“I resent when I go out to dinner and they try to sell me the healthy food for the same price as the good food.” ― Jim Gaffigan, Comedian

Welcome back. It's good to bring you greetings from my home away from home, here at what I like to call the ole blogger ranch, (my workstation at work). It's Monday, June 25, 2018, and it is time to get on with it. I was a little put out because I didn't hear from my ENT during the day on Friday. I knew she had the report from the esophagram but her nurse said she hadn't released it yet. Then, Friday evening as I sat in my recliner, about 5:30 p.m., she, the ENT, called me. She said they couldn't find anything wrong in the x-rays they had taken. She thought the next stop might be to revisit my situation with my gastroenterologist and see what she has to say. First things first, I think I will spend some time thinking about thinking about that suggestion. The lady gastroenterologist the wife and I have used for years is excellent. However, she seems to always have a diet in mind that has no connection to southern cooking. I mean, you tell me, are kale and arugula really food items? She is not quite as bad as the fellow who treated my diabetes for about six years. He actually thought finding out what they ate in the Old Testament was a good way to direct one's dietary choices. Barley is big. Wheat, corn, and other vegetables along with fruit are also mentioned prominently. He was one of the many today who believe the processing of stuff is where it is ruined in terms of its beneficial ingredients. He recommended the Uncle Sam's Brand of cereals. They tasted different. Not in a good way. To me. Now you know why it's time for some serious contemplation before I move forward.

Yesterday, in our services at our local fellowship of believers, we celebrated God's role in the founding of our great nation, the United States of America. It was a little early as the 4th of July will be next week, but, there were many special guests whose schedules had to be considered. There are some, even within the Church world, who think the separation of Church and state means very little, if any, should ever be said in a service about the 'state'. Sorry. I don't get that. Even a little bit. I've never known folks in any local congregation that ended up worshipping America instead of the God who helped to bring it into existence. We owe everything to God and that includes the nation He has given to us. We do not have to wonder what the founders thought about God's role. The founders? You know, they were the folks around sacrificing so much, many, even their very lives, to see our nation become a reality. What did they think about God? The patriot John Adams who later became president had this to say: "The general principles on which the fathers achieved independence were the general principles of Christianity. I will avow that I then believed, and now believe, that those general principles of Christianity are as eternal and immutable as the existence and attributes of God." Here's one to think about, Congress, U. S. House Judiciary Committee, 1854: "Had the people, during the Revolution, had a suspicion of any attempt to war against Christianity, that Revolution would have been strangled in its cradle… In this age, there can be no substitute for Christianity…" That was the religion of the founders of the republic and they expected it to remain the religion of their descendants." There are hundreds upon hundreds more. I recently saw something in a mainline publication that touted how that America has never been a Christian nation. It is true that a test of religion was never intended because of individual freedoms afforded by our constitutional rights, however, to say that God was not instrumental in the minds of US citizens from the time it was founded is just outright slanderous, or, in today's speak, fake news at its worst. May the God who helped found our nation continue to bless is my prayer. Amen.

I will be the first to say that patriotism and knowing God through the Lord Jesus Christ are certainly different matters altogether. The Apostle Paul made it clear in the inspired text referred to as 1st Corinthians Chapter 13, that giving up of ourselves up to and including our death is no substitute for the love of Jesus living in our hearts. Many heroes have died for our country. We do well to honor their memory. At the same time, we recognize what Jesus said about those who would be His very own. They must see and know and respond to the truth about the identity of Jesus, the God-Man, the Jewish Messiah, and Savior of the world. Jesus said it best, "I am the way, the truth, and the life and no man comes to the Father except they come through me." (John 14: 6) For those of us who have found the truth, confessed our sins, and given our heart to Jesus, we now go forth to live for Him as we are called to live. One of the things we hear so often from the culture, "The folks I know who call themselves Christians live pretty much like everyone else." That, my friend, is not how it is supposed to be. That reminds me of a little story told by the late Dr. Adrian Rogers. He said a little boy was standing of the corner with a tiny little dog on a leash. A fellow asked him what kind of dog was that. The little boy whispered he is a German shepherd police dog. The man was taken aback. How could that be? The little guy then told him the little dog was operating undercover. Dr. Rogers went on to say that too many Christians are operating undercover today. I close with the little song we taught children growing up in Sunday School, "If you're saved and you know it, then your life should surely show it." That will teach. That will preach. And, we all need to hear it. Amen. .....More later.