It's okay to feel that way. Some days I don't really feel like being me either.

Clicked on to my blogger page via email or the internet? If you landed here intentionally, you know what to expect and I bid you welcome on this Tuesday, May 10, 2011. If you landed on this site by random chance, proceeding with caution might be the order of the day. Arnold Schwarzenegger starred in movies where he was called the Terminator. When Dale Earnhardt Sr. raced in NASCAR he was called the Intimidator. Having read a few of my episodes I may well be in the running to be called the Opinionator. I can't promise to do better, because, let me see if I can make this more confusing, it's just that at the end of the day it turns out to be exactly what it is, The View From Here. Maybe my wife won't read this one but I'll let you all in on a little secret. I'm not always right. Sometimes people may get the idea that I follow the slogan, "I may not always be right but I am never wrong." Hopefully that is not the way I see things because I only need look in the mirror to be reminded of the many times that I have had to admit I was wrong. This doesn't mean that there's anything wrong with opinions. It's also very much okay to be opinionated. Where we hit the wall is when we are unapproachable and unreasonable in the discussion and debate of our opinions. I try to be this way only when it is a clear teaching that God has given to us. One of those thus says the word of the Lord types of truths, where it is the truth whether I agree with it, practice it, or even whether I stand up for it or against it, if God said it and it is clear that is what He said, then debating it becomes somewhat of an exercise in futility because in the end, it is as the Scriptures say, "May it never be! Yes, let God be found true, but every man a liar. As it is written, 'That you might be justified in your words, and might prevail when you come into judgment.'" (Letter to the Romans, Chapter 3, Verse 4, World English Bible.)

My wife on Mother's Day with our three sons.

This doesn't mean we can't have a discussion and dialogue. And, we can always talk about things that we do agree on. Things like family.  Here's an interesting excerpt from Word-Origins.com: "The word family. Date of Origin: 15th century. Latin famulus, a word of unknown origin, meant ‘servant’. From it was derived familia, a collective term for all the domestic servants of a household. Only rarely was it used for the entire household, including the servants’ employers too, and when it first entered English it was with the original Latin sense (which indeed survived until the late 18th century). Gradually, however, the English word broadened out to ‘whole household’, and then in the mid-17th century narrowed down again to the current main sense ‘group of related people’." Of course we who know our Bible realize that God instituted the human race and that included a man and his tribe or clan. The first clan or family was that of Adam, Eve, and their first children, Cain and Abel. My point is that while the word family may be somewhat modern, the concept is as old as creation itself. I am thankful to God for my family. I am thankful we were able to meet Sunday, sixteen of us at a local restaurant, and express openly our love and appreciation for the moms in our family. Fundamental to society is the functioning of families. Fundamental to healthy families is the desire to live according to God's plan and purpose. That's a high calling. And we are a flawed people but that should be our desire. Thank God for His design in giving us the family we have.


Bro. Kim and his wonderful family.

We can identify with all people everywhere because of our common ancestry. That's right. If the Bible is true and it is, then we can know that we all have the same original parents, Adam and Eve. That gives us a connectedness at the very identity level. However, God also ordained the family of faith. For us, He gave us the local assembly, a called out body of people that labor and work together to advance God's Kingdom. In addition, He also provided for a special connection beyond the local fellowship for all who are identified through the acceptance of Jesus the Christ as Savior and Lord because all believers make up a special family of God's heritage. Sons and daughters of God, made right with Him through Christ. Therefore, no matter where we go we may encounter a brother or sister in Christ. This is how we function to assist other believers in their labors for the Lord. This is why we do mission work. This is why we do outreach. This is why we pool our resources together to spread the Good News of the Gospel. In doing so we enlarge the family of God. One way in particular that I've been privileged to cooperate is through our Bible club ministry in the inner city of Houston. Working with these children not only has seen many of them come to faith in Christ, but it has brought me close to some folks that have become beloved to me. Pastor Kim and his family are unique. I didn't say perfect and I wouldn't say they have it all figured out, but in the past twelve plus years that I have known this family, they have demonstrated this one message: God first in all things. Family. Personal. Church. They do this because they have embraced the Good News and they are busy about sharing it with their neighbors here, and the world at large, the family of man, everyone of which needs to know the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.                    ......More later.