How many of you know how to use a hammer? I learned the hard way by hitting my fingers. But once I learned how to use it, I became fairly skilled. I never wanted to make it a living. From my youth, I was always told use your mind not your back. They said you will go further in life. But I wanted to accomplish a certain level of skill with tools. I did just so. I could use them when I needed them. I use to love to watch Home Improvements, where Tim Allen would bring out these outrageous tools and everything would go wrong. He was the salesman, not a skilled worker. I believe there are too many salesmen in the church and not enough skilled workers. You see the Gifts of the Spirit are tools to do the work of God. Many people boast about having the gifts, but couldn’t display them if they had too. It’s not strange at all. To use the gifts, you have to know the giver and the instructions that come with the tools. It is a source of pride with people in the church. Just as Tim Allen wore the little tool belt and didn’t know how to use the tools. I started by knowing God and what He wanted. Then I would practice the gifts and use them how He told me too. The gifts will work without knowing God. They operate in many people today. But they don’t what they are meant for or how to use them properly. The whole key to operating the gifts is to know God. As it says in Romans 11:29 “For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.”

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My youngest son calls me oldie. My 3^rd son calls me pa. my oldest and 2^nd son call me dad. These men learned who I am by living with me. As they grew up, they learn what I liked and disliked. They found out what happens when they disobeyed their mother and I. Discipline was always required from each one of them. I never corrected a child for spilling milk. But if they ever said no to me they found out what discipline meant. Each one learned about me a little at a time. They didn’t learn overnight. It took years and they are still learning now. Many people called God Father and have no idea who He is. When I started walking with God, it surprised me how personable He is. To me He was always the man upstairs. The reason was that I didn’t know Him. I was amazed at how much He was like me only bigger and better. I should say how much I am similar to Him. You see we are the image and likeness of God. But I didn’t know that until I started to learn who He is. As I spent time with Him and learned about Him reading the bible, God became real to me. God is truly my Father and Jesus is my older brother. Because I am a member of His family. And as I disciplined my children, God does the same to me. Because I am not illegitimate. I am one of His sons. As a loving Father, He will accept anyone into His family. All you have to do is ask.

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Time stops for no man. It is relentless. Did you know that time is temporary? It will end. What happens before it ends? Time was given to man to measure seasons. How did man know that there was 60 seconds in a minute and 60 minutes in an hour? Well, did you know that our heart beats 60 times a minute? It is fascinating to see how everything in this world reflects time. It is like someone coordinated everything together and life goes on. There are more fascinating things in this world. The weather unfolds according to time. Weather moves east around the earth. And the earth moves west. The earth revolves at a certain speed so that we don’t fly off into space. One revolution of the earth is timed with 60 (60mins.x24hrs.). The solar calendar is 6×2 months. The speed of the earth is 6x173mph. 6 is the smallest perfect number. 60 is the proportion of kosher (60:1). A gross is 2 x60. An equilateral triangle’s corner are 60 degrees. The Babylonian, Sumerian and Akkadian civilization based their number system on 60. What is it about 6 or 60 or 600? Why is that number so perfect? Oh, let’s not forget that the number of man is 6. And the number of the anti-Christ is 666. It is perfect because God invented or created this world. And God is perfect. So life goes on.

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I have always heard that suffering is good for the soul. I don’t know about you but I don’t like pain. It is funny because I have a high tolerance for pain. When I was young, wasp would sting me and I would feel no pain. As I got older, I broke my big toe and couldn’t move for ½ hour for the pain. But afterwards I walked around. I still feel it when it rains. Physical pain hurts at the onset but then fades as time goes by. It is still no fun. But there is a pain that doesn’t go away. That pain is spiritual. So, what am I talking about? The 1^st time you were betrayed by someone. When a girlfriend or boyfriend dumped you. When someone deliberately hurt you, it smarted with pain. You have heard the saying; I would have rather taken a beating then to suffer heartache. That pain doesn’t go away with time. Even if it is not thought about for a time, it is still there. That pain can shade your judgement. And you may not even remember why. It stays with us for a lifetime. There is only one way to get rid of that pain. You must have a change of heart. And there is only one person who can give you a change of heart. That is God Himself. There is no other way. And all you have to do is ask.

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People believe. It is an important part of our lives to believe. When people find a truth that they perceive, they believe. It may not be true at all, but they believe. Did you know that your heart is the most deceptive thing you own? Man, believes whatever is right in his own eyes. Even half-truths can be as deceptive as a lie. You should check and double check to prove a truth. Therefore, scientist don’t publish theories until they are proven to be true. Faith is a belief. It too should be tested. Faith in the beginning is more hope than belief. It is what motivates us to believe in the 1^st place. If you don’t test your faith, when trouble comes your faith will fade away. The apostle Paul wrote about this very thing. He said, one says that he has faith and the other says he has works. Paul said, you will see my faith by my works. So faith to become belief must be put into practice. I have seen too many things work by the hand of God not to believe. The 1^st time I prayed, I asked God to do something and He did. And He has never stop. So what do you believe in? I ask the question because what you believe is calling you.

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There is nothing in this world that moves me like music. Since an early age, I have had a singing voice and perfect pitch. Every time someone would be singing and step on a note, it would make me cringe. In both elementary and high school, I sang in a choir. When I was in the 8^th grade, the school was forming the bishop’s boys choir. The director wanted only sopranos. My voice hadn’t changed yet, so I tried out. my younger brother also tried out. He made it and I didn’t. The next year, I joined the high school choir. I had the highest voice in the choir. I could hit high C. Then my voice change and landed on tenor. In college, I went into communications. After I had worked for a Christian radio station. I was the music director. I would listen to all the music that came into the station for airplay. That was one of the best jobs I ever had. Listening to music all day long. My favorite music is A cappella. This is where the voices of the people that carry the melody. One of the best examples of that is the song “Carol of the Bells”. Music is what stirs your heart. Because it rings true in your heart. No matter what kind of music you listen to. Do you know why it is true? The reason is very simple. It is because God instituted music. It is a spiritual thing. But there is a song that I am waiting to hear because I will be part of that choir. The song is called “song of the redeemed”. When it is sung, it said that the angels stop and listen to that beautiful song. It is because they can’t sing that song. Because we are the only ones who sing about being redeemed by God.

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I like to cook. Since my youth, I have studied and cooked my way through all kinds of food. My mother as dear as she was, couldn’t cook. I should say she cooked for my dad. And all he liked was meat and potatoes. I started watching cooking shows on TV. My mom was a school teacher and didn’t have much time to prepare food. We were raised catholic and didn’t eat meat on Fridays. Mom fixed pimento and cheese sandwiches. I can’t stand them. To this day I don’t eat pimento and cheese, ever. As I developed my skill as a cook, mom would let me cook the evening meal. Dad, when he knew I cooked, would say he didn’t like. When he didn’t know I cooked, he loved it. So, mom and I didn’t tell him for a long time. My skill improved steadily. I can cook most anything and bake also. When my wife and I were 1^st married, she was glad I could cook because she didn’t. She has come a long way and learned how to cook. But I can cook rings around her. Food has always been the core of family life. My grandmother would always ask me if I was hungry when I went to her house. Because no one was going to leave her home hungry. She lived through the depression and raised a family. They didn’t have much but always shared what they had with anyone. Mom and her sisters learn it. That heritage I learned from my family is that the gift of hospitality is about giving to those in need. And I can still out cook my wife.

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I was looking at today’s newspaper and saw a recipe for Hanukah. And it isn’t even Thanksgiving yet. This year has gone by in a twinkling of an eye. Seasons were given to us to tell time. I’m listening to the song, “I’ll be home for Christmas”. It makes me lonesome for my parents. My years have all been counted by Christmas. My birthday is in December. I would get clothes for my birthday and toys for Christmas. My mother and her sisters would have Christmas with all our families at our house. My mother and her 2 sisters had 9 boys. So when we would get together and everyone got a present. As our family grow, we were limited to one present per person. I miss those days. All the boys would go outside and play. The moms and aunts would gather in the kitchen to prepare the meal. The men were in the front room talking. As we got older, we would all gather in the front room to watch football. When the meal was ready, we sat at several tables. There was always enough food to feed an army. And there was plenty of desserts. After we finished eating, we cleared all the dishes and food. Then we would get the card tables out. we would split into groups of 4 to play hearts. We would get together for Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter. We did this until we were grown men. My sons are grown now. And we still try to get together for the holidays. We started inviting people who were alone for the holidays. Our little house was always full of people. Because the holidays bring such strong emotions, we didn’t want people to be alone. Share your holidays with someone. Don’t let them be alone and remember times and seasons.

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As we grow, we learn. All through that learning process, we are tested. We are tested to see if we learned the material. Test aren’t fun, but very necessary. The process is to prove that the information is valid and worth learning. You know what is the funny part is, that we carry all information we learned with us even into eternity. Whether we use it or not, it is up to us. An educated person is far more valuable than not. It is why this country stresses the point of education. Once we leave our formal education, we figure we don’t have to do homework or test. O contraire, it is only the beginning. Our formal education is training for the rest of our life. But it seems that the older we get the harder the testing becomes. And the more we need to use the knowledge we’ve learned. One of the biggest test I ever faced was when my 3^rd son contracted spinal meningitis. He was only 6 months old. I never felt so helpless in all my life. He had to go into intensive care in the hospital. I had no insurance and $170 to my name. Everything I had learned and believed came into play. Was I going to stand and believe and trust God or was I going to turn away? The doctor told my wife and I that if he lives, he will probably be a vegetable. My wife stayed at the hospital. I went home to see about the other children. There was a peace that come over me that I could sleep. The next morning, the insurance we applied for came in the mail. There were no immune shots for spinal meningitis back then. He was receiving massive amounts of antibiotics. Every day they would test for the meningitis. On the third day at the hospital, the doctor came into the room and announced to us that there was no spinal meningitis in him. The doctor said I know that he had it. he couldn’t understand what had happened. My wife and I did. God healed him. My son suffered no ill effects from the virus. He is now 30 years old and doing well. That test could have defeated me. It could have destroyed all that I learned and believed. But I have never seen the righteous forsaken nor his seed begging bread.

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I always thought that I would live forever, when I was young and the world was before me. I was 40 years old before it dawned on me that I wasn’t 18 years old anymore. I have always considered myself a young man, even when I passed the 60-year mark. As the bible says a person who is 100 years old is still a child. And I still think of myself that way. But the reality is that I am reaching the sunset of my life. No one wants to die. We all want to live forever. I have goals I want to accomplish and there is still not enough time left. You pay your money and you take your chances. I decided on all the things that I did in my life. No one forced me to do what I wanted to do. My father died before knowing my children. I have one grandson, who I don’t know very well. My wife tries to prove her independence, but if I left it would devastate her. And my sons still need my guidance. And I want to go home. This world isn’t my home. This world is temporary and will disappear in the end of time. So, what do I do? How long do I live? It is still up to me when I go home, barring any accidents or disease. I have walked with God for most of my life. I have done what He asked of me. Now I want the reward He has promised me. Yet I don’t want to leave. But I know that soon it will be time to go. I will be extremely happy and sad about that. You see I am caught between the two. So, I contemplate my mortality.

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