord does not want to be number one on a list of ten, He wants to be number One on a list of One!  Christ can not be on a list with others, He is The List! and in it is Him alone!  Until you come to this understanding you (whoever you are) will continue to have a revolving list.  Changing lists offers no security, they do however provide many let downs.  For example if my wife is "the one" she will let me down and I most certainly will let her down.  I am not qualified to be "the number one" because my failures drop me down the list constantly.  WAIT JUST A MINUTE, you said she was your number one also - explain?  Ok you don't have to yell.  I said she (Carey) is "a number one" not The Number One!  No it is not a play on words, and I didn't plan on saying this much but you were the one who had to ask.  I will address this at a later time in "Stewardship".  If you know what that means; Stewardship is Lordship!  Oh I bet you can't wait to hear that one...

Lets continue;  I am going to list My Five in the order of longevity:

1.)  Mike Ohm;  Mike and I have been friends since we were five hers old.  thats forty six years for those who are counting and ran out of fingers and toes.  Mike is the most giving person I know and the most down to earth.  We don't get to see each other much but when we do it is like a book you closed at the end of a page and when you open it again, you start right where you left off.


2.)  Frank Baker;  Frank has been my friend from the beginning of our Police Academy days, over thirty years ago.  Frank is the wisest of all my friends and the one (I must also include his Bride - Tina) who would intercede to God on my behalf with the most tenacity.  Many times I hear people, and honestly must include my self in the past, say; I will pray for you.  The bottom line is: If you are not Saved, God does not hear those prayers.  Now what I said flies in the face of what the mass believe.  The only prayer God hears from the unbeliever is them crying out to Him for Salvation.

Note: (added late) Frank is the one who brought me to the Lord.

3.)  Jack Strenges;  Jack has been my friend since I became a Law Enforcement Instructor in 1989.  Jack was the one God put me under to teach me how to teach and improve my work ethic.  Although there are five other instructors whom shared in teaching me, my style is 80% Jack.  Other than his Bride Rhonda, no one loves him more than me!  He is closest thing I have to an older Brother.  Jack died recently from Cancer, which caused me to revisit this blog.

I was able to spend about 5 days with Jack prior to his death.  His Bride and my dear friend Rhonda, allowed me to sit with him in the hospital, hold his hand, help feed him and spend even alone time with him.  I can only hope that Jack now knows how therapeutic that was for me.  Team teaching with Jack was the highlight of my Law Enforcement career.

2 Samuel 12:23  But now he is dead; why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.

Be comforted: Our separation is short; our reunion is eternal.  Dr David Jeremiah
Although this verse is about King David lamenting over the loss of his child, it still applies here.  Our Faith in Jesus gives us a Hope others don't have - AMEN to that!


4.) Robert Volpe;  Bob has been my friend since the mid to late nineties, about seventeen years.  God sent Bob into my life during a dark time.  He not only helped me through it, he Biblically Discipled me.  Bob taught me how to Tithe and Trust.  He not only encouraged my gift of Teaching but gave me my first opportunity to teach The Bible, which I have been doing for the past ten years.


5.)  Tommy Greene;  Tommy has been my friend since the first year we moved to Blairsville, twelve years now.  Tommy is unique in that he is just like Mike and is a male version of my wife, which explains why I love him so much.  I met Tommy working at a local auto parts store, within a short time our mutual faith pulled us close together.  I thought God wanted us to work together at some business venture until I went to his church where he was the music minister.  Once I heard him I knew that this is what he should be doing full time.  Tommy was hired onto the church staff shortly after that.  It was Tommy who got the Pastor to make me the Sunday School Director of the church, which I held for five years.  Tommy and I have co-teachered at the church and it is the most rewarding thing I have ever done.  God did allow us to work together!

God is Good and in my case, very generous with friends.


I hope you have five influential friends you can spend eternity with?

Blessings

ernie

Are You Baking or Cooking?

The other day my Bride made me one of my favorite dishes - Kurush.  It is an Assyrian dish I grew up with.  Ironically, my wife makes it better than my mother did and I like it better than my dad's grandmother's dish.  Carey had also made the Kurush about a month ago and forgot a spice.  I barely noticed the difference until she made the most recent batch and had all the ingredients correct.  On many occasions when Care is making dinner I might hear her say that she is out of something she needs.  As a good little husband I offer to go to the store for her - hoping she will say no.  She usually will say she can substitute or use more of this or that to make up the difference.  That woman can cook!

Carey, however does not like to bake (even though she is very good at it).  She will tell me that when you are baking you have to be precise and use exactly what the recipe calls for and in the exact amounts.  There can be no substitutes or adding this and that to baking.  Just think of a favorite family dessert recipe;  if you change anything it is not the same - oh it can still taste alright but it is not how _____ made it.

Well, when I was in the shower this morning, I get a lot of ideas while in the shower - some good and some (too much info?  sorry).  I had a thought that cooking is a lot like life, we plan out good meals and sometimes we don't have what we planned for and have to make adjustments, just like life.  This may work well for living our lives but not for living for Christ.  Living the Christian life is more like baking, God has set down specific recipes for each of His children.  Thinking that if I am living short in one area I can make up for it in another is not His Way.

Now before I go any further I am not talking about Legalism; rules and regulations but about Holiness.  With Grace I am covered by Him, so the screw ups I make don't jeopardize my position in Christ but is does affect my standing or relationship with Him.  If you are a christian and know what I am talking about , you know I have just entered troubled grounds for many.  Let me make it clear; my salvation is as secure as the one it is in!  In other words, if my salvation relies on me, I am in big trouble, however if it is In Christ, it is as secure as He is - That's pretty secure to me.  Just to nail this down a little further; there is a difference between "Entrance" and "Inheritance".

Entrance:  You come over to my house and because of a disaster I open my home to you.  I will care for you, feed you and clothe you if necessary, however you can not rearrange the furniture nor change the paint on the walls without my permission.

Inheritance:  Instead of being a guest at my home, I have decide to leave it to you (give it to you).  Now you can do whatever you want with the house because it belongs to you - get the difference?

I didn't want to get this theological so let me just say; some will just enter Heaven and others will Inherit the Kingdom - that will have to be another Blog someday.

Bottom Line:  Are you Cooking for World or Baking for The Kingdom?