Saturday, February 2, 2019

"DO IT NOW!"

No one knows what tomorrow may bring. The good that we would do must be done while we have the strength and the presence of mind to do it. Putting it off till later can easily become forgetting it altogether.

Such procrastination not only affects our own happiness but the ones we might potentially bless. Others might be sorely needing our kind words or kind deeds, which the Lord is prompting us to say and do. Not all urges to do good things may be His leading. But if we are listening to Him as He listened to His Father, we will probably hear Him saying more often than not, “Do it now.”

Write that letter or text now, make that phone call now, plan to visit a lonely person today. Don't wait for your bedtime prayers to pray for someone. When they come to mind, it may be Jesus letting you know they need your prayer of blessing right now.

Procrastinating actually assumes too much. The reality is that time is fleeting and stops for no one. Doing things we think of now is logically informed by the words in the above cartoon: “Today is seldom too early; tomorrow is usually too late.”

The following poem from my book Poems Between Here and Beyond tries to express the need to be aware of the good we can do while we have the time. It's a good way to wrap up these few thoughts on the exhortation to "do it now."

     CARING
This world around us surges—
   duties vie
      for all our time,
      our energies,
      our care. 
But greater Duty urges,
   “Don’t pass by
      a hurting heart
      with burdens hard
      to bear!” 
Routine is not our master,
   nor is fear,
      or vanity,
      or trivia,
      or show.... 
Amid a day’s disaster,
   let’s live here
      to lighten loads
      and griefs, before
      we go. 
— David L. Hatton, 2/23/2016

"Do it now!" And the Lord bless you in it!

Friday, February 1, 2019

LIST of BLOG-ARTICLE TITLES from the start

(chronological list, with keywords and date posted - updated 6/6/2020)

(GO TO Bottom of List)

INTRODUCING MY BLOG
(Incarnation, nakedness, nursing, pastor, poetry, theology, truth)
2/23/12

ART IS A TEACHER
(art, artist, creativity, Creator, God’s image, seeing, theology)
2/27/12

MY REWARDING DOUBTS ABOUT THE TRINITY
(doubt, God, Holy Spirit, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Jesus, Trinity)
3/1/12

IS YOUR HUMANITY HUMAN-FRIENDLY?
(belief, Gnosticism, human-friendly, humanity, humanness, Incarnation, Jesus, materialism, pantheism, resurrection)
3/27/12

THE PROBLEM WITH HELL
(C. S. Lewis, free will, Hell, light, love)
4/19/12

THE VISIBLE BREAST CONTROVERSY
(Bill Sears, body acceptance, breast acceptance, breastfeeding, breasts, creation, Jamie Lynne Grumet, nursing, pornography, prudery, truth)
5/15/12

HEALTH OUTSIDE THE BOX
(alternative medicine, bra, breast cancer, Creator, earthing, grace, grounding, healing, health, healthcare, Provider, sunbathing)
6/23/12

SEX IS CENTRAL TO GOD’S SALVATION PLAN
(body acceptance, creation, Creator, gender confusion, Gnosticism, God’s image, human-friendly, humanity, humanness, Incarnation, marriage, pornography, prudery, sexuality, Trinity, truth)
7/20/12

THE MYSTERY OF CHRIST’S ATONEMENT
(atonement, C. S. Lewis, Christus Victor, God, Gospel, human-friendly, Incarnation, Jesus, Narnia, the Cross, theology)
8/6/12

GOD’S INTERACTION WITH HUMAN WILLS
(belief, free will, God, God’s sovereignty, human-friendly, humanity, predestination, theology, Trinity)
8/12/12

THE SUPERSTITIOUS FAITH OF EVOLUTIONISM
(Creator, evolution, evolutionism, faith, ID, Intelligent Design, science)
10/22/12

“YOU MEAN. . .MEN ACT LIKE BABIES?”
(body acceptance, breast acceptance, breastfeeding, breasts, immodesty, modesty, morality, porn addiction, pornography)
10/26/12

GRATIFICATION, GRATITUDE AND THANKSGIVING
(Buddhism, desire, gratefulness, gratification, gratitude, thanksgiving)
11/21/12

BEYOND SAME-SEX ATTRACTION
(female, gay, gay activism, gay politics, gender, gender confusion, healing, homosexual, homosexuality, Leanne Payne, male, Mario Bergner, marriage, Ministries of Pastoral Care, same-sex attraction, sexuality, SSA)
12/2/12

WHY DO THE INNOCENT SUFFER?
(doubt, Francis Andersen, God’s love, God’s sovereignty, Job, questioning God, suffering, why the innocent suffer)
12/29/12

PRUDERY AND PORN ADDICTION
(nakedness, nudity, porn addiction, pornography, prudery)
1/10/13

LET’S FINISH THE SONG
(caring, creation, now, procrastination, sharing, time, today)
1/15/13

A HOLY HELL, NO LESS. . .
(C. S. Lewis, Calvinism, free will, George MacDonald, God’s sovereignty, grace, Hell, prevenient grace, Rob Bell)
2/2/13

BETWEEN THE WOMB AND THE TOMB….
(creation, Incarnation, poetry, resurrection)
3/12/13

GOD HAS SOME QUESTIONS FOR YOU
(body shame, confession, deception, disobedience, fig leaves, forgiveness, healing., lost sheep, nakedness, questions, Satan, shepherd)
3/23/13

COLORBLIND IN A PURPLE WORLD
(atheism, faith, heaven and earth, Incarnation, magicians, materialism, the Second Adam)
3/29/13

“WILL YOU SURVIVE?”
(afterlife, ambition, Creator, death, desire, dream, evolution, survival instinct)
6/1/13

PORNOGRAPHY IN THE PULPIT
(art, artist, body acceptance, fig leaves, gender, gender confusion, God’s image, nakedness, nudity, porn addiction, pornography, prudery, Satan, sexuality)
11/27/13

THE MIRACULOUS HEALING OF ROBERT LIVINGSTONE
(faith, healing, miracle, prayer, scepticism)
3/20/14

THE LIFE LESS UNRAVELED
(God, health, love, psychology, relationship, responsibility, truth)
5/1/14

POEMS BETWEEN HEAVEN AND HELL - Introduction
(choice, Christ, decision, Heaven, Hell, Jesus, poems, poetry, rhyming)
11/12/14

POEMS BETWEEN DARKNESS AND LIGHT - Introduction
(Christ, darkness, God, Jesus, light, poems, poetry, rhyming)
12/8/14

POEMS BETWEEN DEATH AND LIFE - Introduction
(afterlife, Christ, death, decision, Jesus, life, poems, poetry, rhyming)
12/8/14

POEMS BETWEEN BIRTH AND RESURRECTION - Introduction
(afterlife, birth, Christ, Jesus, nakedness, poems, poetry, resurrection, rhyming)
12/9/14

WHY I’M CATHOLIC, BUT NOT ROMAN
(Apostles Creed, catholic, church, faith, Foxe’s Book, heresy, Huguenot, I will build my church, Inquisition, martyrs, Nicene Creed, on this rock, persecution, Peter’s chair, Romanism, Rome, Waldensian)
4/16/15

“OBJECTIFICATION SUSTAINED!”
(body acceptance, body shame, breast acceptance, breastfeeding, breasts, modesty, nakedness, nudity, nursing, objectification, porn addiction, pornography, sex object, sexuality)
4/25/15

STILL MY BEST POEM ON THIS ATROCITY....
(abortion, evil, Satan)
5/24/15

OUR SUPREME COURT ISN’T SUPREME
(abortion, afterlife, gay activism, gender confusion, homosexuality, marriage, same-sex attraction, sexuality)
6/29/15

DESTROYING THE LIE OF BODY SHAME
(baptism, body acceptance, body shame, nakedness, nudity, pornography, Satan)
7/19/15

CRIB-DEATH CONSOLATION
(afterlife, birth, crib death, death, hope, perinatal loss, SIDS)
9/16/15

THE HEALING POWER OF LOVE
(blessing, caring, God, gratitude, healing, healing of memories, inner healing, kindness, love)
10/1/15

SOUL AWAKE—DNA SLEEPING
(body, death, DNA, Heaven, Jehovah’s Witnesses, NDEs, near-death experiences, resurrection, Seventh-day Adventists, soul, soul sleep, spirit)
11/4/15

THE MIRACLE GOD
(agnosticism, C. S. Lewis, Creator, God, illusion, pantheism, reality)
11/14/15

EarthEarthEarthEarthEarth!
(art, body acceptance, Christ, Creator, Earth, healthcare, Holy Spirt, nakedness, nudity, Trinity)
1/22/16

WHY JUST ONE GOSPEL?
(Christ, E. Stanley Jones, Gospel, Incarnation, love, religion, resurrection, the Cross)
2/25/16

CREATIVITY AND BEING
(children, creativity, Creator, identity)
8/16/16

POEMS BETWEEN HERE AND BEYOND - Introduction
(afterlife, Christ, death, Gospel, Incarnation, life, poems, poetry, the Second Adam, theology)
9/19/16

“ANYONE ELSE? ANYONE!”
(Christ, government, media, politics)
10/14/16

IS TRUMP ‘A Dark Horse’?
(dark horse, election, government, politics, prayer, Trump)
11/9/16

THE FIRST ADVENT: THE INCARNATION
(Adam, Advent, body, Christ, embodiment, human, humanity, humanness, Incarnation, redemption, salvation, Trinity, Virgin Birth)
12/9/16

PANDORA’S BOX & THE EMPTY TOMB
(Easter, empty tomb, faith, hope, Jesus Christ, resurrection)
4/4/17

ARTIFICIAL BEAUTIFICATION
(beauty, body acceptance, body image, body shame, cosmetics, makeup)
8/1/17

THE CRÈCHE AND THE CROSS
(Advent, atonement, death, God’s love, Incarnation, the Cross)
12/17/17

UNION LIFE’S INCARNATIONAL SPIRITUALITY
(humanity, humanness, Incarnation, Jesus Christ, spirituality, the Cross, the Second Adam)
1/28/18

TWO “MEANS OF GRACE” FOR HEALING
(baptism, Eucharist, foot washing, healing, Holy Communion, means of grace, the Lord’s Table)
3/9/18

THE CYCLE OF REPENTANCE
(change, Christ, complacency, confession, contrition, conversion, conviction, Holy Spirit, repentance, spiritual growth, union life)
4/13/18

WHEN THE MIND STRAYS IN PRAYER...
(guidance, prayer, spirituality)
1/23/19

DO IT NOW!
(caring, compassion, love, procrastination, promptness)
2/2/2019

FINDING AND BECOMING OUR TRUE SELVES
(being, Christ, Gnosticism, Gospel, humanness, identity, Leanne Payne, self-discovery, union life)
4/18/2019

“QUESTION AUTONOMY!”
(authority, autonomy, creation, creativity, Creator, leadership, light, love, salvation, servant, service, sin, surrender)
10/11/2019

POEMS BETWEEN FEAR AND FAITH - Introduction
(faith, fear, poem, poetry, rhyme)
10/28/2019 
AND
MY CHRISTMAS POEMS (in reverse chronological order) #20-1
(Christmas, Advent, poetry, poem)
12/2-28/2019

WHAT IS SPIRITUAL MATURITY?
(direction, growth, guidance, Holy Spirit, leading, maturity, spirituality)
5/4/2020

DEATH & LIFE AT THE TABLE
(death, Eucharist, Holy Communion, life, resurrection, the Lord's Table)
6/5/2020

(Christ, Corona Virus, courage, Covid-19, death, disease, faith, fear, hope, lock-down, masks, pandemic, panic, quarantine, social distancing)
7/25/2020

(choice, decision, free will, identity, Incarnation, Jesus Christ, memory, new birth, resurrection, sin nature, surrender, the Cross)
10/17/2020

(afterlife, belief, death, faith, Gospel, heaven and earth, hope, Jesus Christ, poetry)
2/3/2021

(choice, darkness, deception, Jesus Christ, Kingdom of God, lies, light, Satan, spiritual warfare, the Cross)
10/4/2021

(death, haiku, hope, humor, life, philosophy, poetry, rhyme, sijo, sonnets, tanka)
10/8/2021

(Christ, creation, disobedience, God's image, humanity, Incarnation, independence, marriage, morality, sin, sin nature)
11/27/2021

(art, artist, body acceptance, coming of age, devotion, fiction, prayer, spirituality)
2/3/2022

(GO TO Top of Page)