The Test of Applause

Our oldest grand (in red and white)
Fall 2016






"... whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." (1 Cor. 10:31)

Praise of my children's books is rare, so a recent, complimentary letter tickled me to my toes. The young reader wrote:

Dear Mrs. Glassco,

I loved the frog book. It is the best book I ever read!!! I liked Mr. Greenleaf and Daniel Coon. It was cool how you used some Bible names. Thank you very much for the book.

Asher, age 10

However, because I know my flesh has prodigious potential for pride, I see flattery as a spoken hot potato - a thing never to hold but to quickly pass to Jesus to whom all glory belongs.

Proverbs 27:21 says "fire tests the purity of silver and gold, but a person is tested by being praised." 

Lord, help us pass the test of applause by passing it up to You!

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WANTED: Dead, not Alive

Our older grands
Fall 2016

"My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." (Gal. 2:20 NLT)

Troublemaker Alert: 

There's a nasty villain on the loose with no respecter of victims in age, gender, or nation! This scoundrel's dastardly deeds include encouraging toddlers to throw tantrums, kids to disobey parents, and teens to go astray. The reprobate stirs up strife and plants roots of bitterness in families, neighborhoods, churches, businesses, communities, and nations. 

And the evildoer's name? SELF

SELF is impatient, unkind, jealous, boastful, proud, rude, demands his/her own way, is irritable, and keeps records of being wronged.

Beloved have you checked yourSELF today? Put SELF on the shelf. Love and live for God and others. It's the Christ-like thing to do.

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People Hours

Our Rebecca and Stephen
April 3, 2004

"Then a Samaritan came along, and when he saw the man, he felt compassion for him. Going over to him, the Samaritan soothed his wounds with olive oil and wine and bandaged them. (Luke 10:33-34)

Our favorite son-in-law, Stephen, serves as children's minister at a  great church in the midwest and encourages his staff to build up "people hours" - taking a one hour break each month from your own work to help a colleague with theirs. 

What a Christ-like idea! Wanna build some "people hours," beloved?

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Playin' with Papers

My daddy and brother, Rocky, early 1980s

"For God is not unjust. He will not forget how hard you have worked for Him and how you have shown your love to Him by caring for other believers, as you still do." (Hebrews 6:10)

After visiting my daddy's law office as a little girl, I tattled to my mother, "Daddy doesn't work; he just plays with papers all day."

Feeling underpaid and unappreciated, beloved? Chin up. The Lord whom you serve notes your hard work and will reward your faithful efforts for Him.

Jesus said, "Look, I am coming soon, bringing my reward to repay all people according to their deeds. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End." (Rev. 22:12)

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Turn Down the News and Turn Up the Prayers

Our adorable grandgirl, 2015
(Posing for Mr. Greenleaf's Unforgettable Summer illustration)

"Now rescue Your beloved people. Answer and save us by Your power." (Psalm 108:6)

Question: What would the USA look like if we watched, read, and listened to the news only as much as we pray, and we prayed as much as we watch, read, and listen to the news?

Answer: God says, "If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and heal and restore their land" (2 Chron. 7:14).

The prayer dare: 

Week One: Clock the number of hours you watch, read, and listen to the news and the number of hours (or minutes) you pray.

Week Two: Switch the timetables.

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Easy Assembly

My man and our Dan

"Hear, O child, the instruction of the father...do not abandon my instruction." (Prov. 4:1,2)

The advertisement for a greenhouse we ordered claimed: easy half-day assembly for two people.

NOT!

good neighbor, David, and Phillip

The job took Phillip and me two and a half days plus the help of a good son and a good neighbor. (And an army couldn't have done it in a year without the detailed instruction manual.)

Trying to fit life together without the Bible, beloved? Not! Read Father God's instruction manual and watch your scattered pieces come together.

"Hear, my child, and accept my sayings and the years of your life will be many. I have directed you in the way of wisdom; I have led you in upright paths. When you walk, your steps will not be impeded; and if you run, you will not stumble. Take hold of my instruction; do not let go. Guard her, for she is your life." (Prov. 4:10-13)

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Handle the Vote with Prayer

Our Dan, Iraq 2009

"Let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation." (1 Thess. 5:8)

Our Dan tells the story that en route to Iraq, a man in a California airport was yelling angry taunts at their U. S. Marine unit when an elderly gentleman wearing a worn WWII veteran cap approached the taunter. Through tears, the old soldier commanded, "You leave our boys alone!" 

God built our once great nation upon the backs of brave men and women. On this presidential election day, beloved, gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 1:13) and handle the vote with prayer!

Whatever the outcome, fear not, for Jesus is with His children; be not dismayed, for He is our God. He will strengthen us, yes, He will help us, He will uphold us in His righteous right hand (Isa. 41:10).

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Signs of the Times

River cabin sunset

"...disaster will fall on them as suddenly as a pregnant woman's labor pains...But you aren't in the dark about these things, dear brothers and sisters, and you won't be surprised when the day of the Lord comes like a thief." (1 Thess. 5:4)

A pastor once debated that the ancient rhyme...

Red sky at morning

Sailors take warning,

Red sky at night,

Sailors' delight.

is not biblical, until he was shown...

[Jesus] replied, "You know the saying, 'Red sky at night means fair weather tomorrow; red sky in the morning means foul weather all day.' You know how to interpret the weather signs in the sky, but you don't know how to interpret the signs of the times." (Matt. 16:2-3)

Before His crucifixion in Matthew 24:3-9, Christ's disciples asked, "What sign will signal Your return and the end of the world?"

Jesus told them, "Nation will go to war against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famine and earthquakes in many parts of the world. But all this is only the first of birth pains, with more to come...You will be hated all over the world because you are My followers."

As the very foundation of moral society shakes, rattles, and rolls, put your hope in Jesus, beloved. Fear not. Stand firm. For God said, "This ole world is fading away. But those who do His will live forever." (1 John 2:17)

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Shipwrecked

Our Rebecca's "pirate" family
Trunk-or-treat 2016

"It was three months after the shipwreck that we set sail...and so we came to Rome." (Acts 28:11-14)

In Acts 27 and 28, Dr. Luke tells the harrowing story of gale-force winds battering their ship after prisoner Paul had forewarned the ship's officers of impending shipwreck, loss of cargo, and danger to their lives as well if they left Fair Haven harbor for the open seas. But the officer regrettably listened more to the captain than to Paul and set sail. The light wind quickly changed to a terrible typhoon that raged for many days, blotting out the sun and the stars, until at last all hope was gone.

On the fourteenth stormy night, Paul called the crew together and said, "Take courage! None of you will lose your lives, even though the ship will go down."

They soon hit a shoal, and the ship ran aground. The bow stuck fast while the stern was dashed by violent waves and began to break apart. Everyone escaped safely, however, to the island shore of Malta, where Paul prayed for and laid hands on many sick islanders, and they were healed. Three months later, by way of another ship, the journey to Rome resumed and Paul stood trial before Caesar.

In 1989, eight months after Phillip's land and timber company shipwrecked in Louisiana, by God grace and mercy, my man resumed his career journey with another company in Alabama that has served our family well for 27 years and beyond.

Is your life shipwrecked, beloved? Take courage! Don't be afraid.  Jesus, the Captain of angel armies, stands beside you and will see you to safe harbor.

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Gentleness

Our gentle, beautiful Gabbi consoling toddlergrand
(He didn't want his picture taken.)

"Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near." (Phil. 4:5)

"Gentleness" appeared in three separate passages of Scripture across my Bible reading this morning.

"Yes, Sir, Lord Jesus. I hear You loud and clear."

Because my tone in Tuesday night Bible study sounded more brash than gentle, I especially needed God's reprimand today. For...

"The Lord's bondservant must not be quarrelsome, but kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of truth." (2 Tim. 2:24-25)

May gentleness be our tone, beloved. It's good, Holy Spirit fruit. Check it out: Galatians 5:22-23.

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Obey or Not Obey, That is the Question

Six of the girls from
Single 20s Women's Bible Study

Jesus said, "If you love Me, you will obey My commandments." (John 14:15)

At Single 20s Women's Small Group last night, our study of the Old Testament book of Hosea surprisingly escalated to a feisty discussion about Biblical lines of authority and submission in marriage.

Personally, I'm very thankful that Jesus did not buck His Father's authority. For, "though He was God, He did not think equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, He gave up His divine privileges; He took the humble position...He appeared in human form, He humbled Himself in obedience to God and died a criminal's death on a cross" (Phil. 2:6-8) for redemption for you and for me.

Oswald Chambers once said, "As soon as I obey [Jesus], I fulfill my spiritual destiny...The redemption of God will flow through me to the lives of others, because behind the deed of obedience is the reality of Almighty God." 

So, beloved, do you love Jesus enough to submit to His God-given lines of authority? It's for order. It's for good. It's for His glory!

"Therefore, God elevated Him to the place of highest honor and gave Him the name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father!" (Phil. 2:9-11)

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The Trick-or-treat Dilemma

Our little "Alfalfa"

"Be careful then, dear brothers and sisters. Make sure that your own hearts are not evil and unbelieving, turning you away from the living God." (Heb. 3:12)

After walking their neighborhood with our costumed grandkids last night, I awoke at 2:00 a.m. feeling a bit like Mr. Greenleaf...

(The froggy thought and deliberated and pondered and considered and thought and thought once more until his little, green head began to hurt. Mr. Greenleaf whined, "This way or that way, that way or this? If that is the right way, is this way a miss?")

...in regards to the ongoing debate: Should followers of Jesus Christ participate in Halloween activities?

We stopped giving out candy when our kids were middle schoolers, but continued to enjoy fall festivals at church. Currently, two of our grown children's children trick or treat and trunk or treat and one family doesn't. As for Phillip and me, we don't give out candy, but we often go with our kids and grands wherever they are.

So what's the answer to the trick-or-treat dilemma? Whatever your family decides, honor Jesus and be careful that your hearts stay close to God and far away from evil. Amen?

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The Master's Masterpiece

Great Smoky Mountains
(view from Clingmans Dome)

"The Lord has made the heavens His throne; from there He rules over everything. (Psalm 103:19)

American Mountain Ash

"Our days on earth are like...wildflowers, we bloom and die. The wind blows, and we are gone...but the love of the LORD remains forever with those who fear Him. (Psalm 103:16-17)

Elkmont River Road Trail

"Splashed of red, yellow, and orange brushed over the green canvas of the Appalachian mountainsides. Goldenrods and black-eyed Susans lined the roads and flocks of birds migrating south for the winter filled the bright blue autumn skies." 

                               ~From The Schoolhouse~


Lord God Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, the magnificent beauty of Your creation overwhelms me. The most fervent of praises pale in comparison to Your greatness! All blessing and honor and power and glory belong to You alone. Amen and Amen!

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A Thousand Conversations

My Phillip and me
1977

"O my dove, in the clefts of the rock, in the secret place of the steep pathway. Let me see your form, let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet and your form is lovely...My beloved is mine and I am his..." (Song of Solomon 2:14-16)



Because my groom of practically forty years and I will be on a romantic get-away in the Great Smoky Mountains, there'll be no Wonderful Family Storybooks post tomorrow or Friday.



The Old Testament book, Song of Solomon, is sometimes called the Christian's love song. Not only is it a beautiful romance between King Solomon and his Shulamite bride, but also a story portraying the love of Christ for His bride, the church - a petition to every believing soul to commune with Him. 

Love relationships are nurtured and grown in time spent together and a thousand conversations with the one you adore. Beloved, have you communed with your first love today - the Lord Jesus Christ?

"This is the message from the One who holds the seven stars in His right hand, the One who walks among the seven gold lamp stands...'I know the things you do. I have seen your hard work and patient endurance...But I have this complaint against you. You don't love Me...as you did at first." (Rev. 2:1-4)

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