Before and After

In my wallet, tucked away for over 27 years is a picture taken in a dollar photo booth. After Tammy and I met, I could not keep a dollar in my wallet. It is a picture of two college kids, all smiles and frankly, no clue. Oh, Tammy and I knew what we wanted in life. We were sure of certain things and the unsure things we trusted to the Lord. We were in love. She did not put her arms around just anyone. She did not sit on just anyones lap in a photobooth. Our love was not yet tested. It was not yet tried and proven but it was joyful, full of life and we had a blast with one another. Our love had not earned wrinkles in this aging photograph.

We dated almost three years before marriage. We talked a lot in that time. We shared dreams and visions. We imagined what our kids would look like. We wondered where we would wind up and Alabama was never mentioned. We dreamed about how God might use us. We teased and played jokes on one another. We were yet to learn one another, accept each other and grow in grace together.

When you compare this picture with more recent ones, you can still see the boyish grin, the sweet smile on Tammy's face but there is more. There is a seasoned love that really did grow stronger with every passing day. I am not suggesting we did not struggle. But somewhere we discovered a secret. The secret is that the struggles are what makes us go deeper into the glorious place called intimacy.

She was the most beautiful girl I have ever seen. I never got over the amazement that she would be seen with me much less fall in love with me. She saw potential in me that others passed over. She saw what Michaelangelo must have seen when he looked at a rough piece of granite and said, there is a David in there somewhere. A woman is a mysterious and glorious creation of God. There are many reasons God made woman but the one I am fixated upon now, is how God shapes a man through a woman. When you look at the image on a $100 bill, if you've not seen enough of them, you will have to trust me on this one, but the image is that of a drolish man, named Benjamin Franklin. That image is taken from a painting commissioned by Madame Brillion de Jouy, while Franklin was a diplomat in Paris. She noted with pleasure that Franklin, whom she considered to be one of the wisest men who ever lived is wise because, "He allows his wisdom to be perpetually broken against the rocks of femininity." Praise the Lord for a woman. Her touch, her tenderness, her sensitivity, her maternal ways, her joy, her total otherness than men. Praise God for the day He created her. His genius amazes me. At the risk of sounding like a college freshman with his first thesaures, I am in awe of what God created when He made her.

It may sound rather ego-centric to say this. I run the risk of making it sound as if I am the sun and she was a surrounding planet. Not at all. I had the joy of her. I was given a great gift in Tammy as my friend. At the end of many great days, surrounded by many great people, it was always my joy to go home with her. I remember standing in a United Nations reception in New York shortly after 9/11, the year I served as First Vice President of the SBC and I looked at her across the room and I thought, she goes home with me. I have been delightlfully broken upon the rocks of her femininity.

God sent Tammy to me as an artist and God took her hand and in the most gentle way I believe He wispered, lets help Ed. I loved loving her but I loved being loved by her even more. No one was more honest with me. No one knew me like Tammy. She captivated me and she completed my broken, raged edges. Many mornings we sat in a quiet room with a cup of Starbucks and talked the morning into day. We respected each other.

So when you look at us in more recent photographs, you see earned wrinkles, my fuller cheeks and less hair, four wiser eyes, some ravages of the aging process but look close, notice the smile. The smiles are undeminished by the pains, undaunted by the terror, and unending in their joy.

I rise to bless an artist, a woman, my beloved wife, Tammy!

Ed Litton

P.S. You can also see our kids.

The Gift No One Wants

Dr. Paul Brand was a medical missionary who dedicated his life to the study of a disease that has struck fear in the heart of humanity for ages, leprosy. His work with leprosy patients gave him a lifetime of insight into pain and suffering. He made an astounding statement: "If I held in my hands the power to eliminate physical pain from the world, I would not exercise it. My work with pain-deprived patients has proved to me that pain protects us from destroying ourselves." Dr. Brand has helped us understand and appreciate the central nervous system which allows us to feel pleasure and pain.

For centuries people believed that leprosy was a flesh eating disease. In fact leprosy is a disease that destroys the central nervous systems ability to register pain. Without pain the body cannot tell when damage is being done. Many foolishly assume that to be without pain is a good thing. North Americans consume 50% of the manufactured drugs in the world. One-third of them work on the central nervous system. We kill pain better than anyone, yet the more we do the more pain strikes back. If leprosy is the inability to feel pain, then alcohol and drug addiction are forms of self-imposed leprosy. We are rendered pain free and thus appendages are broken, damaged and eventually rot away from abuse because there is no pain to warn. Pain is a gift. It is the gift none of us want, but a gift none the less.

Imagine a garden where there was no sin, no sorrow and yes, no suffering. Imagine a place where the central nervous system of Adam and Eve was fully functional for pleasures and delights but not pain. There were no thorns. Then sin came and with sin, death and with death, pain. Reality hit the human race like a speeding locomotive. We have been hurting, bleeding, and suffering in pain ever since. Yet, God gave grace in the midst of our fall.

Grace is God's power when we have no power. Grace is God's ability when we have no ability. Grace is God's provision when we have no provision. Grace, if you can grasp it, was built into our central nervous system, waiting for the need. The central nervous system was designed by God and so well designed that even the fall could not keep it from providing a powerful function. The ability to feel pain is God's gracious gift to keep us from doing worse damage to ourselves.

My central nervous system is fully functional. I am in great pain. I am not pretending. This pain reminds me that I loved deeply and was loved greatly. This pain reminds me that I am alive and that I survived, even as I fight a strong wish to the contrary. This pain reminds me that greater damage can come if I do not carefully heal. This pain reminds me that there are deeper truths I have been skipping over in my exuberance. This pain reminds me of what God actually did promise and some things I falsely assumed He promised.

What He actually promised was His presence and the clarity of His voice. Most importantly, He promised that He is enough. Ps. 68:19 says: "Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens." This pain, I grudge the thought, is a gift.

Ed Litton

God's Help In the Shadow-lands

I am often asked, "How are you doing?” Those who ask, pause as if they had asked a dumb question. It is not a dumb question. It is a caring question, a comforting question, a great question. It is a question that shows someone cares.

So how am I doing? I am filled with a strange mixture of overwhelming sorrow and perfect peace. I have an odd combination of pain and joy; both bring me to tears. I have discovered that I can weep both tears of sorrow and tears of joy simultaneously. This must be what it feels like for the Lord to be my help.

People have said they want to do more than “just” pray for me; I am convinced that prayer is the greatest thing anyone can do for me. I have no strength of my own. However, through prayer, God's sustaining grace gives me strength and is sufficient for every need. This must be what it feels like for the Lord to be my help.

At this moment in my life, though I have a very weird, strange, and odd mixture of deep loss and great gain, God’s powerful presence is not shy. Temptations are real. At times, I am tempted to give in to bitterness, anger, questioning, and resentment. Yet, in the presence of those enemies, He makes me to settle down. He restores my soul. My cup overflows. Surely, His goodness and mercy follow me this day and everyday. This must be what it feels like for the Lord to be my help.

While walking through this valley of the shadow-lands, I hear terrifying howls. At first they seem to come from distant dark places. Then I realize they are coming from within my own soul; loneliness and grief are crying out. But I am not alone, for He is with me. I am comforted by His rod and staff. This must be what it feels like for the Lord to be my help.

When evening falls, it falls quicker in the shadow-lands. It seems darker in the shadow-lands. Yet, He is with me. Though death is still threatening, I don’t dread it as before. Though death is still a mighty foe, its victory was vanquished when my Shepherd conquered the grave. Though we all deserve death, the grace of God gives us eternal life in Christ alone. Sin has lost its power. The power of death is now gone. The sting has been removed. This must be what it feels like for the Lord to be my help.

Ed Litton

Satan does not respect your grief

When it comes to my relationship with Tammy I have no regrets. I said this the night of her visitation to several people. As the hours turn now into days and days into weeks, I have challenged that thought. I certainly do not have regrets about our relationship. It was rewarding beyond my ability to describe. It was joyful and full of laughter. It was amazing how we fit and how God shaped us to each other. But that word regret has been on my mind. Until last week. Do I regret anything now? I do.

In adjusting to our new normal, I have been cleaning, doing laundry, cooking (please understand what I mean by that word), paying bills, managing accounts, schedules, on top of our own unique ways of grieving. I do not know how Tammy did all that she did. I knew she made the lives of her husband and children easy and wonderful. I know that her gifted servants heart was enclined by God's design to serve us but I do not even know she could track all that she did. At first as this thought crept over me, I began to feel real regret. Did I tell her enough, did I show her how much I appreciated her? Cause I really did, not just now in my new and lonesome awareness of her. Then it happened. The Accuser wispered. "No, Ed you did not appreciate her enough!" A deep sadness crawled on me. I wept regret all over myself.

Yesterday I opened her drawer. You know, the draw a woman has where very personal things are kept. Beneath some clothes, resting quietly was a stack of letters, cards and notes. There are letters from our kids to their mom. There was a note of encouragement from a dear friend. On top of all of them was a note from me. I do not remember writing it. It has no date. It was a note that expressed my deep appreciation for everything she does to make my life worth living. I told her how I could not do ministry or function without her. I told her how I cherish her. An awareness came over me. A joy filled me. Satan, I said, I just remembered something. You are a liar! I just want to remind you that your going to Hell forever and ever. Get out! You have no right or authority over me because I'm under the blood of Jesus.

We all need to stop listening to him.

Ed Litton

Life is Daily

Tammy and I met while attending the University of Arizona. We were blessed to be a part of a move of God in a college ministry at First Southern Baptist Church of Tucson. Our pastor, Ron Hart was a young radical pastor whom God used to spark a revival among us and our fellow students. We were so full of passion for the Lord that we would witness to anything, anywhere at anytime. Our love and passion for Jesus seemed to explode at times. We did things that today make us blush.

Believe it or not a group of five of us were so bold, that we drove
eight hours to Fullerton, California to meet Chuck Swindoll. Swindoll
had just began a national radio broadcast called Insight for Living.
It was a different style of preaching than we were accustomed but there
was depth and practical application and we loved it. In case you are
wondering, yes, we made an appointment. What we did not take into
consideration was Los Angeles traffic, and we arrived for our
appointment thirty minutes late, and Chuck had already left for his
next appointment. His secretary felt sorry for us, so she whispered
the name of the restaurant in which Chuck was meeting someone for
lunch. Today, I can't believe she did that or that we did what I am
admitting to now. Grief must makes men more honest.

We arrived at the restaurant. Now, please understand, not one of us
had ever seen Mr. Swindoll. His voice was so handsome we assumed he
was tall, sun tanned and blonde. Getting out of the car Tammy had the
presence of mind to ask the obvious question; "How will we know him?"
No one thought of that before. I said, "Come on we will figure it
out!" This has been a repeated theme in my life. I led this gaggle of
naive, Swindoll groupies into the Hungry Tiger restaurant, wide eyed
and expectant. After asking the greeter where Chuck Swindoll was
seated and receiving a blank stare I looked around the room for the man
I imagined him to be. It was at this point, I realized how impossible
it is to identify someone's looks by their voice. So I did what any
stupid, bold young neo-radical would do, I spoke out loud his name in
the entire restaurant. "Chuck Swindoll! Is Mr. Swindoll here?" Every
eye turned toward me as silence fell on the crowded dining area. From
a booth across the room, a timid and reluctant hand rose. Now, I was
thrilled to identify him but now I encountered another dilemma. This
somewhat portly, middle aged man who frankly, looked nothing like he
does on radio, was red faced and understandably annoyed by our
interruption. Who could blame him? All five of us gushed all over
him. In less than a minute we poured our gratitude out on the table
for his faithful preaching of God's word. We assured him that it was
making a huge difference in our lives. In the awkward silence that
followed we knew it was time to leave. We left and drove back to
Tucson.

Our passion, misguided at times, was a powerful fuel in our lives. God
shaped us however, through a willingness to go anywhere and do just
about anything for Him. However, it takes more than raw passion in
life. It takes wisdom, courage and grace. We wanted to grow in Christ
more than anything in life and we did grow. We grew as fast as weeds
but as strong and fruitful as trees. One phrase that Tammy and I heard
Chuck Swindoll say was; "The hard thing about life is that it is so
daily." That one phrase captured us as an insight, simple and
real. It is amazing how many times over twenty-five years you will
repeat an insight that impacted you. The truth of that statement even
comforts me today. Paul in his second letter to the Corinthians, yet
another group of passionate followers of Christ who were in need of
maturity said: "But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal
procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of
the knowledge of him." (2Cor. 2:14)

Through the years one thing has proven itself true to me. Passion can
be misguided at times, however, a passion for Christ even one that
bleeds over onto others, is a powerful and wonderful thing. It is life
itself and many mature saints long to regain passion. Regardless of
what you face today, God leads us in triumphal procession in Christ.
When we follow Him, He leads us ultimately to a throne of Grace. We
tend to live for major events in life, but the truth is life is daily.
Each day has trouble of its own. Each day has grace sufficient. Each
day is an opportunity to fuel our passion and walk in simple daily
obedience. We are to be the aroma of Christ wherever this day leads us.

Now that I dwell upon the thought of Tammy's life, it is like planting
my nose in a beautiful flower and breathing in the aroma. She was a
servant like Jesus, tireless and joyful. She was honest about who she
was and comfortable with that. She loved broken and honest people
because she knew that you must be broken before the aroma can come out.


Her sweet aroma lingers!
Ed Litton

The Future

The future seems incredibly daunting. To be honest, it is terrifying. When I allow my mind to dwell on the future, panic invades my heart. I am confident this will not always be the case. However, it is reality at this point. My mind wants to return to that place where dread dwells. My thoughts run to the dark shadows of a very undesirable place in time.

So, what can I do with all the uncertainties and “what-ifs” of life? My dear friend, Billy Graham encouraged me from his own experience with grief. He did what a good friend should do. He reminded me of what I already know, in order for me to apply the truth to my hurting heart.

According to scripture—the truth, how are we to handle an uncertain, scary, and dark future? First, remember God is present. Psalm 46:1 tells us, “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.” When Moses saw the burning bush and asked God what His name was, God simply replied "I Am." Jesus affirmed that He was the same "I Am" God. Why would God reveal Himself in this odd present tense? Most people introduce themselves with the things done in the past, or their dreams for the future. Not God; He is present. However, because He is the God of the present--this moment, does not suggest He cannot see the future. The future is as clear to Him as our past is clear to us. Actually, it is clearer. In Matt. 6:34 Jesus said, “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” In these verses, He reminded us that He gives us bite size chunks of life, to be lived out daily--one breath at a time, while trusting in His sovereign plan for all our tomorrows.

Second, realize why the future is so frightening. The future frightens us because we cannot see God in the future. All we see is the ominous unknown and we imagine the worst case scenario. Praise God! He is with us in our present pain, sorrow, or suffering. Psalm 34:18 says, “The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” There is a problem when we look toward the future: we cannot see what God will do, if the worst case scenario happens. We tend to see only that which causes us fear. If the worst possible dread becomes reality in our life, His presence becomes the difference between despair and hope.

Third, trust Him for tomorrow. Nothing intimidates God; however, we are intimated. In Ephesians, Paul reminded us that we are not unaware of the methods of Satan. Satan plays upon our fears to manipulate us into actions that ultimately do us harm. He does not respect our grief and pain; he delights in our suffering. He is a pervert! 1Peter 5:8 warns us, “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”

I have purposed to pray and seek the prayers of friends so that I may not fall prey to Satan’s evil schemes. I struggle to focus and look to the future; when I do, I rest my fears upon the Lord. I trust my future to Him. He is not unfaithful. He is LORD! I find with grief, grace is abundant and obvious.

Thank you for Praying!
Ed Litton

To See His Face

The seventeenth Psalm is simply titled a prayer of David. It is a prayer not unlike the prayers you and I would pray when we face pressure and danger in life. David asks for God's favor in dealing with real and perceived enemies. The prayer of David here is beautiful but it is how he ends the prayer that arrest my heart this day. Psalm 17:15 And I—in righteousness I will see your face; when I awake, I will be satisfied with seeing your likeness.

When Tammy slipped through the painful bonds of life into eternity, the first things she observed in that moment of awakening was His face. His face. What an amazing thought. To see the one who knows everything about you and yet His utter knowledge does not deminish His utter love for you, is overwhelming in thought. To look into the face of the one who gave His all for the joy of this moment. His joy is to see His beloved redeemed finally and completely. I can imagine that in that moment for Tammy, there was a warm, deeply intense, purifying warmth that swiftly erased the childbirth pain of dying. Then in that moment I imagine her eyes widening, pupils dialating and her tender lips seperating in awe. She saw Him, Jesus. The corners of his lips now turning upward. His embrace so utterly enveloping and satisfying like mighty wings wraping her in His love. In that moment, Tammy knew what David imagined. "I will be satisfied with seeing your likeness."

I must tell you a secret. Our love was intense but it grew to be like that. We were able to share a great love because of Him. You see Tammy had a love before me and I before her. The love of her life is Jesus. I got more love out of Tammy by her keeping first things first. It was tempting to put her in the first place but I knew not to do that. He must be first and when He is my love for wife, children and friends is greater than it could have been consuming all of me. I lost Tammy a long time ago to another man. The God-man, Jesus. I am glad I did.

In my good grief I receive comfort in this. Grief becomes so self-centered. It becomes all about my pain and sadness and loss. God's word reminds me through David's prayer that it is about something more, something greater. It is about Him. When I awake, I will be satisfied with seeing Him! Then I will go looking for her.
Ed Litton

HELP!

In the midst of grief there is something else. I can only describe as help. Psalm 121:1-2 "I lift up my eyes to the hills - where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth."

Help comes to make practical decisions. Help comes to face difficult truths. Help comes to hang up a garment of your loved one, now ten times more valuable, returned from the cleaners. Help comes to look at a picture that reminds you of just how much you've lost. Help comes when you walk into Target and are flooded with a memory. Help comes when a horrible fear climbs on you at sunset. Help comes when you reach for the phone to call her and share a joyful or funny story, only to remember. Help comes when the tear damn breaks, again. Help comes.

Where does the help come from? David was right, it comes from the Lord. Psalm 121 is a song pilgrims sang as they went to worship at the Temple in Jerusalem. As they made their way up the hill to the city, filled with expectation, they would sing. Called a song of ascent, it was the act of worship before you arrived at the place of worship. It was a reminder of the price of worship, ascending upward when you may not feel like it. I am struck by the reality that in order to ascend you must first descend through the Kidron valley. It is a song fitting for those who grieve.

The Lord helps. When you read the eight verses of this song you will agree that the Lord watches over you also. He shades you with His right hand. "The sun will not harm you by day or the moon by night." The Lord is faithful to help. Make no mistake, His help comes in the midst of pain, sorrow, suffering, loss, grief, and danger. The Lord is there in the crowd of problems, hurt emotions and anger, standing out in the midst of these things, bringing His help. He does not remove
these painful realities but He does not seem intimidated by them either. We wish He would just zap them but He does something better, He comes to us when they arrive. The look on His face tells me that He has a plan. "My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth." It took quite a plan to make heaven and earth, I can rest assured He has a plan for me.

When precious hurting people ask to help me in practical ways, I cannot fully describe to you what it does to me. It comforts me. Their love warms me and reminds me of the love of Jesus in the flesh. Many have expressed what I have often felt in comforting another. I felt like I needed to show my love and concern in some practical way. I would say: "I am praying for you but I want to do something more!" Regardless of the cost, I want to help my hurting friend. I have come to depend on such help and I see it joyfully as the hands of God moving through His body, the church.

Friend, thank you for your love but I want you to listen to me, You can not do more than pray! Pray as the Spirit of God prompts you in the night. Pray for God to move. Pray for the Lord to be my help and the help of my family. Where you not praying, I cannot imagine what I would do.

My help comes from the Lord!
Ed

We Fly Away

Psalm 90:10 The length of our days is seventy years— or eighty, if we have the strength; yet their span is but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away.

One week ago my life changed. In one swift moment the unthinkable became reality.

The afternoon of Thursday, August 16, 2007, I was in another office at the church meeting with a friend from out of town. Tammy and Kayla were traveling after school to Hattiesburg, Mississippi for Kayla to audition with a cello professor. An hour, or so, after they left me at the office, I heard my cell phone ringing on my assistant’s desk. I let it ring thinking Judy would pick it up. Then my private phone began ringing, followed by my cell phone again. Suddenly, I remembered Judy had left the office early for an out of town trip. Immediately, I left the meeting to answer my cell phone. My precious daughter’s voice was on the other end. "Daddy! Oh, Daddy!" "Kayla, what's wrong?" I asked, as my heart rose to meet my throat. "Mommy is asleep and a man just pulled me out of the car." I knew what that meant: tragedy had intruded into our everyday existence. Instantly, I knew I needed to be with my daughter. The man who pulled Kayla from the wreckage then got on the phone. "Is my wife okay?" I asked urgently. "Sir, you need to get here as soon as possible."

I don't know how, but in approximately thirty minutes Dr. Mike Cook, my longtime friend and colleague, drove me to the halfway point between Mobile and Hattiesburg—the scene of the accident. Traffic was backed up almost a mile. We drove on the shoulder of the road until a policeman directed us to take the opposite lane. An ambulance was parked at the top of a slight hill; Kayla was lying on a stretcher inside. An eighteen wheeler sat facing west, in the right lane a few hundred yards from where our truck stopped. As Mike navigated to the ambulance, I saw a group of men standing around.

As a pastor, I’ve been present at the site of many gut-wrenching tragedies. I cannot tell you how many times I have been at the scene of horrible traffic accidents, suicides, and other such tragedies. In every case, the severity of the tragedy that has just occurred can be readily judged by the manner in which people stand around awkwardly shuffling their feet with their heads down, avoiding eye contact. As we came upon the scene and I observed those present, I said "Mike, Tammy is gone!" Though he sought to reassure me that may be a premature estimation, I knew otherwise.

I stepped into the ambulance to comfort my terrified daughter. At that time, we thought Kayla’s arm may have been broken. Medical personal would not tell Kayla or me anything about Tammy. Once assured that Kayla was in good hands, I stepped out into the humid sunshine to go and see about my precious wife. I was stopped by a medic. I pulled away and continued on my way to her. A patrolman motioned for me to step back, because I was standing where the helicopter was about to land. I went back into the ambulance. At this point, Kayla was crying for me not to make her fly in the helicopter. I assured her that it was safe and that I would be with her.

Mike and a highway patrolman motioned for my attention. "Mr. Litton, you need to sit down." "No,” I said, “shoot straight with me." My dear and courageous friend Mike said, "Pastor, Tammy did not make it. I am so sorry!" I do not know how to express what I felt; it was shock and I knew it was shock. I was numb, yet fully aware that what I had just been told was true. The helicopter landed and a tall medic, in a blue flight suit, said to me. "Mr. Litton, come this way." He escorted me to the passenger side of the helicopter. The seat-belt was trapped and snapped in place. I shook hands with the pilot and thanked him for his help. I heard noise in the back and felt the cabin pressurize, as the back door was closed. "Stand by." The pilot announced to the crew. "Ready!" was their response. As the helicopter lifted upward, I took note of my emotions. No tears yet, no panic, but I wouldn't call it peace. It was peaceful, but it was simply a still moment. The kind of moment God has used in my life many times when He was about to punctuate a truth in me. As we lifted, I could see those men--those sweet helpless helpers who had come to my wife and daughter’s rescue. They stood awkwardly around Tammy's body, now covered with a blanket. Two men attempted to shield my view of her with a blue tarp. I remember thinking, "Don't do that. It's okay."

As the helicopter lifted swiftly up, I could not take my eyes off of her petite frame lying beneath that blanket. Then suddenly, clearly the Spirit of God spoke to my shocked and wounded heart. He said, "This is the path Tammy just took just a few minutes ago." Peace flooded my soul and for the next fifteen minutes, as we made our way to the trauma center in Mobile. I knew God had sent His holy angels and they had lifted her up on wings like eagles and she rose, as if raptured, into His holy presence.

You may call me a mystic. Perhaps I am that, but I believe God graces us with moments of insight. I believe He occasionally allows us to stand so close to the edge that we see His glory and hear the fluttering of angel’s wings. I cling not to my experience that day; I cling to the Word of God, by which I judge my experience and I find nothing inconsistent with God's Word in my experience. I believe and long for the coming of the Lord, either in my life or in the Second Coming of Christ.

Psalm 90:10 tells us, The length of our days is seventy years— or eighty, if we have the strength; yet their span is but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away. My sweet wife did not get seventy or eighty years in this life. From my earthbound and sorrowful perspective, my bride of twenty-five years of marriage and over twenty-eight years of friendship, suffered a sudden and tragic death. At the same time, I am confident that because of the grace of God through the shed blood of Jesus Christ, in whom she trusted, Tammy did fly away.

Regrets are usually created by the things we delay, or put off, until such a moment that we become aware that we cannot now do what was needed. Psalm 90:12 teaches us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. There is a joy that comes from knowing you have numbered your days and prepared in advance by trusting Christ as Savior and Lord. Be ready. For in an hour when you may least expect it, the Lord may say, "Quickly, come home." Then you too will fly away.

Ed Litton

HOPE

Tammy and I have so much we wish to teach our children but in this hour I find myself learning from them. Kayla and I hugged and wept together the other day and she opened her heart to me. Amazingly, every thing she said, I was feeling. Even how she said it was how I would have chosen to say it. Today she shared a poem with me that she wrote less than two weeks ago. We were on our way to visit Josh in Orlando. The amazing part of this poem it how fitting it is for where we are two weeks later.

Hope
by Kayla Litton

What do you do
When hope seems so far away
That you think you won't last another day
When you are afraid of your own thoughts
Afraid that they will make you remember what you lost
Every minute you keep yourself occupied
Trying to avoid the times where you could not stop and cry
The times themselves were not all bad
But all you can dwell on is what you used to have
But as hard as you try
Gone is the only word that occupies your time
Try as you may, but the memories won't go away
What is the one thing that can gets you through
Hope
Hope is what makes you carry on
Hope is what will make you strong
Strong so that someday, you can realize you were wrong
Hopes that you will see her again
Hopes to be forgiven for your sin
But hope is the thing that makes you pick yourself up
And not to eventually forget the times that were hard
But hopes that those times will not scar
As hopes of focusing on the good times
Memories that make you smile when they come to mind
Memories of the good times
Times when you saw her smile
When you sat and laughed for a while
When she stroked your head ,and said I love you
The thought that you will see her someday new

I am proud of a thirteen year old girl with wisdom, wit and insight to
the human soul. I know Tammy is proud.

I am also proud of my dear wife's choice to stay home and invest in the lives of our three children. Schooling at home is not for the faint of heart. Tammy had many misgivings but conquored them all like the champion she was. She was the greatest teacher they will ever know. Tyler told me while we were selecting books for his new college courses that many of the required readings he already read. In his freshman year of high school Tammy had him read over 70 books. The typical way I left for work on most school days was to find them all sitting in the living room reading out loud some classic.

I am proud of Joshua for his leadership at this hour. I know from history that great leaders are often born in the midst of great crisis. He bears the marks of both parents but his servant heart is clearly learned and modeled by his mother.

I was not expecting God's grace to come to me in this manner. It is coming from so many places but the most rewarding is from the hearts, hands and lips of my beloved chlldren.

It is well with our souls!
Ed Litton

She Tuned the Orchestra of Our Lives

I cry tears of joy for the one who tuned the orchestra of my life…

Before the gift of Kayla came to us, I remember that Tammy had a "gig" as she called it. She had been asked to play principle oboe for a classical concert in Tucson. By some strange arrangement of our lives, it happened to fall on "Take Your Daughter to Work Day." That was the Feminist movement's way of glorifying a woman's role far away from home.

That night at the concert, I held a squirmy little Josh on one knee (well, you can imagine how difficult that would have been) and Tyler on the other. As the oboe began to tune the orchestra, I whispered, "Boys, listen."

They both stopped squirming. Simultaneously they looked up at me. It was the sound they'd heard in our house so many times as Tammy made reeds and practiced.

"Mom!" They knew who was playing the oboe. It was their mother.

As the symphony tuned to Tammy, I pulled the boys closer to me. "Your mother could tune the greatest orchestras in the world,” I whispered into their little ears, “but she chose to stay at home and raise two boys for the glory of God."

I don't know if that memory or my ambitious words have a place in their minds today. But I will never forget how she tuned our lives. How she played in perfect pitch the melody that made life worth living.

Ed

Love Your Neighbor

There are 6.5 billion people who inhabit planet earth. More than two billion of them, or one out of every three persons, claim to be Christians. According to the latest research from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, most non-Christians have never met a real Christian. It is estimated that as many as 86 percent of Buddhists, Hindus, and Muslims have never known a Christian. Globally, more than 80 percent of all non-Christians do not personally know a Christian.

This reveals a serious crisis for Christians. It appears that we have assigned ourselves to a gospel ghetto, in which we move only among those who share like faith and values. Our lives have been robbed of daily contact with non-Christians. Like His first disciples, we modern day followers of Jesus Christ have allowed our personal needs, likes, and dislikes to become superior to His command to love unsaved people. Isn’t it just like Jesus to disturb our comfort zone and lead us into some “Samaritan” city we would rather avoid, in order for people to come in contact with Christ? It is critical that we do not confuse our occasional journey out of our ghettos on a "mission" trip to be sufficient. We encounter people daily who have not yet met a "real" Christian. We need to pray expectantly: "Lord, open my eyes to see those you would have me love in your name."

Many of us confuse our emotions with our love; but, love is not primarily an emotion. It is a command. Love often requires that we put aside our personal likes, dislikes, and prejudices and see people the way Jesus does. We don't have to understand their ways, or like what entertains them, in order to reach out to them. Ultimately, we will all have to give an account to the Lord for exactly why we withheld love from people He called us to love. When Christ commanded us to love our enemies, He commanded action--not emotion.

During World War II, C.S. Lewis was asked to do a special radio series for the British people, describing the doctrines of Christianity. It originally aired on the BBC. These lectures were later compiled into a book called Mere Christianity. In discussing the Christian command to love your neighbor, Lewis declared that sometimes this comes easy and at other times it does not. “But though natural likings should normally be encouraged, it would be quite wrong to think that the way to become charitable is to sit trying to manufacture affectionate feelings. Some people are 'cold' by temperament; that may be a misfortune for them, but it is no more a sin than having a bad digestion is a sin; and it does not cut them out from the chance, or excuse them from the duty, of learning charity. The rule for all of us is perfectly simple: do not waste time bothering whether you 'love' your neighbor; act as if you did.”

Ed Litton

America's Secret Weapon

If you live or grew up in or around the town of McKeesport Pennsylvania you probably did not pay much attention to an aging owner of a local air conditioning and plumbing business. He looked pretty much like other men of his generation. Working a lot, loving his family and attending the Lutheran church down the street. A pleasant man who talked little about his past. Like so many World War II veterans who do not consider themselves heros just lucky to have survived. Yet, Glenn Rojohn has a story and amazing story you need to hear.


Captain Glenn Rojohn flew a B-17G Flying Fortress bomber in the 8th Air Force's 100th Bomb Group. On December 31, 1944 he was flying in formation to bomb targets in Hamburg, Germany. They braved heavy flak to reach their target and released their payload. They then turned 180 degrees to head out over the North Sea to their base in England. That is when they were attacked by a squad of German Messerschmitt's. At 22,000 feet mayhem was the order of the day. The Germans were so close, Glenn could see the faces of the pilots. Suddenly the A B-17 ahead of him burst into flames and drooped off toward the earth. Rojohn gunned it to move into the position of the fallen plane. That is when he felt the impact. The entire plan shuttered as Rojohn realized that he had collided with another plane below him also moving to take the lead.


The other plane was piloted by Lt. William G. McNab. It slammed into
Rojohn's A B-17 in such a way that neither planes wings or tail was
damaged. The strange part of the story was that the ball turret broke
through the fuselage of McNapp's plane and his top turret was now
locked in the belly of Rojohn's plane. They were stuck together
piggybacking across the sky. Glenn could feel the massive weight of
both planes begin to pull him out of the air. Three of McNapp's
engines continued to run while all four of Rojohn's engines continued
running although fire is now breaking out onboard both planes.


The the next few panic filled seconds men on board fought to free their friends stuck in the gun turrets. Pilots and copilots fought with their controls. Men who had just months before been farm-boys, soda jerks, students and lifeguards were not falling from 20,000 feet in the midst of explosions, confusion and certain death. Rojohn ordered his crew to jump. McNapps plane was already jumping out. As the two planes, mated together lumber toward the German countryside, Rojohn and his copilot stay at the controls. The earth is moving fast toward them. All of this does not escape the notice of people on the ground. One German manning an anti-aircraft gun stopped firing as he watched in amazement only to record the event in his report for the day. On the ground many wondered if this was a new American secret weapon.


The crew watched while floating to the earth as the two planes
separated just above the ground. Rojohn's plane pushes slightly upward
and crash lands hitting a wooden structure. His cockpit breaks away
and amazingly he and his copilot survive with little injury. Bill Leek
was Glenn's copilot. He unstraps his safely harness and steps out of
the broken plane, takes out a cigarette and starts to light up with a
shaky hand, when he saw a rather frustrated German soldier with a gun
pointed at him. The soldier was yelling at him to stop. Bill lifted
his hands with cigarette in one and lighter in the other. The excited
soldier motioned downward and Bill could see that he was standing in a pool of aviation fuel.


Amazingly only two of the six men who jumped from Rojohn's plane did
not survive. Four men from the other plane did survive including the
turret gunners. They were all taken prisoners and interrogated at
length by the Germans until they were satisfied that they were not
flying a new American secret weapon. Glenn Rojohn did not talk much
about his Distinguished Flying Cross or his Purple Heart he received
for that day. Nor would he ever take credit for the amazing events of
that day. Instead like so many other veterans he credited his comrades
and the bravery of those who did not get to come home.


The Germans got it right, we had a secret weapon flying over the snowy
hillsides of Germany that day. It was not an eight engine double
hulled A B-17. It was the secret weapon of American men, forced into
service by a war not of their own making, toughened by a childhood of
want, strengthened by a terrible resolve and filled with a longing to
go home. Our secret weapon was and still is the heart of the American
soldier.


Captain Glenn Rojohn, AAF, died a few years ago. Let us give thanks
for men like this.

The Civil War: Honorable Manhood

Ken Burns documentary, The Civil War, does a masterful job of presenting the deep emotion and meaning of Sullivan's letter to Sarah.

Honorable Manhood

In the spring of 1861, Sullivan Ballou was a 32 year Major of the Second Regiment, Rhode Island Volunteers. He was a man who had overcome his own family's poverty and had achieved significant status as a lawyer and state representative in his young life. He married his wife, Sarah, and they had two young boys, Edgar and Willie. When the war between the states became unavoidable, Sullivan volunteered out of a deep sense of love for his country and a unique conviction of honorable manhood.

We know about Sullivan Ballou today because of a letter he wrote to his wife Sarah. He, like many other soldiers, wrote a letter in the event of his death. It was never mailed home but it was found among his things and faithfully and sadly delivered. Soldiers still write these letters. They express his deepest values and his deepest love with the hope, dim as it may be, that it would never need to be read. From the date of its writing, we know that Sullivan penned it just days before the first major engagement of the Civil War, the battle of Bull Run.

The letter, when read, has a haunting beauty. There is a sense that you are reading something ultimately personal and that you should not be reading it. Yet, there is something gloriously inspiring about a man's love for his wife, children and country. People don't speak or write that way anymore, but after reading it, you will wish it was still a practice. Sullivan Ballou could be dismissed as a mere romantic, the product of his gilded age. I rather believe that, hidden in the dusty stack of history, he is an example of honorable manhood and thus worth reading.

Sullivan Ballou wrote this letter on July 14, 1861, waiting for orders to move out to the Virginia town of Manassas, where he and twenty-seven of his men would die one week later. The letter was retrieved from his things by the Governor of Rhode Island and delivered to his wife Sarah.

My very dear Sarah:

The indications are very strong that we shall move in a few days -- perhaps tomorrow. Lest I should not be able to write you again, I feel impelled to write lines that may fall under your eye when I shall be no more.

Our movement may be one of a few days duration and full of pleasure -- and it may be one of severe conflict and death to me. Not my will, but thine O God, be done. If it is necessary that I should fall on the battlefield for my country, I am ready. I have no misgivings about, or lack of confidence in, the cause in which I am engaged, and my courage does not halt or falter. I know how strongly American Civilization now leans upon the triumph of the Government, and how great a debt we owe to those who went before us through the blood and suffering of the Revolution. And I am willing -- perfectly willing -- to lay down all my joys in this life, to help maintain this Government, and to pay that debt.

But, my dear wife, when I know that with my own joys I lay down nearly all of yours, and replace them in this life with cares and sorrows -- when, after having eaten for long years the bitter fruit of orphanage myself, I must offer it as their only sustenance to my dear little children -- is it weak or dishonorable, while the banner of my purpose floats calmly and proudly in the breeze, that my unbounded love for you, my darling wife and children, should struggle in fierce, though useless, contest with my love of country?

I cannot describe to you my feelings on this calm summer night, when two thousand men are sleeping around me, many of them enjoying the last, perhaps, before that of death -- and I, suspicious that Death is creeping behind me with his fatal dart, am communing with God, my country, and thee.

I have sought most closely and diligently, and often in my breast, for a wrong motive in thus hazarding the happiness of those I loved and I could not find one. A pure love of my country and of the principles I have often advocated before the people and "the name of honor that I love more than I fear death" have called upon me, and I have obeyed.

Sarah, my love for you is deathless, it seems to bind me to you with mighty cables that nothing but Omnipotence could break; and yet my love of Country comes over me like a strong wind and bears me irresistibly on with all these chains to the battlefield.

The memories of the blissful moments I have spent with you come creeping over me, and I feel most gratified to God and to you that I have enjoyed them so long. And hard it is for me to give them up and burn to ashes the hopes of future years, when God willing, we might still have lived and loved together, and seen our sons grow up to honorable manhood around us. I have, I know, but few and small claims upon Divine Providence, but something whispers to me -- perhaps it is the wafted prayer of my little Edgar -- that I shall return to my loved ones unharmed. If I do not, my dear Sarah, never forget how much I love you, and when my last breath escapes me on the battlefield, it will whisper your name.

Forgive my many faults, and the many pains I have caused you. How thoughtless and foolish I have oftentimes been! How gladly would I wash out with my tears every little spot upon your happiness, and struggle with all the misfortune of this world, to shield you and my children from harm. But I cannot. I must watch you from the spirit land and hover near you, while you buffet the storms with your precious little freight, and wait with sad patience till we meet to part no more.

But, O Sarah! If the dead can come back to this earth and flit unseen around those they loved, I shall always be near you; in the garish day and in the darkest night -- amidst your happiest scenes and gloomiest hours -- always, always; and if there be a soft breeze upon your cheek, it shall be my breath; or the cool air fans your throbbing temple, it shall be my spirit passing by.

Sarah, do not mourn me dead; think I am gone and wait for thee, for we shall meet again.

As for my little boys, they will grow as I have done, and never know a father's love and care. Little Willie is too young to remember me long, and my blue-eyed Edgar will keep my frolics with him among the dimmest memories of his childhood. Sarah, I have unlimited confidence in your maternal care and your development of their characters. Tell my two mothers his and hers I call God's blessing upon them. O Sarah, I wait for you there! Come to me, and lead thither my children.

Sullivan

If Sullivan's letter is an example of honorable manhood, and it is, then we can benefit from his heartfelt expression. Honorable manhood has these elements: a profound and well nurtured faith in almighty God who is sovereign over the affairs of men, a deep love for a woman that is seen as God's gift to a man, and an overwhelming love for a man's children welded to a profound sense of responsibility to pass honorable manhood on to them. Honorable manhood finds it roots in the soil of God's eternal truth, the Bible. Honorable manhood believes and acts out of conviction. Sullivan Ballou lived what he believed. Honorable men are willing to fight for what is right and die, if need be, for the cause of liberty. Let living men strive to such heights and let us be willing to live what we believe.

Ed Litton

The Heart Prayer - My Heart is Christ's Home

Where Have All The Bloggers Gone?
I must begin with an apology. I have not been updating this blog as often as I would like. I could give you the long, drawn-out story, but I won’t put you through that. I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me, and so... let’s blog.

I recommend you read My Heart - Christ's Home by Robert Boyd Munger. It is a powerful parable of the heart; an insightful vision of the inner-workings of the spiritual life. Much of what I want to share with you is inspired by this great work.

I want to issue a challenge to you. I want to challenge you to read Psalm 139:23-24 and simply begin praying this prayer of David daily until the Lord searches your heart.

Psa. 139:23-24 states, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. 24 See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”

When I invited Jesus into my life, in essence I made my heart Christ's home. The problem in my heart is that all too often He is a guest; a welcome guest for sure, but sometimes only a guest. He is expected to behave by my rules and be grateful for the blessing of being invited into my heart, my home. However, Jesus did not come into my life under such terms. He came to be more than a guest. He came to be owner and Lord of the whole estate, and there lies the problem. I find myself holding back certain places in my heart; places that may be relatively clean, by my standards, but none-the-less off limits to Him.

David gives us a reminder that God knows all and sees all things in our lives. We are not fooling Him, only ourselves when we hold back and deny Him the rightful ownership of our heart.

David closes this Psalm with a sincere desire, asking the Lord to search his heart. In this search the Lord may well find locked doors. These are places where we resist the Lord's will for our lives. But we must open them to HIm. We can trust Him to do what is right, but we cannot trust Him to do what we want. That can lead to terrible anxiety. He may discover that behind one of those locked doors is something we have held back, cluttering our lives. It may not be on our list of morally objectionable behavior, but nevertheless, if it does not please Him it must go. It may even be as simple as reorganizing the closets of our lives. Maybe there is something that simply needs to be put in its proper place.

There will be those difficult, locked places that bring as much shame as pleasure, but we must open and surrender it to Him. He can deal with it. He knows how to make that place clean again. Why worry about stains and unclean places? God knows that they are unhealthy for us and they give our enemy advantage over our lives.

There is yet another reason; He is holy. He is holy in ways we cannot even comprehend, which frankly is another good reason to pray this prayer for Him to search our hearts. It is an important prayer because we tend to think that if we have avoided certain "sins" then we feel satisfied that we have a relatively clean heart. In fact, we can clean your houses ourselves only to discover that having a friend over reveals places we've overlooked. Jesus has perfect vision and sees the things we overlook. We are not capable of discovering all of the stains, and we need Him to help us see what sin really is and really does in our hearts.

Revival and spiritual refreshment is something every child of God desperately needs. It begins when we simply ask Christ to search out our hearts. We need Him to test our lives at the point of our fears and anxieties, and discover any offensive way in us. Then He will lead us in the way everlasting.

Revive Me!
Ed Litton

Birth Control or Self-Control

In the midst of 24 hour news cycles, with a cacophony of news stories, it is easy to overlook a very real battle that is going on right under our noses. There is a frontal assault against abstinence based education programs. These efforts to provide our children with a positive, affirming, and life-respecting option to modern sex indoctrination programs are welcomed by most parents. A recent Zogby poll of 1,000 parents indicated that 83% want their children to save sex until marriage. Who wouldn't want their child to receive the same life affirming message at school that they are given at home? What parent would rather their teenager play games with inflated condoms in school that promote methods of sexual experimentation?

In Deuteronomy 6, the Bible makes it clear that parents, fathers in particular, are to instruct their children in the commandments of the Lord. One of those commandments is that we shall not commit adultery. The Bible then commands fathers to conduct an ongoing, age appropriate conversation about God's law and the benefits of following God's law. This ongoing conversation sets the stage for one of the most powerful tools in the human experience: the conscience. When we treat children as animals and affirm the lie that they cannot delay or postpone urges, we demean them and set them up for a life of lower expectations and we make failure a certainty.

Obviously, not every person who has been prepared by godly, loving parents makes perfect choices. That reality does not diminish the need for loving leadership and that encourages our children to make wise and good choices in life. Deuteronomy 6:6 says, "These commandments that I give today are to be upon your hearts." In other words, a parent must have a vital conviction about the sexual ethics presented in scripture. Most parents today grew up in the sexually permissive 70's and 80's. I was not a math major in college, but I know that these years followed the 60's. This was a period of sexual revolution against the restraints of morality. If we are going to teach God's sexual ethic to our young, we must believe in that ethic with all of our hearts.

Regardless of your past failures, you still have a strong moral ground on which to stand. Stand firm in the truth of God and give your children the tools of self-control. A positive, affirming abstinence based message aids parents in their efforts to help their children mature by making choices based on moral convictions and not biological impulses.

The forces that are attacking abstinence programs are serious, because the idea of trusting kids to make wise choices is a threat to their agenda. That is why Rep. Henry Waxman (D-California) and others are openly attacking abstinence programs and making their goal clear: to take the funding for such programs and hand them over to Planned Parenthood, the largest provider of abortion services in the country. Their push for birth control over self-control demeans young people, as incapable of making moral choices. This message is echoed in the entertainment media, as well as the prevailing press. We must encourage our congressmen to uphold abstinence based programs that promote healthy and self-respecting futures for our chlldren.

Ed Litton

I Am Woman, Hear Me Roar

The National Organization of Women seems to be roaring with great concern. They are concerned about the Opt-Out Moms. This is not group of fascist terrorist women, though I get the impression that NOW would actually defend their participation in terror for the sake of equality. No, when you go to the NOW website you will a great deal of editorial applied at "debunking" the Opt-Out Moms.

What is an Opt-Out Mom? The New York Times identifies this as a group of highly paid, well-educated professional women who are opting out of corporate America and going home to raise a family. This is not yet a "tsunami" movement that threatens to flood the landscape of America, but NOW definitely seems worried. What do they know that they are not sharing? Better yet, what does an organization dedicated to equal, reproductive (abortion) and gay rights have to be concerned about a few women who choose to leave the workplace for the home-front?

NOW's concern may be rooted in the fact that 26 percent of women at the cusp of the senior-most levels of management are “opting out” of the promotion. Fortune Magazine found that of the 108 women who have appeared on its list of the Top 50 Most Powerful Women over the years, at least 20 have chosen to leave the corporate world for something they deem more fulfilling. NOW's anxiety is fueled by some highly recognizable women who have stepped out of the limelight for the home-fires. President Bush's adviser Karen Hughes left the White House for the benefit of her teenage son. Brenda C. Barnes, president and CEO of Pepsi-Cola left to go home to Illinois with her family. Wendy Chamberlin, ambassador to Pakistan resigned to spend time with her two young daughters. Why don't these women want to run the world? Maybe they have seen power and discovered where real power resides; not in the boardroom, but in the family room.

The NOW website lists several reasons its faithful followers need to debunk this "myth" of the Opt-Out Moms. They are pulling out all the guns to keep from losing ground. They use emotional appeals, deny the research that indicates a real trend is emerging, and seek to intimidate these women into submission. They do this by suggesting that if these women could be interviewed fifteen to forty years from now, they would be very sorry for their choices when they try to live on "skimpy retirement incomes." The NOW material says, "You might hear a more jaundiced view of their “choices.” (http://www.now.org/issues/mothers/070318opt-out_myth.html)

The perspective of the Opt-Out Moms is refreshing. These women who have actually been to the high places of Cooperate America are finding that they don’t want to take time from their family in pursuit of success. Instead, women are redefining success. And in doing so, they are redefining work." (http://www.montana.edu/wrt/opt_out_revolution.pdf

While I think this trend is promising, it is not altogether encouraging. I believe the church needs to challenge these Opt-Out-Moms to consider the claim of scripture in the 127th Psalm.

1 Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain. 2 In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat — for he grants sleep to those he loves. 3 Sons are a heritage from the LORD, children a reward from him. 4 Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in one’s youth. 5 Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. They will not be put to shame when they contend with their enemies in the gate.

Like these bright, well-educated and honorable women, we would do well to rediscover the truth that real power is found when the Lord builds a home.

Ed Litton

Would You Vote For An Atheist?

There are groups of Americans who have a genuine fear. Their fear is that the "right wing" of the Republican party, namely Evangelical Christians, are in danger of "taking over." When you visit their websites and read their blogs, they seem to have one major argument for their brand of separation of church and state. They are fond of calling our chief document the Godless Constitution. Are they right? Their argument seems solid and factual; one needs only to read the U.S. Constitution and look for the word "God" to find that His name is not mentioned. Arthur Schlesinger Jr, gives a clear summation in a 2004 article for Los Angeles times. He states, "The founding fathers did not mention God in the Constitution, and the faithful often regarded our early presidents as insufficiently pious."
At the same time, there are great efforts being made to reconstruct the character of the founding generation. This historical strip-mining began in the late 19th century in the academic circles, and in the 20th century it became the parlor game of film makers. Most often the founding generation is held to a modern perspective with little or no consideration of the times in which they lived. Bold declarations are made about what the writers of the Constitution believed, as if the modern historians could mystically look beyond the vast amount of their personal writings and look straight into their secular souls.
In fact, the U.S. Constitution does not mention God. It neither mentions the sun, but it was written in the light of that vast shining orb. The founding generation assumed that certain things were in their own words "self-evident." They believed that anyone with common sense could see the sunshine and know that there is a God.
The early state constitutions of Texas, Massachusetts, Maryland, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee all had some kind of religious test for potential government officials. One even required an expressed belief in the Trinity before one could serve in an elected office. There were doubtless political motivations behind some of these requirements. There was also a firm belief that if a person denied certain "self-evident" truths, they were not likely to be trusted as leaders. I am not arguing that these specific examples should have stood when the VI Amendment erased religious tests in the U.S. Constitution, but it is important not to erase the entire sunshine of the founding generation's awe, reverence and dependance upon almighty providence, yes, God.
The Secular Coalition for America is overjoyed to have found one single U.S. Congressman from a liberal district near San Francisco named Rep. Pete Stark (D-CA) who is a professing atheist. They are celebrating his courage for coming out of the secular closet. A strange celebration? He is the only one out of all 534 of his colleagues who was willing to identify himself as a member of the Universalist church. It does appear that the Secular Coalition for America is really stretching to get a win. They had to coax him out of the closet. It seems that for most Americans, what people believe generally is still an important issue. I, for one, do not want religious tests, but I promise you as one voting and active citizen, I look at what the candidates in my voting booth believe about the existence of the sun and the existence of God. I want to know if a candidate has common sense and if they know that one day they will stand before the Judgement Seat and give an account of their actions. Voters can un-elect a politician, but God... Well, He is another story.
Ed Litton

A Battle of World Views

We are in a major battle between two world views.  One is shaped by the Bible and the other is shaped by "naturalistic science."  In a recent article in USA TODAY, Tom Krattenmaker calls for creationists to let “science be science, and let religion prevail in the vast areas where science has little or nothing to offer."  His argument sounds convincing until you question the premise of it.

For many years, Evangelical Christians have been willing to fight on what appears to be the front line of a battle between our world view and other opposing views.  We have been involved in one battle after another, all too often losing ground.  Krattenmaker suggests that we cannot win against the massive giant of empirical evidence called science.   Christians fight the decline in morals, the drifting of our once biblically based culture into paganism, the increased acceptance of perversion, the lowering of public morality and the skyrocketing of  legions of cultural problems.  If we are losing ground in the culture, it is because we are not attacking the real source of our battle.

I am convinced that while we must show up for the battle when a clear and present danger appears, we need to strategize to defeat other world views at the core of their belief.   For instance, instead of fighting the decline and redefinition of marriage, we need to attack the root of the problem - the origin of marriage.  The discussion of origins is the key battle.  If one accepts that man evolved, then there is no absolute truth and no ultimate judge of all mankind.  If, in fact, we are not uniquely created by God, then we have no intrinsic value, meaning, or purpose outside of ourselves.  Mr. Krattenmaker advises people of a biblical world view to go home and continue to privatize "religious beliefs" and leave the science to professionals with a naturalistic world view.  

Mr. Krattenmaker is asking Christians to do what all too many have
already done.  Sing hymns, preach sermons, hold meetings, but do not interrupt scientists as they shout down the evidence with bold declarations that  are, in fact, full of inconsistencies. Krattenmaker seems to believe that when evidence is lacking, the best answer is to tell those who are offering another opinion to go home.

Krattenmaker raises this question: "Do religious believers really want the truth of their faith wagered on an attempt to prove that countless scientists have somehow botched their reading of the fossil record?" Mr. Krattenmaker, you speak of these "countless scientists" as if they hold all empirical truth in their hands.  My world view teaches me that humans are quite capable of error when they are looking at evidence through the lens of a philosophical perspective.  What about men like German geneticist Richard Goldschmidt and famed evolutionist Stephen Jay Gould who promoted the theory of punctuated equilibrium.  This is the speculation that there were quantum leaps from one species to another.  Why would they theorize such things when there is no compelling evidence for evolution in the fossil record?

If we heed Krattenmaker’s counsel we will continue to lose important battles.  Most tragically, we will  continue to lose the hearts and minds of the next generation.  We will abandon them to a world view without God, and we will cower in the corner of irrelevance taking our place with the cowards of history.  No Thanks!

Ed Litton

The Trouble with Brothers

I read the Bible through each year.  It is a wonderful way to gain God's perspective on life.  I highly recommend it for anyone.  What I do not recommend is reading the Bible like a novel.  Read it intelligently by reading a couple of chapters from the Old Testament and a chapter or so in the New Testament each day.  In a year you will have read the entire Bible.  Our church website has a daily Bible reading plan (www.northmobile.org). 

Last week,  during my reading, a couple of passages came into amazing focus for me.  In Genesis 37, Joseph's brothers were fully involved with a three alarm jealous hatred for their younger and more favored brother.  So when he came with his multicolored coat and his account of yet another dream, they reached the end of their rope.  Gen. 37:19 -20 states that when he appeared, they said to each other, "Here comes that dreamer!" Come now, let's kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns and say that a ferocious animal devoured him. Then we'll see what comes of his dreams."

The cruelty of these men toward their brother is hard to imagine even in our world where cruelty is displayed daily in high definition clarity.  They threw Joseph into a pit and sat around eating, drinking, and talking about killing him.  All the while, their  younger brother cried, moaned and pleaded.  Their hearts had grown so hard toward him that his suffering became inconsequential.  In the morning,  a caravan of Midian traders on their way to Egypt passed by.  One brother, maybe less blood thirsty or more fearful of God, convinced the others to sell Joseph for eight ounces of silver.  Currently, silver is trading at about $12 and ounce.  Life and brotherhood can be cheap.

I then turned to the New Testament and found myself in Matthew, chapter twelve.  Jesus was in a synagogue with a hostile group of religious leaders who were all about entrapment.  They were combing through Jesus' words looking for any reason to discredit or destroy Him. John spoke of these men in John chapter one, verse eleven, when he said,   "He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him (NKJV).  These religious leaders found a man in the congregation with an arm that was either defective from birth or badly damaged in an accident.  They asked Jesus if it would be lawful to heal him on the Sabbath.  Jesus replied; “What man is there among you who has one sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not lay hold of it and lift it out? (NKJV). 

The light came on in my head.  I saw a similarity between Joseph's brothers sitting around a pit and these religious leaders sitting around a different kind of pit.  Joseph's brothers had no compassion for him.  These leaders had no compassion for the man with the withered arm.  Both passages deal with the value of people verses possessions.  The trouble with brothers is that often the people who should care do not do so.  Well, they care, but the problem is that they care about the wrong things.  Jesus came to do many things, not the least of which was to challenge our status quo in life; to make us realize that people matter more than things.  How easy it is to allow priorities to get out of perspective. 

Matthew then quoted Isaiah in describing the characteristics of the coming Messiah.  "A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out, till he leads justice to victory."  The trouble with brothers is that we are all too human.  The religious-type or the family-type or even the near neighbor do not value people for very long.  We can treat people like material things, like reeds and candles, but when they are bruised, we find it quicker and easier to break them off and cast them aside.  When they are already on the smoldering end of their career, we find it more expedient to snuff them out.  Jesus is just the opposite.  He gently strengthens the bruised reed.  He cups his hands around the smoldering wick and softly blows new wind, and a fresh fire once again emerges.  No wonder Proverbs 18:24 says, “A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.”
Ed Litton

Jesus Hates Clutter

At the beginning of the New Year, there are plenty of tips in magazines to help you with your resolutions.  Weight loss tips abound, but it now seems that there is a lot of information on helping you to organize your workspace and get rid of clutter in your life.   True anti-clutter freaks pride themselves on having open, clean, and organized lives.  It is rare to find two married people who both hate clutter.  Usually one is as neat and clean as like Felix Unger of the Odd Couple, while the other is like Oscar Madison. 

I have come to the conclusion that Jesus is a bona fide clutter-hater.  Now, I do not like to identify Jesus with the word hate, although we know God hates sin.  I think I stand on solid ground to suggest that Jesus hates clutter.  In the opening chapters of his gospel, John relates a story that proves my point.  Notice as you read this passage that Jesus is very politically incorrect.  He exhibits anger (righteous anger), he violates several peoples’ personal space, he makes judgments, and actually throws people out of a religious place.

John 2:14-17   In the temple courts he found men selling cattle, sheep
and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. 15  So he
made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple area, both
sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and
overturned their tables. 16   To those who sold doves he said, “Get
these out of here! How dare you turn my Father’s house into a market!
17   His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house
will consume me.”

Jesus clearly despises the religious clutter that accumulates in our lives
and churches.  He found His Father's house filled with people who
were making a financial killing selling sacrifices to out-of-towners and to  frankly lazy worshippers.  This sale of sacrifices destroys the very concept of a personal sacrifice to the Lord. We also see that there were money changers.  Anyone who has ever traveled out of this country knows that if you exchange money, you stand a good chance of being cheated.  The same was true then.  There was a third, grievous action taking place daily in God's temple.  It seems that because the temple was the center of life in Jerusalem, working people carrying burdens and heavy loads had to maneuver around the Temple area.   Someone relaxed the rules and maybe for a small fee allowed them to save time and carry their loads right through the Temple area.  Jesus was outraged.  Zeal for the house of God consumed Him.

Zeal for His Father's House still consumes Jesus.  It no doubt grieves the LORD when His church places things, even good things, in the way of people meeting God.  2007 is a great time to get organized, uncluttered and start taking worship seriously.

Let me make a few simple suggestions:
1. Get ready for church on Saturday.  Prepare clothes and meals, and make a plan for how the LORD's day will be spent.
2. Arrive at church on time.  Be ready and anticipate that Jesus will be there.
3. Come ready to be used to encourage, admonish, lift up and share what God is doing in your life to be a blessing to others.
4. Don't come to church alone.  Pray, invite and let God use your influence for His glory.

Let’s be like John the Baptist, another clutter-hater.  Matthew 3:3 This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah:  "A voice of one calling in the desert,  'Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.' "

Ed Litton

Festivus For The Rest of Us

Since Bill O'Reilly proclaimed that there is a war on Christmas, Randy Kennedy of the New York Times wondered if and how an atheist would celebrate Christmas.  So he contacted two of the most influential Atheists, Sam Harris, author of The End of Faith and Letter to a Christian Nation, and Richard Dawkins, the Oxford professor who opposes all belief in God as “dangerous.”   What Kennedy discovered is that both men do celebrate Christmas.  Harris has a Christmas tree in his house with ornaments and decorations.  Dawkins reasons that Christmas has been so divorced from any religious significance, that it ceases to be a "religious" experience.  Dawkins adds,  "I unhesitatingly wish everyone a Merry Christmas."

I guess I expected Dawkins and Harris to be consistent with their belief system and do what Cosmo Kramer and Frank Costanza did on Seinfeld.  Those two created their own un-Christmas-like seasonal celebration and called it "Festivus.” Instead, Dawkins simply reduces Christmas to a post-Christian observance and recognizes the times in which we live.  Ironically, Professor Dawkins complains that the holidays are over-commercialized and secularized to the degree that they no longer have significant religious meaning.  Dawkins shares this same opinion with many Christians who also find that the holiday has lost its spiritual significance in part or in whole. 

The dilemma for Christians is more significant than it is for an Atheist.   As Christians, are we living inconsistent with our belief system?  Are we going through motions out of tradition and missing the significance of the incarnation of Jesus Christ?  Has the birth of our Savior become more aesthetic than significant?  Is there any difference between how an Atheist celebrates Christmas and how you and I celebrate Christmas? 

We celebrate not just the Advent of Christ, but we use this time to refocus our lives on why He came.  "She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins."  Matthew 1:21 NIV.

Ed Litton

A Crisis of Confidence

The number of unmarried couples living together has increased tenfold from 1960 to 2000 in America.  The U.S. Census estimates that about 10 million people are living with someone of the opposite sex.  That totals about 8% of U.S. coupled households.  Most unmarried partners who live together are between 25 and 34 years of age.  It was once stigmatized as "living in sin," or "shacking up," but now cohabitation has replaced dating.  It has become mainstream as a way to discover if
a person is a suitable partner for life.  While marriage as an ideal is not dead, it does seem to be staggering and falling into the ropes. According to USA Today, more than two-thirds of married couples in the USA now say they lived together before marriage.  The number of unmarried, opposite-sex households is rising dramatically.

A crisis of confidence exists among younger Americans, not just in the institution of marriage, but in the process of finding a suitable life mate.  The most divorced generation in history is struggling to trust the traditional courting process, choosing instead to dive right into the most intimate aspects of a relationship.  Thus, logic states that since divorce is a reality, it makes sense to measure compatibility, and what better way to discover compatibility than to do a trial run at marriage.  There is great confidence today in this new found process, but the question is, does it work?

In a groundbreaking study that examines the effects of cohabitation on the long-term quality of marriage, the Alabama Policy Institute (API) conducted a study of more than 1,300 married couples.  The results are eye opening.  The study shows that the longer a couple cohabits before marriage, the less satisfied they are with their marriage.  Dr. John Hill, API's Director of Research, states, "Specifically, couples who cohabit before marriage tend to be more depressed, more dependent and
are more likely to believe their relationship will end as compared with married couples who did not cohabit."  In times of stress and conflict, the API study indicates that they are more likely to handle their conflicts with heated arguing, hitting and throwing.  According to USA TODAY, couples live together about two years and then either marry or break up.

Marriage is more than who you sleep next to and with whom you may shares expenses.  It is the deepest sharing of the most intimate part of your life.  This is not easy to graph on a chart,  but every human soul longs for it.  God created us for intimacy and He  built an environment in which we can experience it.  Cohabitation has all the powerful elements that make up intimacy but lacks one major ingredient -  commitment.  Commitment is the fence that protects, the lock that guarantees, and the alarm system that insures that vulnerability is not easily compromised.  Marriage is a covenant of mutual protection,
devotion, sacrifice and love.  It is binding for this very reason.  It is not only safe for our most vulnerable moments but also for the most vulnerable people in the world - children.

When we remember what marriage was designed to do and who designed it, the contorted, sophomoric logic of those who conclude that living together is a good choice evaporates. It is not inconsequential that the loss of confidence in marriage coincides with a loss in confidence in God and the Bible.  The children and grandchildren of the sexual revolution need to examine what that revolution has caused:  a skyrocketing divorce rate and a frustrating loss of intimacy.    The best experiment may be to experiment with the ancient writings of a timeless God who loved us enough to construct a safe place called marriage in which to flourish.

Ed Litton

Thankful for a Nation Under God

This thanksgiving I am thankful for our nation.  It was founded and is sustained by God.  Our waywardness, while deserving of divine rejection, has been met with mercy and grace, even in our most troubled hours. We have always been a nation under God.  Some will respond to that statement with hostility while others will respond with embarrassed uneasiness, yet, the statement stands. 

We live in a time when hostility toward our founding faith is high. Wired magazine, in this month's issue, highlights "The New Atheism." Editor Gary Wolf explains that the New Atheists are not content to merely disbelieve in God.  They want to make belief in God socially disreputable - to make belief in God an embarrassment.  It seems that they are getting their wish.  Our culture and courts seem to be on a mission to remove God from the public view. 

On Thanksgiving, I think it is fitting to recall two significant events that remind us why we can be thankful and to whom our gratitude is directed.  Our Pilgrim founders expressed their reason and purpose in coming to this land with crystal clarity in the Mayflower Compact of 1620. "We whose names are underwritten...by the grace of God...having undertaken, for the glory of God, and advancement of the Christian faith...a voyage to plant the first colony in the Northern parts of Virginia, do by these presents solemnly and mutually in the presence of God, and one of another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil body politic, for our better ordering and preservation and furtherance of the ends aforesaid; and by virtue hereof to enact, constitute, and frame such just and equal laws, ordinances, acts, constitutions, and offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general good of the colony, unto which we promise all due submission and obedience."

In summing up the national response to a quagmire of the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln said in the Gettysburg Address. "It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to the cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion; that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain; that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom; and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."

America's greatness can be traced to America's acknowledgment of our Creator as the source of our rights, well being and providential protection.  We must arouse our memory of our history.  We must teach the truth to our children and we will remain the most blessed nation in history.  I, for one, am very grateful!

Difficult Choices in a Brave New World

Parents are soon to face yet another choice that will involve a serious moral dilemma.  A vaccination for the human papilloma virus is expected to be available in late 2006 from Merck & Company. The virus called HPV causes genital warts and cervical cancer.  It can also be passed to babies and can cause serious life threatening problems.  The American Academy of Pediatrics is pushing for a nationwide vaccination program among teens to fight the virus.  At first glance, protecting our children from disease seems like a good thing.  However, it’s worth looking at it from a different angle. 

Any vaccination has risks associated with it.   By inoculating every child, we are assuming that every teenager will be immoral and therefore must be vaccinated.  Isn’t there way to protect our children from HPV that doesn’t involve a risk?   Wait a minute, there is!   It is teaching, encouraging and promoting abstinence on the grounds that it can and will save your life. 

Our awesome God has set moral limits because He loves us and wants us to live full and meaningful lives.  Honesty and candor concerning sexual decisions have never been more necessary among parents and teenagers. 
The brave thing is taking the time to talk and inform our kids, not taking a chance on a vaccination.  If we continue to assume animal-like behavior,  our children will not know the power they have to
choose to live moral lives.  They will miss an essential struggle in
the human growth process called maturity.
- Reference: Wall Street Journal, November 30, 2005