This is going to be along blog entry and I pray you will wade through it to the end,  because I feel led by the Holy Spirit to share this, it is weighing heavy on my heart!

I started to think about it all yesterday and shared with Sherelene this morning what was on my mind and heart, and she shared with me that today’s In Touch Devotional was a perfect fit, so you are getting both in this entry!

Let me tell you how this started to ferment in my mind.  Yesterday Jack shared in a text chat about a man he saw in a restaurant wearing a t-shirt with a message on the back that would make a sailor blush, I won’t repeat it here, but trust me it would shock any of you!  Yesterday I was driving home when I stopped for a red light, when it changed to green the vehicle on the other side turned left in front of me when I was signaling right and had the right of way, It is a good thing I paused to see what he was going to do!  On a recent flight I was standing in line to board with my group when someone, not in that group stepped to front of the line in front of all of us that had been waiting for 20 minutes.

 

None of these things are federal crimes, but they are a signal as to where our society is heading.  Many people don’t have any regard for others and think only of  themselves.

 

While this might frustrate us, how are Christians suppose to respond to a coarser and coarser world.  The devotional that follows sets the example of how we are to respond, not react.  We are to be in this world, but not of it!  Dr. Stanley will say it much better, but the take away for me is to be Christ like and do to others not what they do to us, but treat them how we would want to be treated ourselves.  It’s hard, but remember we are trying to win over a lost world and acting like them is never a good start to that goal.

 

This as the Devotional this morning on In Touch – Dr. Charles Stanley

1 John 2:1-17   New Living Translation

2 My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous. ² He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins—and not only our sins but the sins of all the world.

³ And we can be sure that we know him if we obey his commandments. ⁴ If someone claims, “I know God,” but doesn’t obey God’s commandments, that person is a liar and is not living in the truth. ⁵ But those who obey God’s word truly show how completely they love him. That is how we know we are living in him. ⁶ Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did.

A New Commandment

⁷ Dear friends, I am not writing a new commandment for you; rather it is an old one you have had from the very beginning. This old commandment—to love one another—is the same message you heard before. ⁸ Yet it is also new. Jesus lived the truth of this commandment, and you also are living it. For the darkness is disappearing, and the true light is already shining.

⁹ If anyone claims, “I am living in the light,” but hates a fellow believer,^[a] that person is still living in darkness.¹⁰ Anyone who loves a fellow believer^[b] is living in the light and does not cause others to stumble. ¹¹ But anyone who hates a fellow believer is still living and walking in darkness. Such a person does not know the way to go, having been blinded by the darkness.

Do Not Love This World

¹⁵ Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. ¹⁶ For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. ¹⁷ And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever.

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Dr. Stanley’s Commentary

Are you seeking to know and understand the Lord? Even though He’s beyond human comprehension in many ways, God has revealed much of Himself in His Word. And as we search for Him in Scripture, we’ll grow in our understanding of His nature. But this isn’t merely an academic pursuit. Knowing God practically impacts every area of life.

For one thing, knowledge of God influences our prayers. Instead of asking for whatever we want, we’ll seek to ask according to His will (1 John 5:14-15). And we won’t limit our requests in size or scope because we’ll realize that nothing is impossible with God.

The way we view the Lord also affects how we think, behave, and relate to other people. Knowing Him intimately transforms our natural tendency toward doubt and sin. Then we desire to walk obediently before Him, with a pure heart. Instead of loving the world, we seek to please Him by loving His people unselfishly and resisting sinful lusts.

Paul thought knowing the Lord was so important that he made it the primary pursuit of his life (Philippians 3:8-10). Could that be said of you? Self-reformation soon fails, but knowledge of God renews you from the inside out.

 

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I believe we are to seek being renewed daily so that we might love others as Christ did and does. I pray every night and every morning that God will help me to become the man He wants me to be, something that is completely impossible….. but with God, all things are possible!

 

I will pray for your journey!

 

Blessings,

 

the pilgrim

 

I’m really looking forward to my annual, at least for the past 4 years, trip up to the Upper Penninsula of Michigan!  Jack and Rick Browne and I run a fall workshop out of Munising each late September – early October.  This region produces some of the most spectacular fall color and I never tire of seeing it again.  There are no crowds and the weather is really. usually, enjoyable.  I think we still have a spot or two open, if this looks good to you, check with Jack (jackgrahamphoto.com) for a spot with us this fall.  October 3-6, 2022.

 

 

Sure hope you decide to join us!

 

Blessings

 

the pilgrim

 

 

Many years ago, in the late seventies and early eighties I was Director of Pubic and Community Relations for Richland-Conrich Energy, one of the largest coal companies in Eastern Kentucky and southwest Virginia.  I was in my thirties and Doug Blair, the owner of the company, was like a second father to me and gave me lots of latitude to do my job for his company.  We produced a magazine called the Richland Today and one of the features was a celebrity interview in every issue.  How does a mountain boy get interviews with famous people!!??  Well, I had an idea and it worked!  I knew one famous person, because he was my first cousin, Ned Beatty, my Dad’s Sisters son.  I grew up with Ned and so calling him and asking him to let me interview him was not a problem.  He had visited with our family before and I had been the still photographer on a commercial video shoot for him, so this one was easy!

 

 

So……When I called the next agent to set up an interview and they said who have you interviewed in your magazine, I said “our last interview was with academy award nominee Ned Beatty.”  Which brought a response of, sure, we’ll set it  up!  After that it was easier and easier to get access with, hard to interview, people!

 

 

I’m a life long football fan so it was a thrill to fly to Dallas and interview Roger Staubach who turns out to be one of the nicest, most down to earth people you could ever meet.  Next was one of the best interviews I was ever able to do, with Coach Paul “Bear’ Bryant in his last season as the Alabama football coach, sadly he died 3 months after this, his last season, I’m so thrilled I got to meet him!

 

 

Next up were three great country music stars, Jerry Clower, Tom T Hall and Roy Clark.

 

 

All three of these men were great interviews and a lot of fun to talk with.  As the years past I had the great privilege of interviewing all these wonderful people, listed below!

 

 

I  have done some crazy and wild things with a camera in my hands, but nothing better than being with my wife and three children through so many fantastic adventures!  God has richly blessed me!!!

 

 

Blessings to you,

 

the pilgrim