Author: aflcoker

Soon I will start my last year in the 70’s. But as mother would point out, when I have a birthday then I’ve begun the next year. When I celebrate my 79^th birthday, I’ve finished that year and in my 80^th year. Not what I want to hear. Mother is correct, though, for I’ve completed 79 years and on that day I start the next year. She would say, ‟I’m in my 80^th year.”

You see, when we are born we are already nine months old. When we celebrate our first birthday, we have completed that year (and more) and start our second year. Complicated? Not really. It’s a matter of calculating correctly in the amount of years we’ve lived.

Then there’s the association of how one feels and one’s age. In my mind I don’t feel 79 (or 80). I look back in time and I don’t feel either young or old. But in my body I sometimes feel older than the years since my birth. I look in the mirror and often see my mother. Except for my skin; hers was smooth, few wrinkles or brown spots. Except for her hair; she had more grey at age 80. It’s just the age that shows on me. But she lived past 90.

Where am I going with this? Nowhere in particular. I’m having a birthday and that causes me to reflect. I want to go somewhere, perhaps make more use of the years that are yet to be.

Jack London, journalist, wrote: “The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.” I’m not so sure about all of that. And I’m curious what you think of it.

Today is the one-month-away date for Chrissa’s wedding. Lots of plans and doing, but life goes on. While Becky bakes for the wedding, she also plans and cooks for the church youth Purity Weekend and college exam treats. Becky seeks to ‟maintain relationships with others and keep [her] creative edge, while also doing everything else in [her] life” (Dan Balow, a Laube agent).

For myself, I have been taking some online courses in writing. That’s what I want to do, what I do, what’s considered my job. I’m serious about writing—articles and a book as a WIP (work in progress). As I took notes on these classes and also read the daily blogs from The Steve Laube Agency, I began to see some connections between good writing and good spiritual growth. So I have to give credit where it’s due.

Balow also wrote: ‟The successful author-life is equal parts creativity and discipline, make-believe and real-life, story-telling and deadline-meeting.” I can hear you now, that doesn’t sound like spirituality. Give me a chance.

When we get creative with our discipline (writing or spiritual) we will accomplish more and enjoy it more. Story-telling can be our own testimony. Link that with a deadline to share and we become more passionate about spreading the Good News. Now you may have me on the make-believe and real-life part, but let’s consider it. Children are caught up in their make-believe world for play is their job. It even prepares them for real life as they are good imitators of parents and teachers. Perhaps we could learn something from the children in our lives. The Apostle Paul commissioned us to imitate Christ.

‟In the Gospel of Luke, the fourteenth chapter, Jesus tells a couple of parables and then sums them with a ‘count the cost’ statement which could be taken any number of ways, I suppose, but relates to a person living life as a believer. Have no illusions, there is a cost” (Balow). Sum it up and make the connection: ‟Successful authors [and Christians] already counted the cost and decided it was worth it” (Balow).

More on this to come another time. AC

My notes from Pastor Rob’s sermon this Easter Sunday morning:

The tomb is empty! Why ought we to care?

The Gospel means Good News. Yes, I know that, but what I did not know is the historical significance. Such as when victory prevailed over battles, the men “spread the good news” (see 1 Samuel 31:9). There was a need to tell.

Mark opens his book with: “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God” (1:1). In ancient Greek the word gospel is always plural, but here Mark breaks the tradition and uses the singular form of gospel. There is no news as good as this Gospel. The remaining of his book explains the purpose of this good news. He has to tell it. Peter proclaims Jesus as the Messiah (8:29), and the soldier near the Cross said, “This man really was God’s Son!” (15:39).

Today, Easter Sunday, we proclaim the good news that Christ has risen. You would want this to be true, for it’s a story of God who loves you!

The Gospel is not advice (counsel), for that means we need to do something. It’s on you!

The Gospel is a report of what has already happened. The Gospel takes the burden off you. It’s on Jesus! Our part is to come, receive. It’s grace and hope. God comes to find you. He seeks to set you free!

“And Can It Be” by Charles Wesley

He left His Father’s throne above/ So free, so infinite His grace/ Emptied Himself of all but love . . . Long my imprisoned spirit lay/ Fast bound in sin and nature’s night . . . / I woke, the dungeon filled with light/ My chains fell off, my heart was free/ I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.

I repeat: You would want this to be true, for it’s a story of God who loves you.

At the 2017 noon Good Friday service in Terre Haute, IN, at Free Life Community Church, Bill gave one of five messages shared by pastors in the community. After the service Jean Kokoska met me at the back of the sanctuary and said it was a blessing to hear Bill preach again. I asked if she noticed how Bill repeated some points in his message. She said that didn’t matter and, “maybe we needed to hear it twice.”

That was Bill’s last sermon. Bill’s active ministry is over but the fruit of his preaching and teaching continue to grow.

I am a testimony to my husband’s teaching. I have received most of my scriptural knowledge from his messages over these more than 60 years. So I give thanks for God’s call upon Bill’s life, and give God the glory for his ministry.

As a member of Carrollton Ave. United Methodist Church in New Orleans, LA, I heard Bill’s first sermon. He preached on “I am the way, and the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). Bill was 18 years old when God called him to preach. We were married four years later when I was 18. God is good. Don’t you agree?

In a notebook dating back to 1984 I find notes from Dr. Phil Thornton’s mission class (PT) at Asbury College. This contains references from Anthony Campolo’s “Ways We Distort the Gospel” (AC) and Don Richardson’s book/movie Peace Child (DR). I now quote (or perhaps misquote) from these sources as I reflect on the above subject.

Worldview can be either religious or secular, a sense of judgment and values bound up in language, an ever-changing culture and integrated system of values. What is it like to be a North American in another culture? Majority rule is generally the norm in N.A. In Japan, for example, the majority will more often compromise for the minority when a decision affects them.

We think that if a person is not involved in the solution, he is assumed to be part of the problem. This raises questions about value system, for values come out of one’s cultural background. It’s part of one’s unconscious behavior, usually logical to that person. Listen to others in order to understand and affect change into a Christian perspective. (PT)

We tend to impose our own traits onto Jesus and Christianity. We see Jesus as white, American, Protestant, and Republican with all its middle-class traits. Americans see success as the ultimate best and failure as the ultimate worst. We could see Jesus as a failure, for he died young at the peak of His ministry. Jesus exalted the losers – look at the twelve disciples. Jesus walked with the lowly, not the potentates. A Christian lifestyle is one lived sacrificially for other people. Introduce yourself and others to the Man of Sorrows, acquainted with grief. We are not to make people disciples of Uncle Sam, but of Jesus Christ. We are losing our young people not because we are presenting a Gospel that demands too much but one that demands too little. (AC)

Every culture has a key that unlocks the meaning of Scripture, a form already there to hold the meaning of Truth. How do we determine a dynamic equivalent appropriate to another culture? When we look at the impact of a biblical injunction we discover the meaning and function. For example, “Greet one another with a holy kiss” (2 Cor. 13:12). The dynamic equivalents involve translation, church, and conversion. (DR) My interpretation: Function is a kiss; meaning is a greeting. Now compare the biblical injunction and today’s culture wherever we live.

That’s it for a trip back to a college class and what I think is still important for a worldview.

Our granddaughter Chrissa is registered at several stores for wedding gifts. That’s expected when you announce your wedding and send out invitations. What a nice practice—for the new couple is starting out with needs for their home and lifestyle. It’s the way of American weddings. I don’t know of customs in other countries, but our custom is nice and practical. So the bride and groom pick out items at the stores and form a registry. Family and friends present these gifts at bridal showers or on their wedding day. Online gifting also provides easy access. Gifts can even be sent to their new home. How efficient is that!

I get to see and hear all this happening since we live in the Coker/Gearhart home in Indianapolis. Chrissa is home, having closed out her ministry in the Dominican Republic to start a new life in North Carolina with Léo Silva who works there at a Christian camp called Rockfish. The wedding ceremony will be held in our church here so that is a gift of location. The marriage of a daughter is different than that of a son. My experience came with Becky and now she is having the joy of planning and preparation.

What I will wear at the wedding is no longer a question. A lady in the church has offered me her grandma-of-the-bride dress. At first I wondered if I could fit into the dress and would it be too much to accept. But I tried it on (a perfect fit in size and length) and the family agreed on the look—so it’s mine to wear. What a gift! And this doll of a lady doesn’t even know me. She and her family are good friends of the Gearharts. What a blessing! I’ve been given a gift of love. And that’s what a wedding is all about.

This memory lodged in the back of my head with not many details. Yet it would pop up and haunt me for years. I could describe the setting and a few characters, but not the reason for the activity. It wasn’t until after Daddy had died that I asked Mother if the image was actually an event that happened. For I thought it must likely be my imagination associated with something fearful.

Setting: a room with little furniture. A dark couch and coffee table set against the wall on the left of my scene. Straight ahead was a little table. Nothing on the top of either table. Between these and in the distance a door opened and three men walked in. Were they invited or did someone greet them? I recognized my dad between the other two men. Nothing else happened.

What was it all about? Something significant? A memory or a dream? Was I the one viewing the scene? Did I have reason for that lingering fear? Where was Mother?

Mother had the key to these questions, but it look me years (too many years) before I asked for answers. Yes, it was a true event. And Mother was there and knew what happened.

The men had brought Daddy home from the office and he would soon be admitted to the hospital with a nervous breakdown. I don’t remember how long he stayed. What I do know is that he had an obsession about cleanliness – either before or after the hospital stay. He would constantly ask Mother to “wash Ann’s hands.”

I can still see the original memory, but now I place details within the setting. Reasons for the event make sense, but it’s a faded picture hanging sideways in my memory bank. And no fear lingers.

This train of thought started when my daughter said, “I leave the dishes in the drain until they dry.” She said that after I started drying the dishes after supper. Why not? It’s habit. So how did this become a habit?

Speaking of drying dishes I remember an incident many years ago. My brother, ten years younger than me, came to visit us in Mississippi. Mother had told him to “help Ann.” So he thought to dry the dishes after meals would suffice. After a couple of days, as he was drying dishes and to impress me, he said, “If I were not here to dry dishes, you would have to do it yourself.” I replied, much to his chagrin, “No, I would just leave them in the dish drain until they dried by themselves.” The next day he got up from the table after lunch and began to follow Bill outdoors. Bill asked, “Aren’t you going to help Ann?” Tom said, as you have probably guessed, “No, I’m going to dry the dishes the way she does.” Out he went with Bill.

Why then do I dry dishes now? It’s because of Bill. After we both retired he started washing dishes. It was to get them ready to put in the dishwasher. Sooner than later I put an end to that process. Why clean dishes in preparation for the dishwasher? Only to have them sanitized?

So Bill washed the dishes and put them in the dish drain. I would busy myself with clearing and wiping the table, then putting leftovers away. Dishes piled up in the drain. Not good. Bill does not know how to stack higher than the back slats or a first layer. He wants dishes dried so he can add a pot or pan that doesn’t fit neatly in the drain. So I began to dry dishes, even to stack them on the counter before putting them away. I had to keep up with my favorite dishwasher.

Now that we are here together in our three-generation home, I love what Emily says: “Grandpa is the best dishwasher I’ve even known.” That’s because he takes it as his mission. When he had the flu last week his only complaint was that we would not let him wash or dry dishes. How’s that for an ingrained and thoughtful habit?

Others have written great tributes to Billy Graham, but I want to add my personal remarks. I heard Billy Graham several times during his crusades in New Orleans, Mobile, and Lexington. In one of those crusades I sang in the choir led by Cliff Barrows.

For the one held in Lexington, KY, I helped as a spiritual contact for children who went forward at the close of Graham’s evangelistic message. As I saw a child leave his seat, I would follow him to the front and talk with him about a decision to follow Christ. We would pray and then I would give him a booklet (provided by BGEA) about how to live out his faith. I would also direct him to a church in his neighborhood. During that crusade I had the privilege of praying with four children. With their permission, I sent a follow-up letter of encouragement. Years later I tried to contact each one to ask how that decision had changed their lives. I received a reply from one young man who gave witness to his Christian life.

But my most memorable connection with the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and for which I am most grateful happens to be the time when my dad went forward during one of his crusades in New Orleans, LA. Before that, Dad attended church and served as treasurer. After that, Dad became a true believer and gave witness to a changed life. My mother, three siblings, and I saw that change at home. We began family devotions with Dad reading the Bible and praying. His was an attitude change in regard to being a faithful servant to his family and church. Because of his influence on my dad, I am forever indebted to Billy Graham and his consistent message of biblical truth.

“Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law” (Romans 13:8).

Trying to help people I’ve had questions. At the onset I must admit that my husband, Bill, is more generous than I am when it comes to helping those in need. In particular we gave aid (financial and material) to three women over a stretch of about ten years. I tried to understand but repeated Jesus’ words: “You will always have the poor with you” (Matt. 26:11). Their requests didn’t seem to end, and frankly I contended that we had better use of our money. I admit that my reluctance to help these women, needy as they were, rested in my fear for our own future.

Some irrelevant questions came to the surface: Does she deserve it? Will she appreciate it? I also knew the answers didn’t matter when it came to deciding about helping them.

Needs are transitory (tending to pass away). Help is temporary (lasting for a limited time). Yet the relevant questions remain about compassionate concern, ability and willingness to help. We have no lack of opportunity to help people, and often we argue against compassion and for discernment. Both are necessary. We can all look back on times when we were needy and someone helped.

Working at the Crisis Pregnancy Center in Brazil, IN, we offered supplies to clients yet asked ourselves, “How can another visit bring any lasting good?” We doubted whether we could lift a girl out of her present state as we questioned our temporary help. I received help from something George MacDonald wrote:

“Some [people] are so pitiful over their poor neighbor, [for] they shall have the poor with them always, they will do for him nothing at all: ‘Where is the use?’ they say. . . . While the rich giver is saying, poor fellow, he will be just as bad next month or sooner!’. . . Help in such soil is a quick seed and of rapid growth. . . .  Everything in this world is but temporary: why should temporary help be undervalued?. . . Is help help or is it not?  If it be help then it is divine, and comes from God our Savior” (emphases mine). –from his novel Castle Warlock

I close with a quote from A. W. Tozer: “Find something to do for God and your fellow man.  Refuse to rust out.  Make yourself available to the one who is helping you grow in Christ and do anything you are asked to do. . . . Learn to obey.”  –The Knowledge of the Holy