True Honor

Over the 20 years that I worked for a well known manufacturer I attended quite a few retirement gatherings.

Some of my coworkers retired with the love and respect of all and the admiration of management. When it came down to the party we sent them off with speeches, stories, handshakes, and sincere appreciation, along with a nice check and a gold watch.

Then…. Grumpy Dwarf retires. You know the kind. He’s got the personality and people skills of a sock. Ole Grumpy did nothing more than the absolute minimum in 40 years of service. Over time he got pretty heavy as the rest of us carried his load.

You ‘d think he’d know that he probably wasn’t doing that great of a job when on the day you announce your retirement, company stock closes with a record gain.

Despite all this, we had a retirement party for grumpy too. Secretly relieved, we sent grumpy off with the traditional speeches, stories, handshakes, along with a nice check and a gold watch.

The difference is that we did this out of a percieved duty rather than a desire to honor him. It was really just an obligation.

In Matthew 15 Jesus was in a confrontation with the Pharisee and teachers of religious law when he quoted Isaiah and said:

Isaiah 29:13 (New Living Translation)

13 And so the Lord says,
“These people say they are mine.
They honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
And their worship of me
is nothing but man-made rules learned by rote.

I don’t really use the word “rote” so I looked it up in the Webster’s Dictionary.

rote  pronounced [roht]
1. routine; a fixed, habitual, or mechanical course of procedure: the rote of daily living.
    the rote of daily living
2. by rote, from memory, without thought of the meaning; in a mechanical way:
    to learn a language by rote.

Throughout the Bible, Worship always involved action. The main word for worship in Hebrew means “to bow down.” Worship was performed in bowing, lifting the hands, kneeling, singing, praying, reciting Scripture, etc. All this can be called worship. But all this can also be done when the heart is far from God.

My prayer is that as we worship together as a church this Sunday we can lay aside all the things in life that distract us and that our hearts will truly be on Jesus. Let us give genuine honor to the one who saved us from ourselves.

Insanity

I never entered the recent healthcare debate. I don’t really understand all of the viewpoints on either side of the Barack “Oblameitall” Health Care plan. I do however understand that there is something very wrong with the system. I was reminded of that today.

I have severe sleep apnea. It’s severe enough to be life threatening. Fortunately for me I adapted very well to the treatment prescribed for my condition. I sleep at night with the aid of a CPAP machine. The CPAP experience can be compared to sticking the end of a hair dryer in your mouth, using a bungee cord to hold it in place, and turning the hair dryer on “HIGH”. Having said that, the benefits of my treatment far out weigh the quality of life I had previous to seeking treatment.

My employer struggles to provide benefits for their employees. It’s not uncommon to change from one insurance company to another each year in an effort to keep cost down.

I’ve recently gone through my 3^rd insurance provider change at my most recent employer.

Last year when my insurance provider changed the company that sold me my CPAP machine was not on the list of “affiliated service providers”. I needed a new mask and some filters for my machine so I called my insurance provider to ask where I might get my parts and maintenance for my machine. I was told that I would have to get a prescription for a new machine and place an order with their “affiliated service provider”.

Please understand that all I needed was a new mask and that it is doctor recommended that I replace it at least 3 times a year. I had been using my mask for over a year.

I went with the program and made an appointment with my doctor. I went to the appointment and waited for three hours before finally seeing the doctor. Five minutes later he scribbled down a prescription and handed it to me and I left.

I went to the affiliated service provider who was 45 minutes from my home (the former service provider was 2 blocks from my employer). They told me to come back in one week. In the mean while I used a coat hanger to try and keep my mask on my head for the next week.

I went back to the “affiliated service provider” the next week and was presented with a bill for $1500 because I had not met my deductible. The bill was $299 for a mask and $1200 for the machine. I was desperate for therapy and felt forced to comply.

Six months later I needed a replacement mask. I entered the model number into google search and found the exact replacement mask for $99. I purchased the mask myself rather than going through the insurance hassle.

This year my employer switched back to  the ORIGINAL  insurance company for healthcare benefits.

Once again I need a replacement mask. The original “affiliated service provider” is where I was directed for the services I need. They will not service the newest CPAP machine I own, not because they can’t, rather because they didn’t sell it to me. They will however, order me a replacement mask for my older machine. Keep in mind that the mask I use is the same model that came with both machines. They also told me that I would have to have a prescription from my doctor and that it would cost $349 because I have not met my deductible.

This afternoon I, once again, ordered the exact same mask online for $99 including shipping.

This is insane....

The Happy Meal

A week or so ago I went up to the attic to fetch an IDE cable for a computer upgrade I was working on and I happened to spot my high school diploma lying in the top of a box of other important treasure.

My high school diploma was issued to me in 1977 and certified that I successfully met the minimum requirements set by the State of Georgia for high school graduation. A diploma represents that a graduate is ready for college or trade school. It tells potential employers that the graduate can read, write, and perform basic math skills. A high school diploma is often the minimum educational level requirement for employment. My diploma was issued by an accredited school and serves as proof that I am a high school graduate. It never expires and I will never be less than a high school graduate.

My diploma doesn’t mention any of the specific requirements that I had to meet in order to graduate. You can’t tell if I barely passed High School or if I excelled. There is also no measure of my attitude or the effort I put into my studies.

To answer this for you I’ll briefly describe my approach to a High School Literature class. A book titled “Moby Dick” was one of the selections on the required reading list for this class.

To this day I have never read Moby Dick.

I was a very busy man in high school. I had a job. I had friends that needed to hang out with me. I had already met my future bride and those of you who know her also know how demanding she is. She couldn’t survive more than a few hours at a time without at least talking to me on the phone. (Keep in mind that at that time a phone had a wire and required that you be in a certain location in order to successfully make a telephone call, thus also requiring a commitment of time). On top of all of that, it takes daily discipline if one is to become a rock star. With the level of stress and pressure associated with those kinds of obligations I was forced to prioritize my time.

Unfortunately, reading Moby Dick was at the bottom of my priority list. In fairness to myself, I actually did read the first and last chapter and watched a cartoon based upon the story. Through these actions I was able to surmise that the book, Moby Dick, is about a big fish.

In spite of not reading the book, my knowledge of Moby Dick continued to increase. On one occasion I was hanging out with some guys in my think tank and the conversation turned to the physical features of a particular young lady. One of my fellow intellectuals painted a mental picture of the young lady for us by using a reference to Moby Dick.

As the rest of the group were busy laughing at the joke, I found myself in the middle of an educational breakthrough. I realized that I had incorrectly identified the species of Moby Dick as a “big fish”. Moby Dick is actually a whale. Those of you who are as smart as me know that a whale is actually a mammal. This event helped to further advance my theory that it’s not so important to read a book yourself as long as you understand the general plot and surround yourself with people who know more than you do. Eventually I would know a lot about Moby Dick and all I had to do was just hang out and listen.

Some how I passed the unit test on Moby Dick.


In hindsight I know that I missed the real benefits of reading Moby Dick even though I’m still not sure what the benefits actually are. And as I’ve grown older and wiser I have concluded that it’s unwise to speak about Moby Dick unless I just can’t avoid it. I run the risk of being exposed. Once exposed, I could also lose my credibility for things I actually do know a lot about.

Now don’t get me wrong. I am capable of becoming a Moby Dick expert. But for the time being I think I’ll hold off on running for president or accepting any teaching positions.

I told you this story because I think it often relates to our Christianity.

The Bible says that if we learn our ABC’s we can live forever. If we simply Admit that we are sinners, Believe that Jesus is God’s son, and Confess him as our Savior and Lord, we have met the minimum requirements for eternal life. In other words, you might say that we receive our diploma.

I publicly accepted Jesus when I was 15 years old. From that point forward I have never doubted my salvation.

I’ve always known that Genesis is the first book in the Bible and it says “God created us”. I know that Revelation is the last book and it says “We Won”.

It’s some of the parts in between that I’m not so sure about.

But I’m absolutely sure that if you make it to heaven, sooner or later, I’ll see you there.

And it’s the same as it was with Moby Dick; over time I’ve learned a little more about God by hanging out with other Christians and listening to those who seem to be knowledgeable.

It’s only when I actually started reading the Bible myself did I discover how much more there is to gain from reading the word of God. It’s a place where I’m finding answers to questions. It’s a place where I can make sense of the things that otherwise don’t make much sense. It makes me realize that I am only beginning to understand the TRUE nature of God and why I NEED MORE of Him. It makes me WANT MORE of Him. It GIVES ME more of Him.

He wrote His word down because he wanted me know more about him.

We can sit at a table with friends and order an appetizer, skip the entree and move on to dessert, while we have some good conversation and then pay our check and leave. But if we skip the meat and potatoes it’s only a few hours before we begin to feel hungry again. During the night we can get up and get a snack to get us by but by the time we wake up we’re starving again.

I have Type II diabetes. I saw a dietitian recently. As a diabetic I’m taught that I’ll be the most healthy when my diet consist of regular meals of the right foods. The dietitian said I should buy a cup and measure the foods I eat. I agreed to this and promised him that I would stop by Quick Trip on the way home and get myself a cup. He said he meant a glass measuring cup. That is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. A glass measuring cup won’t even hold the food I eat.

I can buy the right foods and cook them, but it’s only when I eat them that I receive the benefit. You can own a bible and never read it and you’ll never see the benefit.

If the Christian is only stopping by the Church on Sunday for a quick snack, we can expect to experience hunger. If our spiritual diet is irregular we can expect spiritual health issues.

The secret to our fulfillment, what some call “being fed” is not what we do on Sunday. It’s our daily diet that sustains us.

McDonald's is known for a product they call the Happy Meal. For the Christian the Bible is the Happy Meal… it’s always full of good food and every time you open it there’s something very cool inside. It is designed to supply our daily needs.

If you feel like you aren’t being fed give this diet plan a try!