Andy Stanley interviews his father Dr. Charles Stanley. If you missed the news, Dr. Stanley recently passed away and I wanted to honor his memory by playing this interview. I hope you enjoy it…
By Doug Creamer
My pastor and his wife are on a cruise. Their children got them the cruise as an anniversary gift right as the pandemic began. Needless to say, the cruise industry closed down with the rest of the country, so their cruise was rescheduled. The time finally arrived for them to have a much needed get-away. I hope they have a great, memory-making trip.
The pastor asked if I would speak for him while he was away. I have kicked around various topics trying to find the right one. I walked and talked with the Lord, seeking His divine guidance. I have spent some quality time meditating on my front porch, considering how to say what God was stirring in my heart.
When I speak at church I will often draw on past experiences to illustrate points I hope to make in my sermon. I felt God leading me to consider more recent events and some personal struggles. I don’t mind sharing personal stories but I prefer them to be older ones rather than current struggles in my Christian walk.
I don’t mind admitting that I feel vulnerable sharing current struggles. It is easy to talk about biblical people and their problems and issues. It’s a little less comfortable when the spotlight is on me. Everyone at my church knows that no one is perfect, but pulling back the curtain and revealing my scars and imperfections is challenging. Thankfully I know that my church family loves me in spite of all the imperfections.
I am a very creative person. Creative people often have very busy minds. I am constantly observing things and considering how they might fit into a story or column. People are interesting. What are people thinking? What motivates people? Often I am thinking about conversations…ones that have happened and ones that might happen. I try to imagine what someone will say or how they will react.
Beyond thinking about current events, I often reflect on movies I have watched. I will replay scenes in my head. I want to understand the characters in the movie. Music plays an important part of all our lives. Songs bounce around in my head. I don’t sing well, so I will sing the songs quietly to myself. I also enjoy reading books. I find myself thinking about what I read and wondering where the author might be taking me next.
My mind never slows down, even at night when I go to bed. Sometimes when I get in bed or in the middle of night I will wake up and my mind will be racing, thinking about many things all at once. There are times that this creative mind will lead me down paths that end in worry and anxious thoughts. It is hard to admit that I struggle with anxious feelings. I am supposed to walk by faith, which leaves no room for anxious thoughts.
Whether the thoughts come from me or the enemy, they are still in my mind. I know that we should not engage those thoughts, but I admit that I do. I have been learning how to change those thought patterns. The first thing I do is start thanking God for my many blessings. I will list anything that comes to mind, from family, friends, good health, and my home. That changes my thought process and my perspective.
The second thing that I have been doing is reciting and mediating on the 23rd Psalm. “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.” God takes good care of me. “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, you are with me.” When I have a bad day, I remind myself that God is with me protecting me. “You anoint my head with oil.” God knows me and blesses me. “Surely (His) goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life.” He is a good, loving, and forgiving Heavenly Father who will walk with me every day of my life. “I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” Eternity with Him, Amen!
Meditations like that can change your day. When we remember God’s word we can turn our thoughts around. I want to encourage you to memorize some of your favorite scripture passages and then spend some time thinking about them. When we think about God’s word and His many promises to us we can discover a fountain of encouragement which will ultimately change our stinking thinking. God’s Word can give us better, uplifting thoughts and the faith to find the victory we desire.
Contact Doug Creamer at PO Box 777, Faith, NC 28041or doug@dougcreamer.com
By Roger Barbee
Moving is a knot of conflict.
Six years ago my wife and I moved from the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia to Lake Norman in North Carolina. Despite being only a five-hour drive south, our new home on LKN to be our la was thought to be our last, but as a thought may do, it dissolved into change. Now for various reasons we are moving back to the community we left.
Years ago in one of my frequent phone chats with my mother, she said, “It’s already Wednesday.” Then in my forties, I thought her remark just one more of an elderly person who lived alone. Now, about the age she was when she spoke those words, I see what she understood and shared with me in her way.
I remember Saturday mornings or other bits of days that seemed to be made of eternal time. However, those hours-long packages did not bore but were, instead, full of activity and life, and each was wrapped in one long envelope of a time slot that appeared not to move but when it did, it moved like the waters of a wide river and just rolled along. The foolish lament uttered by all children, “There’s nothing to do,” tells how the young and unknowing view time and its passing. The youthful, and not just children, should, because of their age, see a long and wide horizon of time packed with opportunities and possibilities; and I, a 76-year-old man, should see my horizon narrowed by my years. That is not, by itself, bad, but is just the reality of having more in the rear-view mirror than through the windshield.
So our return move is one looking forward through that windshield because we are going to a community in which we lived for eleven years. It is one of friends; it is one closer to grown children and older grandchildren; it is one of our previous church; it is one of home.
But our LKN house is all of the above, too. It, too, is one of our church. It, too, is one of friends. It, too, is one close to family. It, too, is one of home. During our six years on Isle of Pines we have formed friendships, have shared monthly lunch with high school friends, have received wonderful and warm medical care, have worshiped in a great church, have created flower gardens, and have witnessed many beautiful sunrises over our slice of LKN. The years have not dragged but have been a rich, blessed bundle of time.
And there lies the knot of conflict.
For the past few weeks, after I cleaned out my workshop by giving away or selling its contents, I have emotionally worked to separate myself from parts of this life, such as the forest of forty-two pine trees that is our front yard. Sure, they are just trees for strangers, but for me they are part of our home and home for a variety of animal life. A separation also had to be made for the small back garden and our view of the lake, but that is easier because we will have an open view of sunrises over Massanutten Mountain and much space for planting flowers and bushes. But it is still an emotional separation that requires time.
In his essay about Time in This I Believe, An A to Z of Life, Carlos Fuentes writes, “The past occurs today, when we remember. And the future occurs today, too, when we desire.”
So as I marvel at the blooming purple irises next to our back garden gate, I remember how my friend Mike helped me plant them; but I am also planning where I will plant them next to one of the back garden gates of our new Valley home. Caught in that present time of Fuentes I remember, and I desire. One pulls the other pushes. Both are part of my present time and of my conflict, and I realize that “It’s already Wednesday.”
By David Freeze
My quest for more county seats across North Carolina continued on Thursday, April 8. I drove northwest to Sparta to start the day. Sparta is the county seat of Alleghany County and has a clean, small-town feel. Sparta is known most recently for an earthquake that occurred there on Aug. 9, 2020. Registering 5.1 on the Richter scale, this was the largest earthquake in North Carolina in 104 years and second largest ever.
Notable buildings along Main Street include the 1904 courthouse and a historical theatre that still hosts weekly community musical picking events as the Alleghany Jubilee. New to me and interesting is the promotion of Historic U.S. 21, Sparta’s Main Street, as an easier way to travel from the Great Lakes to Florida. The same distance as interstate highway travel, U.S. 21 is more scenic and fun.
Sparta is also on the Daniel Boone Highway and is gearing up to host a Fried Apple Pie Festival on May 6. Interesting too was the Sparta Presbyterian Church’s clothesline of free for the taking handmade toboggans for those in need of warmth. A mural honors country singer Del Reeves, Sparta’s most famous past resident.
I drove on scenic byways toward Jefferson, county seat of Ashe County, while listening to AM radio gospel hymns and farm reports. N.C. highways 18 and 88 took me past Christmas tree farms, one after another.
Jefferson is the smaller and less active sibling of next-door West Jefferson, a tourist destination in itself. Jefferson has the stately 1904 courthouse, now a museum. Designated as the county seat in 1799, it was named for then vice president and future president Thomas Jefferson. The New River, one of the oldest rivers in the world, flows through the town.
Next stop was Boone, county seat of Watauga County and a town I’ve visited often earlier in life but not recently. Home of Appalachian State University, Boone has a thriving downtown of trendy businesses along busy King Street. I looked forward to grabbing something for a quick lunch there and settled for two fantastic bagels at Boone Bagelry. Boone is named for Daniel Boone who camped several times in the current location of the downtown area. His nephews were members of the still existing Three Forks Baptist Church.
Two Boone-related area attractions draw tourists regularly. The outdoor drama Horn in the West depicts Daniel Boone’s contribution to those seeking freedom from British tyranny in the area and has been done every year since 1952. Boone had a hunting camp and a cabin in the area from about 1767-1773. Tweetie’s East Tennessee and Western North Carolina Railroad had tracks through the present site of ASU. A severe flood in 1940 damaged the tracks and it was decided to not replace them. The rain damage came from a stalled hurricane and left Boone isolated for days from the outside world as bridges were washed away and telephone service interrupted. At least 16 people died in the flooding.
Most of the people I saw on the streets were students although Boone is the center of the 7-county High Country tourist area. Another exciting surprise to me was the name of the local wood bat summer college league baseball team, the Boone Bigfoots. Another was the F.A.R.M. Café, which stands for “Feed All Regardless of their Means.” It is a small café only open for a few hours a day during lunch where customers pay what they can or volunteer.
As I left town, a thunderstorm dumped a downpour on the area but I drove out of it just of north of Lenoir, the next stop and county seat of Caldwell County. Established in 1841, Lenoir, first called Tucker’s Barn, was named for William Lenoir, a Revolutionary War general and statesman.
Famous for quality furniture, Lenoir is recognized as the “The Furniture Capital of the World.” Lenoir hosts the Bootlegger 100, a super challenging gravel cycling race in two weeks and the Blackberry Festival on July 15. Lenoir also has a downtown walking trail along which I found Paul Reid. I asked him how he was, and his response was, “If any better, I couldn’t stand it.” I told him about my 100-county challenge and asked him to check the Sunday Post. Full of interesting shops, Lenoir would be a fun place to spend a day. One shop worth visiting is “Dead People’s Stuff Antiques and Emporium.”
An oddity, the summer college wood bat league also has a team here called the Lenoir Legends. Bigfoot is also their team mascot!
My final stop for the day was my favorite. Newton is the county seat of Catawba County. By the end of the day, I didn’t want to dodge traffic, yet wanted to see an interesting town. Newton filled the bill. The historic downtown is centered around the 1924 courthouse and is undergoing a renovation that includes widened sidewalks, bike and walking lanes and enhancement of an adjacent park. “Six blocks in three phases makes for a bright future,” per the renovation slogan.
I found multiple restaurants and interesting things in the downtown area. Most storefronts were open and active. There is a huge flour mill, specializing in bakery flour, still in operation. A large modern recreation center complete with splash pad and gym is downtown, and the old post office has been made into the Post Office Playhouse with a busy schedule posted. A Bountiful Downtown Bunny Trail was going on for nine days with prizes. Murals and a still operating movie theatre called “The State,” still showing new movies, enhanced the area. A train depot with a caboose and rail car museum were just a short distance from the courthouse square area. Park and walk with lots to do in downtown Newton. There’s a nice bakery too!
A nice day with the best weather I’ve had so far. I had 227 driving miles and 7.91 miles on foot, all for another fun adventure! Back soon.
By Ed Traut
Psalms 119:14 (Passion Translation) I find more joy in following what you tell me to do then in chasing after all the wealth of the world.
Prayer: Thank You Lord for You goodness and kindness and Your salvation. I count it all joy to obey You. Help me Holy Spirit to hear clearly what He says to me daily and to have the consistency and courage to do all that He says. I choose You Lord. Amen.
Ed Traut
Prophetic Life
By Lynna Clark
We’re sixty-eight. Well… I am. Though he is a few months younger than me, David knows enough to claim my same age. How well he remembers the time we filled out visitor cards at a church in South Carolina. Since I had already turned 25, I had to check the age box marked 24-35. He had not yet had his birthday so he jauntily checked the age box marked 18-24 and made sure I saw it. That day became a day to remember in our young marriage.
For me, remembering anything is getting harder and harder. David and I have a running game of “Who’s that guy?” You know, the one who used to coach the New Orleans Saints. Or who’s the dude who played in Die Hard? Or the rich one who owns Tesla? We also play the game, “Why am I in the kitchen?” That one’s easier because I usually assume I’m there to get a snack. It’s kind of a win win. I can always go back later when I remember why I really went there… and get another snack.
Anyway, we are sixty-eight. And we’ve been around long enough to have been through some hard things. It’s easy to remember the time our kids were small and we were kicked out of church by a jealous preacher. The times we sat with dying parents and held their hand until they passed; the foreclosure on the house we had poured heart and soul into; the loss of our first grandson before he breathed life; the diagnosis of cancer and the horrible season of chemo. Those things are branded on our souls it seems. But what is important to remember is the way the Lord saw us through them. The time He sent unusual strength when my big strong hero keeled over one night; those times the Lord provided more than enough when we had no resources of our own. How He gently held us as we walked through the very shadow of death.
Psalm 78 mentions many occasions when the Lord took great care of His people. Yet they continually forgot His provision, even demanding things they craved. It goes so far as to say, “Despite His wonders, they refused to trust Him.” The Psalm also says that they “grieved Him; they did not remember His power or how He rescued them.”
Let’s not grieve the Lord. Let’s not demand things of Him as if we know best. He appreciates being remembered and He is honored when we trust Him. All our lives He has provided, comforted, and loved us to Himself. Personally, I have to say that I do not understand Him. And I sure don’t know why He puts us through the things He does. But in every part of life, I’ve learned that He will carry me til the end. Then later, looking back on the trouble, I can remember this.
“When they walk through the Valley of Weeping, it will become a place of refreshing springs.” -Psalm 84:6 NLT
By Ann Farabee
Sitting at the kitchen table, early in the morning, with my Bible and cup of coffee in hand, there it was on my windowsill ledge — the perfect bluebird. I am normally not a bird person, but this bird kept looking at me as if we were friends. Back and forth from the windowsill to the tree all morning. With approximately 1,500 trees surrounding our property, how did that little bluebird choose our windowsill?
I spent nearly an hour watching it, and it was well worth my time.
You have probably seen a bluebird, as well. If so, I am sure you know that it is classified as in the Animalia kingdom, chordata phylum, aves class, Passeriformes order, turididae family, and sialia genus. But we just call it a bluebird — more specifically — I think it was the Eastern bluebird.
The bluebird even has a line in a song from Disney’s ‘Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah,’ where it says, “Mr. Bluebird on my shoulder,” representing joy and happiness.
Thank goodness the bluebird did not land on my shoulder, because I would have been darting back and forth screaming that I was being attacked. I received enough joy and happiness just watching it from a short distance.
Matthew 6:26 says, “Behold the fowls of the air; for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor cater into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much better than they?”
Our heavenly Father feeds them!
Psalm 104:12 says, “By them shall the fowls of the heaven have their habitation which sing among the branches.”
They sing among the branches!
Genesis 1:20 says, “And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that has life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in open firmament of heaven.”
They are in the open firmament of heaven!
Genesis 8:8-9 tells us about the magnificent role the raven and the dove played as Noah sent them out from the ark to see if the flood had ended.
God used the birds to save the world! (Well, sort of.)
Thank you, Mr. Bluebird, with your beautiful blue feathers and orange breast, for gracing my yard with your beauty.
Creation is amazing and our God perfected each and every part of the earth.
We have so many reasons to sense joy and happiness. To see and enjoy the beauty of creation, no one has to look very far.
Ann Farabee is a teacher, writer and speaker. Contact her at annfarabee@gmail.com or annfarabee.com.
Dr. Charles Stanley went home to be with the Lord. I found this interview between Dr. Stanley and his son. I hope you enjoy it.
By Doug Creamer
I recently celebrated the fifth anniversary of my 55th birthday. For those of you who struggle with math, I just turned sixty. I just went and looked in the mirror…the guy looking back at me doesn’t look sixty. When I was a kid, I thought sixty was old. I do not feel old.
I understand that there is not as much hair on my head. When I was young I used to have really thick, full hair. My hair has been thin on the top for a long time. Yes, I know that my beard is mostly white, but it has been white for a long time now. I thought it looked distinguished. Many people say that age is just a number. You are how you feel inside. Well, I feel like I am in my thirties. Those were good years. You are healthy; you are grown up and mature; you are figuring out life. Your debts are balanced and your income is good. Life cruises along…the only trouble was that life cruised along too fast.
I didn’t think the forties were bad either. I was healthy and strong. I could work hard with an occasional rest. My finances were good and life still felt optimistic. The fifties began a season of changes. We both retired in our fifties which has an impact on our finances. My health offered a few hiccups but remained good overall. I noticed a drag on my endurance but still found that I could work hard.
The question rattling around in my head as I enter this new decade is “What other changes are waiting for me?” My doctor is helping me to see that pills will play an important part of the future. Isn’t that exciting! I imagine that there will be more rest breaks when working outside. I can also imagine that I will retire from my part-time job at some point. Beyond that, it is hard to imagine what the future will hold.
When I consider the future, I am glad that I know the One who holds my future. The truth is, no one really knows what tomorrow will bring. We know that there will be some joyful moments and some that will be challenging and difficult. The latter requires faith in a loving Father. There is nothing coming my way that He won’t see me through.
I guess if there is something that I have learned in sixty years is that having faith in God has made all the difference for me. We all know how to live through good times. It’s easy, just put life on auto-pilot and enjoy the scenery. The trouble comes when we are traveling through the difficulties in life. How does one navigate those times?
The answer comes back to that one word: through. When we find ourselves in the middle of difficult times, God can reach down and pull us out. It might be a miracle or some unseen provision. He is a wonderful Father and provider. But often what I have learned is that God shows up at a critical moment in life, and instead of pulling me out of the difficult place He chooses to walk with me through the challenging time.
God finds great pleasure in revealing Himself to us as the one we can depend upon as we go through the difficulties of life. He wants us to know Him as God our healer. God our provider. God our sustainer. God our defender. God our comforter. God our helper. God our friend. There are many more ways He wants to reveal Himself to us. He wants us to know Him and depend on Him in every circumstance.
I am convinced of one thing…there is so much I do not know about God. While I consider Him my Savior and friend, His ways are mysterious to me. He is always full of surprises. He is always faithful. He is always there, especially when I fail Him. His love has never given up on me. He is always pursuing me.
I want to encourage you to walk closer with God and find out who He wants to be for you. He loves you more than you will ever understand. He cares about you and the many challenges you face. He knows everything about you and wants you to know more about Him. No matter how old or young you are He wants to connect with you, walk with you, guide you, help you, and love you. Turn to Him, open your heart and spend the rest of your life getting to know Him better.
Contact Doug Creamer at PO Box 777, Faith, NC 28041or doug@dougcreamer.com
By Roger Barbee
My mother years ago told me about the little boy who at times would not be in his bed when she awoke. Searching for him, she would sometimes find him sitting on the small, front porch stoop of the house at 709 Applewood Street, and sometimes he would be in the large, cool, hand-dug, dirt cellar playing. Once, he was nowhere to be found and in a panic she looked up and down streets, then walked to a small knoll called Red Hill where she saw his tow-head peeking above the red clay. She described him as the only child of hers who would get out of bed to watch the sun rise or the morning to come or to take a walk in the first cool of the day.
Each of us has an internal rhythm clock. I’ve had friends who would not sleep past seven in a morning if they could and others who never saw a sunrise unless during an emergency. Some people sleep behind heavy curtains during daylight and some are asleep by the darkening of day. Of course, some of us are forced to adjust our internal clocks by our work. While technology has altered the hours we can profitably work, many occupations, such as agriculture, are still mostly controlled by daylight hours and what can be accomplished during that time. Yet, since Thomas Edison, our work hours have been expanded and productivity can be had continuously, if the machines function properly. While in college, I worked summer jobs in Cannon Mills, in weave rooms three or five. One summer I worked the 2nd shift, 3-11 P.M., and for two summers I worked the 3rd shift, from 11 P.M.-7 A.M., all from the benefit of Thomas Edison and the refinements of his invention. I recall my angst I felt because of the hours of that 2nd shift when I washed long, florescent bulbs from weave room 3 with Ron, a newly graduated classmate of mine. The pain from the 3-11 shift was caused because the work forced me to miss the night activities of my small town. I was missing time to hang-out at the What-A-Burger # 5 and possibly see the then-flame of my life, Elaine. The man-forced hours on day’s activities continued to interfere with my internal rhythm when I went to college and was assigned an 8 A.M. English class three days a week. Gasp! However, the professor, Mrs. Lewis, who we affectionally called “The Blond Bomber”, would send a classmate for me when I overslept. But, any early morning class for the next three years I viewed as unfair, as only the immature can reason. My roommate and best friend from those days, Charlie, convinced me that any sleep after first sleep, was a waste of time that could be better spent in other activities, but I can’t remember him attending any early morning classes.
In At Day’s Close, A. Roger Ekirch, examines “the history of nighttime in Western society before the advent of the Industrial Revolution.” He keenly shows how the coming of lights, from lanterns to gas lights to vast electric bulbs changed our activities. Ekrich quotes Edison’s dictum, “Put an undeveloped human being into an environment where there is artificial light and he will improve.” We have put most of the human race in an environment of artificial light, and in so many ways that has been an improvement. One advantage I am aware of is illustrated by my friend Jay. When he was a young, single and struggling father of two small boys, he took advantage of the local Food Lion grocery story being open twenty-four hours a day. Because of the store’s schedule, he could grocery shop at 3 or 4 A.M. while his boys slept in their secured home. Colleges offer courses through long-distance learning (an oxymoron for sure) so a student may work at her or his own preferred schedule, which can be a great advantage for full-time workers or busy parents. And, of course, Edison’s dictum is in ways supported by our improved quality of life and productivity.
However, is it all good? Is the culture produced by artificial light beneficial? We now live in a time when the Milky Way in all its grandeur can’t be seen by one-third of America’s children. We now live in a culture that proudly exclaims “24/7” announcing that our activities are no longer controlled by the cycle of light and dark. We now live in a society that has altered the age-old patterns of night-time migrating birds. We now live in a mind-set that tells us we now are above the words, “darkness was upon the face of the deep… And God said, let there be light.” One does not need to be a Christian to realize that if we lose our natural rhythms, we lose part of ourselves, our being. The dark is a time for rest from the labors of the light. We need both. We are in danger of losing, as Marilynne Robinson writes, our “spangled heavens” because we can seldom see them in all their glory.
The young boy my mother told me about has now re-cycled to his old rhythm of being an “early bird,” who then was described by a relative as going to bed with the chickens and getting up with the rooster. I know because he is I.