The Real Battle

     Sometimes it seems like all of life is a battle.  The apostle Paul told Timothy to “fight the good fight of the faith,” and to “endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.”  A Christian does not fight because he wants to, but because he has to.

     Everyone experiences different kinds of battles in life.  Each type of battle has a different purpose.  In spiritual battles we must learn to resist the devil.  In situational battles we must overcome circumstances beyond our control and learn to trust God on a deeper level.  In emotional battles we learn to handle personal tragedies, family crises, and emotional traumas.  In moral battles we face the temptations and confusion of the world around us.  In intellectual battles we face the skepticism of our day.  We see the world becoming invaded with cults and false religions – each one claiming to offer solutions for all of our problems.  We must learn to confront this falseness with the truth of God’s word.

     All of the various types of battles in life have an underlying spiritual conflict.  Therefore we must be spiritually prepared for battle.  Like the apostle Paul, we are ordinary, weak human beings, but we must not use human plans and methods to win our battles.  We must use God’s mighty weapons, rather than those made by men, to knock down the devil’s strongholds (2 Cor. 10:3,4).

     The visible difficulties confronting us are not the real enemy.  The real enemy is the devil and the evil spirits under his control – stirring up the divisiveness and unrest in the whole world.  Only with God’s power and God’s armor can we stand against the overwhelming numbers of evil spirits who rule so much of this world.  If we fight our daily battles using our own strength and our own methods, we will lose.  If we use every piece of armor that God has given us, we will survive.  Our belt is God’s truth.  Our breastplate is our relationship with God.  Our shoes are the Good News that there is peace in God.  Our shield is our faith in God, which can deflect any assaults from those who accuse or revile us.  Our helmet is our salvation through Jesus Christ and our sword is the Sword of the Spirit – which is the Word of God (Eph. 6:10-17).

     Three times, Satan tried to tempt Jesus to sin.  Each time, Jesus responded only with God’s word (Matt. 4:4-10).  After three unsuccessful tries, the devil left him.  When we are attacked, we must respond in truth, confidence, and compassion – knowing who we are and discerning the true enemy.  Very often, the true attack is not from the person in front of us, but from the larger spiritual conflict in the world around us.

     Our only defense against the invisible, spiritual attacks against us is our relationship with God, His word, and His Holy Spirit.  “So give yourselves completely to God.  Stand against the devil, and the devil will run from you.  Come near to God, and God will come near to you.” (James 4:7-8a NCV)

Defend Yourself!

There is a common misunderstanding about the difference between defensiveness and defense.

Defensiveness is an excessive sensitivity to criticism.  It induces irrational and frantic behavior, fear, and an inability to respond appropriately to legitimate needs.  Defensiveness causes frustration, aggression, anger, and a feeling of helplessness.

Defense is an appropriate response to an attack.  Defense is any method which can be used to repel an aggressor and prevent injury or loss.

As an example of the difference between defensiveness and defense:  An American infantry squad is in battle in a third world country.  The enemy vastly outnumbers the American soldiers, but the Americans outclass the enemy in every way, in skill, in technology, and in knowledge.  The enemy knows this.  They know nothing about defense; their only strategy is to attack.  But they attack out of fear and defensiveness.  At every sound, at even the slightest glimpse of an American, the enemy soldier will empty an entire clip, spraying the jungle or desert in all directions with bullets from his machine gun.  The American, on the other hand, patiently waits, his automatic rifle set on single fire, confident in his ability to respond to the attack.  When the enemy comes into view...  Bang!  An enemy falls.  Bang!  An enemy falls.  No panic, no wasted resources, no frustration, no anger – and an ability to function normally in any other context or situation.

Right now, the Democrats are in full blown, frantic, insane, defensiveness.  They have no other strategy but attack.  Republicans have been hesitant to defend themselves from these irrational attacks for fear of appearing to act the same way.  This campaign started out with eight powerful candidates, any one of which would have probably made an acceptable president.  Every time one would appear to edge ahead, he would be attacked so violently that he would drop out.  None of them had an effective defense.

We are down to our last candidate.  Whether or not he is the best is irrelevant.  He is quite acceptable, and, based on his background, he might be exactly what the country needs at the moment. He must be defended – not with frantic defensiveness, but with calm, competent precision.

We must respond to panic with competence.

We must respond to ignorance with knowledge.

We must respond to lies with facts.

We must respond to hate and intolerance with love and tolerance.

We must respond to racist bigotry disguised as affirmative action.  Genuine racial equality is manifested by greater diversity in higher positions of leadership based on competence and acceptance rather than quotas and mandates.

Our country and all that we hold dear is under attack.  We must defend.

An Open Letter to Oppressed Americans

Vice Presidents are chosen primarily for their appeal to the people.  This means that the type of Vice President reflects the President’s perception of the average American voter.  Joe Biden is who Obama chose to represent his image of the average white American.  Obama sees white people as old, incompetent buffoons.  This means that Obama sees the majority of Americans as old, incompetent buffoons.  This means that Obama sees YOU as an old, incompetent buffoon!

Romney, on the other hand, has chosen a Vice President who reflects the values of the American Dream – a young, exciting, hard driving, hard rocking American superhero who can defeat the villain at the last minute, rescue the girl, and get the cat out of the tree.

War on women, my ass!

Ann Romney, Nikki Haley - Governor of South Carolina, Kelly Ayotte - Senator from New Hampshire, Susana Martinez - Governor of New Mexico, Condoleeza Rice - former Secretary of State.  Blacks, Hispanics, and women need to look at the speakers at the Republican Convention, open their eyes, and suddenly realize, “My God!  I’m a Republican!”

Democrats promise freedom and opportunity.  Republicans deliver freedom and opportunity.  Republicans protect freedom and opportunity.

The slaves will never be free as long as they are bound to the Democratic Party!

Rev. Harold Max Curtis

degreed engineer

licensed electrician

ordained minister

average (Republican) American

Rev. Jeanne Grace Curtis

degreed housewife

grandmother

business owner

ordained minister

average (Republican) American

What's Next?

I always dread the start of school season.  I was not looking forward to a 47 mile daily commute behind school buses almost half of the way.  So I was delighted to find this year that the bus routes or schedules had changed.  I didn’t get behind a school bus the whole way!

Then the next day I got behind a logging truck.  Oh, well...  That won’t happen every day.  Then two days in a row – I got behind tractors!  A couple of days ago, I got behind a fork lift!  His tires were practically bouncing off the ground as he cranked it all the way up to 18 miles per hour!  I thought, ‘OK, what could possibly be worse than this?”  Well, this morning I got behind a tracked shovel doing 4 miles per hour!

I think I have identified a definite trend here.  As I project the trend into the future, I am simultaneously intrigued and concerned.  What could possibly be next?  I can only imagine that next Monday I will get behind a sled pulled by an old man with a walker!

Carrying Burdens Lightly

Even though Jesus's burden was the sin and salvation of the whole world, He said "my yoke is easy and my burden is light."  We have a lot of heavy responsibilities in today's chaotic world, but we need to be able to carry them lightly.  (Much easier said than done.)

One aspect of carrying burdens lightly is the ability to find humor in the midst of difficulty.  In a painful, embarrassing, or stressful situation, I have always said, "you can laugh or you can cry," - meaning that you will do one or the other.  But I just realized that there is a third alternative...  You can bring an AK47 to work for show and tell and let everyone know how you really feel!

Charactistic of a Miracle

A miracle does not violate the laws of physics.  Not unlike the incredible accomplishment of a quarter of a million pounds of aluminum 757 flying through the air, a miracle just uses the laws of physics in surprising or unexpected ways.

Just because we can't explain it, doesn't mean it is a miracle.  Just because we can explain it, doesn't mean it isn't a miracle.

 

A miracle requires the convergence of forces in a configuration that they would not normally assume.

Half Full or Half Empty?

The optimist says “the glass is half full.”

The pessimist say “the glass is half empty.”

The engineer says “the glass was conservatively specified to have a service factor of two to one.”

The Marketplace Ministry Move of God

     When evangelist Billy Graham was recently asked where he saw God moving today, he described what is becoming known as the marketplace ministry movement of God.  In contrast to his crusades, he said, “today, I sense something different is happening.  …the Holy Spirit is working in a new way.  He’s moving through people where they work and through one-on-one relationships to accomplish great things.  They are demonstrating God’s love to those around them, not just with words, but in deed.”

     All over the world, men and women are taking Christianity to work with them – but not in the traditional manner.  They understand that Christianity is not a performance or demonstration of religious beliefs – it is a lifestyle which permeates every action, every minute of every day.  Christians are called to be influential in society.  Marketplace Christians desire for God’s kingdom to come and God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven.

     For most of His life, Jesus had a marketplace ministry.  Although Jesus is both our King and our Priest, He spent much more of His life as a carpenter, than as a minister.  When Jesus did become publicly known, He chose fishermen, a tax collector, and other common tradesmen – none of the disciples were priests or scribes.  Jesus taught in the marketplace, and Jesus chose to call his disciples from the marketplace.

     There are people who will never hear the gospel because they will never enter a church building.  As Christians, you and I may well be the only representative of God that they will ever encounter.  Our work is our service to God when we reflect His life through our life and work.  Whether it is in Christian mission work, or working at the local hardware store, God calls each of us to our vocation.  He wants to use us where we are, while we are doing what we are doing.  God’s interest is not simply that we do holy activities but that we become holy people.  God created us to reflect His glory in whatever we do.  Whether you own your own business or work for someone else, you please God when you exhibit Christ-like attitudes of love, humility, grace, & power in your daily work. 

     God wants to use Christians in all areas of their life and work.  Marketplace Ministry proclaims Christ to the world by demonstrating God’s love and power to people who are all around us, wherever we are.

A Measure of Friendship

I just read Shut Up and Eat Your Snowshoes! by Jack Douglas.  Jack Douglas was a comedy writer who wrote for many TV shows and comedians from the 40's to the 70's.  He counted hundreds of those people as his friends.  At the point in his life covered in this book, he chose to move from Connecticut with his wife, son, 5 wolves, a cougar, and 2 dogs to Northern Ontario.  He bought a hunting lodge 116 miles from the nearest town.

It was 25 miles just to the nearest road.  Imagine going to buy groceries every other week!  His wife had a baby in -25 degree weather in a tent in a blizzard!  But that wasn't what impressed me the most.

What impressed me the most about this story was the New Year's party shortly after the baby was born.  The guests would have to make their own individual arrangements to fly to the little town in northern Canada in the midst of winter where they would all meet and be driven a hundred miles in a school bus to meet the Douglas snow tractor and ride the lumber sledge to the hunting lodge.  All of this for a party and an overnight stay of only one night.

They weren't sure anyone would come, but they all did.  Here is a partial guest list:  Jack, Randy, and Miriam Paar;  Merv and Julann Griffin;  Johnny and Joanne Carson;  Dean Martin;  Julie Newmar;  Diahann Carroll;  Barbara Eden and her husband;  Joey Bishop; Tony Randall; and several other less well known couples.

The copy I have is autographed To Jack, Miriam, and Randy Paar -- with much love, Jack Douglas.  So this was Jack Paar's personal copy.  I value it highly as a collectable, a story of appreciation of life and the wonders of God's creation,  an ability to find joy and humor in the midst of what most people would consider unbearable and unacceptable hardship, and most of all -- a statement of the value of a man's life measured by the number and quality of his friends.

What is Engineering?

One of the causes of the current decline of the United States is the lack of interest in engineering. Over the last century and a half, many of the greatest triumphs of this nation have been engineering – railroads, bridges, cars, air conditioning and refrigeration, electric power – the list is incredibly long... And all items that we take for granted.


There is a huge public misunderstanding of what constitutes engineering. Especially on television, most accomplishments attributed to ‘science’ or ‘scientists’ are actually engineering. “Scientists are working on that right now.” No, they aren’t! Engineers are!

Science is the attempt to determine the characteristics of the world around us from known or observed data.

Engineering is the art of using knowledge, objects, and methods that perform definite known functions to derive other knowledge, objects, and methods that perform other functions.

If the objective is knowledge, quite possibly the field is science.

If the objective is function, then the field is almost certainly engineering.

Give engineers the respect they are due. And maybe, just maybe, return this country to its position as the greatest nation on God’s green Earth.

Focus vs. Depth of Field

The ability to hear the subtle whisper of the Holy Spirit is a lot like following a trail made in a forest by deer or other animals. Up close, there is no evidence that anything has disturbed the homogenous layer of leaves or grass or the scattering of sticks and other debris on the forest floor. Even clues as obvious as tracks are extremely difficult to detect unless they are out in the open or in sand or mud. Typical trails can only be seen from a certain distance. A wider focus is necessary in order to detect the subtle patterns in the disturbance of the random chaotic distribution of fallen leaves that indicates purpose and direction. Anyone skilled in wood lore has literally learned to see the forest as well as the trees. They have especially trained themselves to appreciate the wealth of information that is conveyed by the trails in the woods. They know that most trails lead directly to a place of food, water, or shelter for the animals that created the trail. In the same manner, if we learn to detect it, God’s gentle whispering voice will reveal a path that will guide us, feed us, and shelter us – spiritually and physically. (excerpt from Following The Cloud, p. 6)

On my job, I am constantly admonished to “Focus” – pay close attention to the little details that cause larger issues. After analyzing a recent mistake that I had to correct, I realized that the problem is not “focus” at all, it’s “depth of field”. In the field of photography, depth of field refers to the distance between the nearest and farthest objects in a scene that appear acceptably sharp. A lens can precisely focus at only one distance at a time, but the fuzziness is gradual on each side of the focused distance, so that within the depth of field, the lack of focus is imperceptible under normal viewing conditions.

Working in AutoCAD especially encourages zooming in very close on the details to get them absolutely perfect. I realized that I had been so focused on the details (the precision of the individual lines) that I couldn’t see the whole components that interfered with each other. “Wider focus” refers to depth of field. In everything that we do, we need to broaden our focus. We need to be able to see the forest as well as the trees. We need to be able to see the whole machine as well as the individual parts. To successfully follow the path in any woods, we need to have just the right depth of field.

Creativity is still alive

For several years, I was field service technician responsible for all of the Levolor Blind cutting machines in all of the Lowes stores in Georgia (about 40 stores).

This was the most incredible little machine.  It had a hydraulic shear at one end, and a servo controlled saw at the other end.  It was all controlled by a PLC.  It all fit in a case on giant drawer slides that slid back into one pallet rack bay in the store.  And it was pretty enough and safe enough for the women in the blind department to use.  The venetian blind cuts had to be clean enough to be 'like new'.

As soon as the blades began leaving even the slighted burr on the aluminum top or bottom rails, they had to be changed.

They FedExed me the blade every time!  For a while, they were even paying to FedEx the dull one back.  Then when Rubbermaid bought Irwin, they could get them for about $15 dollars, so they didn't want them back any more.

40 stores about every 3 months for about 3 years.  40 x 4 x 3 = 3 or 4 hundred.

I haven't been able to throw them away.  I know there must be something really neat to do with them.  Finally,  I asked a forum called the Tinker's Guild, "What can I do with 3 or 4 hundred 10" Carbide saw blades?"

I was looking for the kind of guy's creativity that results in monster trucks or bowling ball shooting cannons - just because you can.  .  I loved this answer so much, I had to share it with the world:

by "Someone"

Really wide Dado blade?
Big planer setup?
ULTIMATE Ultimate Frisbee
Fido want to play fetch?
Fully automatic sawblade thrower? (Actually, by modifying a auto skeet thrower...)
Tie 'em on strings and hang them up for Halloween?
Coasters?
Skeet?
Cover the car in saw blades and take it to the Art Car Parade?
For the above, flat for driving around, upright for driving around aggressively?
Scrapyard?
Tell a friend he's won slightly dull sawblades for life?
Using a transfer printer, write your letters on them and send them through the mail?
As above, but in color for your Christmas cards?
Print what you really think about various Congressmen on them, then mail it to them?
Wallpaper?
Wallpaper in the shop?
Get a small, cheap file cabinet, put them in it, and label the drawers "Sawblades"? Friends will know you have OCD.
Get a van, put in a speaker playing "Pop goes the Weasel", and drive around new subdivisions selling them to construction crews?
Mail them to the guy on the Muppet show who throws fish, and tell him he needs to upgrade his act?

Need any more?