"I still love making hamburgers on the grill. I guess whenever I eat them childhood memories come up for me." ~ Chef Bobby Flay

Hello and welcome to the Thursday before Good Friday here on this April 17, 2014. I want to give a shout out to 77354. That's the Zipcode where I work. It wasn't easy folks but we huffed and we puffed and according to the Weather Channel, last Tuesday morning we got to that magical temperature reading, 38 degrees with a feels like of 32. (Hit 36 on Wednesday morning for good measure.) Now here's the deal: When you experience that kind of breath of fresh air in mid April, it calls for a celebration. I don't know if or how you celebrated but I know how I did. That's right. You guessed it. I enjoyed another cup of that wonderful syrupy, thick and black Community. (Warning: That may have been a slight exaggeration.) The other day I put the photo I'm showing today up as the background on my Facebook page. A fellow I graduated from high school with who now lives in Alabama commented on the simple beauty it shows. I sent him a note and told him that when I look at it I'm reminded of those cold early morning hunting adventures in some hard to access places with my grandfather. He acknowledged those memories and dubbed them good times in that rural area we both were privileged to live in. Let me see. A cool morning, a hot cup of Community, and a walk down memory lane. Is this a great country or what?

A major university recently made headlines because they withdrew a speaker scheduled to receive an honorary doctorate and to do the commencement address. The speaker is a lady who has taken on the draconian abuses suffered by women and girls growing up in the Muslim world. She should know. This accomplished scholar grew up in that environment but escaped. When she was announced there was an uproar from the pro Muslim world. The school withdrew the invitation and backed down. This is a university that has allowed speakers with known terrorist leanings and those who have authored Anti-Semitic writings to address their students. This is a university that has promoted just about every far left position imaginable all in the name of free speech and diversity. Yet, they yielded to this pressure and many believe they did so because implied in this backlash could be an opportunity for potential violence. It seems that we as a nation are becoming more and more a hostage to the forces that threaten our freedoms and our way of life, yet, whether it's our government or our institutions, we choose to cower as opposed to taking a stand.

I know that many want to think these sorts of things don't really mean much. But, may I warn us all, that putting stuff like this out of our minds and looking the other way will not make it go away. One thing is crystal clear. There's no deference or respect being shown to those who stand up for Christian principles. In fact, those who stand for biblical truth are being reported as enemies among us while the forces of evil are being embraced. Sometimes it's just hard to believe that we have gotten to where we are. We shouldn't be surprised but it still more or less takes your breath away when you consider that we would be the generation seeing these prophesied truths actually realized. I can remember hearing many of these things from the pulpit during my childhood. It seemed so incredible and so far away. Now they are not only at work, they are becoming more and more the norm in today's society. In the midst of these things, what can we do? "But when these things begin to take place, straighten up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near." (Luke 21:28) Take heart and keep on keeping on as we seek to please Him with the life He has given to us. Amen.   ....More later.