I’m a fan of Harry Potter in spite of the warnings and fears that some have attached to the wizardry of the tales. I’ve always looked at it as harmless fun but the next episode is looking to be the darkest of the series. You can only have so many unicorns and owls and frogs and flying brooms before you have to settle on the dark side of the craft.

I guess the reasoning is that the 13 year old’s who watched the first movie are now in their twenties and will need something more than puppy love and ice-cream to keep them coming back.

I’m not opposed to a little slight of hand or wizardry to give a movie a playful and imaginative flair but when we move into the realm of evil and darkness I start to get nervous. I love a monster or an alien or a dragon but I don’t do the demonic.

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When I first enrolled in college, back in 1976, my wife began working at a place called “The Harvest Gleanor Hour”.

HGH was the radio and television ministry of the Baptist Missionary Association of America. They didn’t have any television spots back then but television was definately a part of their future.

HGH was broadcast world-wide with 15 second commercials and 30 minute teaching series. There were several key speakers and study booklets were printed for each teaching series. Paul Bearfield was the executive director at the time. Paul had been a missionary to China for many years before returning to the states to take on this project. My wife was hired on as the secretary. I spent many days there as well. My jobs were making copies of cassette tapes, labeling tapes and preparing everything for mailing. I also took my turn at mowing the lawn and doing some odd job cleaning.

Brother Bearfield passed away many years later and was followed by George Reddin who has been, and still is, the executive director. Under Georges direction the name was changed to “LifeWord”. I remember when the name change was announced and it came across with stunned silence but George said it would grow on us and it has. LifeWord has a good ring to it and it continues to grow.

It was 32 years ago that my wife and I were introduced to HGH or LifeWord. Now another generation is coming aboard.

Tim Adair has been my oldest sons best friend since about the second grade. Tim is entering his last year in college, The University of Central Arkansas, with a major in Digital Filmmaking. It wasn’t too long ago that he mentioned to us that he was going to interview at LifeWord for an Intern position. We were able to tell him all about LifeWord and even put in a plug for him. He is now transcribing interviews from India and Honduras. We’re glad he’s found a spot with this ministry and we’re praying that it will develop into a roll that he can enjoy for a lifetime.

Congrats, Tim, and keep up the good work.

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Micah 6:8 “He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?”

I listen to Michael Savage each day while driving the truck and if you’ve been paying attention to the news you’ll know that he was at the fore-front last week for some things he said concerning Autism. As a regular listener I can attest that his comments were taken out of context and misquoted by those who have attacked him. I also agree with his assessment that the attacks came for political reasons and are being pushed by those in favor of the Fairness Doctrine.

I’m always somewhat amazed by those who call in to the Michael Savage show. I’m surprised by the number of professed Christians who believe that Dr. Savage is, himself, a Christian. He is not and does not profess to be. He is a pagan of the highest sort. This doesn’t subtract from his wisdom or his politics. I’m also amazed by the Christian zealots who would rather have an unqualified Christian as a president than a qualified pagan. But that is politics and not the subject that I want to approach here.

After Michael Savage was attacked he defended himself and quoted several Old Testament passages that speak of justice and judgment toward wrong doers and false accusers. He vowed to sue those who have slandered his reputation and take his case all the way to the supreme court if necessary. He currently has one case pending against C.A.I.R. (Council on American-Islamic Relations) and promises to file against Media Matters which is the group behind the current false allegations.

During his radio program he has made several comments that illustrate that he only recognizes the Old Testament as being the Word of God or The Bible. He dismisses the teachings of Jesus and the New Testament. He says he doesn’t object to those who want to turn the other cheek and love their enemies but he won’t do it. While his political views are strong, his theology is weak.

As I was thinking about his position, this week, I began to think about Micah 6:8. I believe that Justice and Mercy are what the entire Bible is about. I have been thinking that the Old Testament presents the Letter of the Law while the New Testament presents the Spirit of the Law. This is why the Old Testament speaks of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth but in the New Testament we see the Lord’s disciples being rebuked for wanting to call down fire and brimstone on an unbelieving crowd and the Lord telling them that they “know not what spirit they are of”. The Old Testament presents justice as it is delivered by God and as men should exercise it. The New Testament does the same with Mercy.

God is both Just and Merciful and requires us to be the same. The point of the whole matter, however, is that we are incapable of being either. We do not have the power or the authority or the wisdom to be just. We can not see the end from the beginning nor can we see the secrets of the heart or weigh the motives of each others actions. We strike deals to labor all day for a penny and then feel cheated because others who worked less were paid the same. We tend to be merciful if it is to our advantage but we know nothing of extending mercy to the vilest of wrong doers and wouldn’t dream of doing so.

We walk humbly with our God because we know that He alone is just and merciful. We fall short in the performance of these duties but God performs both in His own good time.

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I download the Bob and Tom show during the week and listen to it in the truck on my iPod. This past Friday they had Ingrid Michaelson as a guest. I’ve heard her music because we watch “Grey’s Anatomy” and she is often a featured singer of their background tracks but I can’t say I’ve been a fan. I did, however, enjoy her interview on the Bob and Tom show so when I got home from work on Friday I went to their website and watched a video that they made in their studio. The video is available on YouTube and I’ve added it to my sidebar if you care to watch it. It’s a fun remix of one of her popular tunes. I just like listening to her voice which is really fine.

Ingrid will be on tour with the Dave Matthews Band later this summer. You can read more about her and find out where she’s going to be by visiting her website. BE OK!

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I don’t know if I’ve ever been ambitious. I always wanted to make an honest living without the constant struggle to make ends meet. That has never happened.

I did attend college for four years and earned a BA in Biblical Studies. I stayed one more year to work on an MA and then transferred to a seminary where I worked for an additional two years towards an MDiv. I never got the MDiv and I have nothing to show for the three years of postgraduate studies. I’ve often regretted not completing some type of degree but the bottom line is simply this; a Master’s Degree in Biblical Studies wouldn’t help me get a job washing cars any more than my BA has and at this point in my life it wouldn’t help me much with church work either. I did look into working towards a degree once and discovered that less than 25 semester hours would be applied toward another degree. I have nearly 90 semester hours of postgraduate studies. It’s all about the money!

I started a new job this past week. I’m driving a dump truck and I haul gravel from a pit to the company yard. It’s about 45 miles between the two and I make 4 or 5 trips a day depending on the traffic. I’m working 10 to 11 hours a day and I make $10.00 an hour. Everything over 40 is time and a half. It’s miserable work and it’s probably what I’ll be doing the rest of my life. Oh, by the way, It’s a 40 mile drive to get to work. So, I leave the house at 4:00 in the morning and get home between four and five. It’s costing me about $14.00 a day in gas to make the trip.

Here is an interesting tid-bit. The assistant manager is a guy I taught to drive about six months ago. He’s 30 years old. Here’s another interesting tid-bit. There are three employees there that I taught to drive in the past year and they all make more money than I do. One more thing, the guy who runs the plant in the town that I live in was my first student at truck driving school in November of 2006.

But, here is the kicker. The guy who runs the plant in my home town came to truck driving school after being released from prison. He was a teacher at our local high school until he got caught having sex with a 17 year old girl on the floor of his classroom. I think he served about five years.

The guy who is the assistant manager at the plant where I work failed to honor the contract he had with the trucking company that sent him to our school. In fact, he was the straw that broke the camels back. The trucking company was having so many of the students they sent us drop out and fail to honor their contracts that they stopped sending us students. This is why I was eventually laid off as an instructor at the college. So, I’m working for a guy that I taught to drive and who eventually cost me my job because he was dishonest.

I have no ambition for climbing a company ladder or becoming wealthier in this world. My ambition in life is to achieve “godliness with contentment” which is great gain. Everything else just muddies the water.

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