Seventy-five years old?!  How is that possible?  My husband, affectionately known as my boyfriend, turned seventy-five years old on June 24.  It just seems impossible that he is three-fourths of a century old and that we have been married for more than five decades.  I would not say time has flown, but it certainly moved a little faster than I expected. 

Gaylon and I have been blessed in life.  In the area of the material, we are certainly not wealthy people, but we have no lack.  It is actually hard to buy gifts for each other or to communicate to our children, when asked, what to give us as gifts.

Seventy-five, what could I give Gaylon for age seventy-five?  I recalled that on several occasions Gaylon said he would like to have a metal detector.  He thought it would be fun for him and fun for the grandchildren.  Therefore, on his birthday, Gaylon opened his nice, shiny, red metal detector.  He assembled it and began toying around with it.  He would hide his wedding band or coins and slowly pass the metal detector over them.  Quickly the detector would let out a loud sound to indicate metal was present.  The metal detector communicates that there is something hidden in the grass that should not be there

Do you have a metal detector?  If you are a child of God, you do.  Well, technically it is not a metal detector but a fruit detector.  His name is Holy Spirit.  As we walk with God, we are not immune to things entering our lives that do not belong there.  First Corinthians 6:19:20 teaches us, “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore, honor God with your bodies.”

The Holy Spirit is present much like a metal detector.  He reminds us that our bodies no longer belong to us. He lets us know when something has taken up residence in our bodies, bodies bought with the price of the precious blood of Jesus.   Holy Spirit isn’t revealing things that need to be uprooted or forsaken because He loves to condemn us.  No, not at all!  He wants us to be free and open to receive all that God has intended for us.  I narrow the flow of God in my life when I allow bitterness, envy, strife, fits of anger (that’s the way the Bible says it), drunkenness, and other works of the flesh to reside in the temple that belongs to the Holy Spirit.  Being free from these things places me a position to receive all God has for me, and allows me to be more like Jesus.  

The verse which proceeds First Corinthians 6:19, 20 is very enlightening.  Verse eighteen says, “Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body.”   In those three verses in First Corinthians, the metal detector known as the Holy Spirit lets us know that we are not free to use our bodies any way we choose sexually.   

As God’s people, we should keep our minds on things from above and not give into fleshly temptations. By accepting Jesus as our Savior, we waive the right to do whatever we choose with our bodies. Sometimes in our sexually charged environment, it seems this truth has gotten lost.  Since we are now a holy house set aside for God’s purposes, nothing unclean or defiling should be allowed take up residence.  In other words, no Christian should engage in sin, including sexual immorality. We might have to renew our thinking in today’s environment where sexual matters are concerned.  The world does not have to follow this instruction, but God’s people must.

Christians should abstain from whatever defiles the temple of the Holy Spirit. Because Christ gave us these bodies as a temporary gift, we should honor Him with them. Taking care of the temple involves other things such as exercise, eating healthy, and filling ourselves with spiritual nourishment. We do not have to give entrance to everything knocking on the door of the temple. Let us intentionally draw closer and listen to the Holy detector living within us. His purpose is to bring us into a closer walk with Jesus and to make us more like Him. 

As a child, I grew up around my maternal grandmother.  Since she only lived a block away, I actually spent quite a bit of time with her. There was a path that led from our house to hers.  If you sat on her front porch, you could see the back porch of the house where my family resided.  I often took the walk through the field to see Granny.

One of the advantages of seeing my grandmother almost daily was that I really got to see how she lived her life.  As I sat in her kitchen one day, she reached into the cabinet and got an onion to peel.  She then pulled a straw from her broom and put it in her mouth.  Needless to say, I was a bit perplexed.   While holding the straw in her mouth, Granny began to chop the onion.  I just had to ask, “Why do you have a straw in your mouth?”  She replied, “If you will hold a straw in your mouth while chopping the onion, the straw will absorb the onion fumes and you will have no tears.”

Wow!  I really learned something valuable!  I was so glad that my grandmother had passed such truth to me!  Not so fast!  Upon further examination, the truth had not been passed to me at all.  I watched that day as my grandmother chopped an onion while holding a straw in her mouth with tears running down her face!  What she passed to me as truth wasn’t truth at all! It was something that was passed to her and accepted as truth.

As God’s children, so often we hear a sermon or a teaching, and we take it as truth.  After all, the person who said it was “anointed.”  We were wowed by someone’s truth that they passed to us.  Not so fast!  Beloved, we are responsible to examine the Word ourselves.  Is that really what scripture teaches?   Is it taken out of context?  Is it twisted to make it say something that it was not intended to say? 

The people of God are called to test the truth, to judge between true and false, between light and darkness.  It is easy to fall into spiritual laziness and accept someone else’s truth.  Thank God for great spiritual leaders and teachers.  We need them!  Having good teachers does not dissolve our responsibility to study for ourselves.  As long as we are upon this earth, we must resolve to study the Word for ourselves.  “I think that this is right—because I find it in the Bible,” and “I think that this is wrong—because I do not find it in the Bible.”  This should become a part of who we are. 

I have said it often and I will say it here, “The people of God are becoming biblically anemic.”  If we continue to put no effort into studying for ourselves, it is not a matter of if we will be deceived, but how often we will be deceived. 

Let us be diligent in the study of His word. We can invite the Holy Spirit to join us and enlighten us as we seek truth. If we don’t do that, we will find ourselves putting a straw in our mouth while cutting an onion.  After all, my grandmother said it was true!

“Study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman that needs not be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”  – 2 Timothy 2:15

Father’s Day – the day we buy cards for the men in our lives whom we love and adore. Or perhaps we have a big cookout to celebrate that guy who has fixed broken toys, played baseball in the backyard, and baited hooks for kids to fish. Fathers – they are superheroes in the flesh.

For some, Father’s Day is difficult. Perhaps, you lost your father recently. Perhaps, there is a family rift that prevents any kind of celebration. Maybe you live a great distance from family and going home is not an option. Maybe your father was never around. The truth is that Father’s Day is not a delightful day for everyone.

Every dad was not a superhero. All of us do not have sweet, flowery stories of the great fathers who raised us. I would be in that category. My siblings and I were raised by an abusive, controlling, cursing man. It really was a case that if he said to jump, we asked, “How high!” All eight of us children were candidates for a miserable adulthood. The statistics are not pretty.

My story was totally rewritten after following my heavenly Father. My transformation did not all happen overnight, but it happened. I gave my life to Jesus Christ and began the path of following Him in 1969. I married a man who was raised by a wonderful father, and in 1971 we began a journey together. I was ill-prepared for that journey but thank God that man was patient with me, and realized I was a wounded soul. That man, Gaylon Benton, is an incredible father for our children. Though our sons are grown with families of their own, their dad still loves them fiercely.

Happy Father’s Day to Gaylon Benton who raised three fine men who all are good husbands and fathers. Stephen and Michael are wonderful, hard-working, loving fathers. Though Bryan never got to lay eyes on Tucker, he was excited beyond words about the reality of becoming a father to a son. (I am not sure Bryan can look down from heaven and see Tucker, but if not, I hope God will tell him that Tucker is his “mini me.”)

No, not everyone had a superhero dad. What if this Father’s Day we give ourselves a gift? What if we lay down disappointment at the foot of the cross? What if this Father’s Day we step into the promises of our Heavenly Father? If I allowed myself to focus on the storybook versions of Father’s Day, it would indeed be a difficult day. I just came to testify to my heavenly Father’s goodness! I choose to focus on the life Father has given me and what a blessed life that is! He is a good, good Father!

“See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are.” 1 John 3:1

How I longed to go to the beach as a child! Living in South Carolina offered residents access to several beaches.  I would hear the other kids at school talk about the ocean and staying in a beach house for a week.  They would be so excited as they told the tales of what they had done with friends and family.  I remember more than once lying in bed and dreaming what the beach was like.   Though I lived less than one hundred miles from Myrtle Beach, it might as well have been one hundred thousand miles. 

Being raised in an extremely poor family meant there was never a vacation.  My father made a meager salary and there were ten mouths to feed, and there were way too many dollars spent on alcohol and tobacco. We did not own a car, so getting to the beach was not even a possibility.

I have told the story of Margarita Poulos many times.  Ms. Poulos would pick up the kids from our home on Sundays and take us to church to be in her Sunday school class.  At six years old, I did not care that much about church, but I tell you what I did care about – prizes!  Margarita Poulos offered all kinds of prizes and rewards if we memorized passages of scripture.  She offered five dollars to anyone learning all the books of the Bible.   Five dollars! I am not sure I had ever had my own five-dollar bill! By the next Sunday, I knew all sixty-six books of the Bible. 

Then came the big prize!  If a child had perfect attendance for an entire quarter (thirteen weeks) that child would go to the beach with Margarita Poulos.  Nothing would have kept me away from my Sunday school class for thirteen weeks.  Each week, Ms. Poulos would put a star by each of our names.  When the last Sunday of the quarter came, I was overjoyed as I got my final star.  I was beach bound!

It is doubtful that I slept much the night before we left for our trip.  Just think – on Monday at school, I would be the one to talk about the beach.  I was ecstatic. Saturday arrived and we drove to Myrtle Beach. Though we were packed like sardines for the two-hour drive, it felt like we were in a luxury bus.  All we thought about was arriving at the beach!

As we claimed our space on the sand, my sister and I could hardly wait to get in the water.  We didn’t even know how to swim in a pool, much less the ocean.  At first, we just dabbled in the water, and then we went a little deeper and a little deeper.  Ms. Poulos was keeping an eye on us, but at some point, we went from dabbling to going deeper and deeper into the ocean.  We had no fear.   After all, that ocean would never take hold of us! We were much too strong! 

In the space of maybe half an hour, we found ourselves being sucked farther and farther from safety.   Ms. Poulos was desperately trying to get our attention. We were drifting deeper and deeper into danger.  Finally, a lifeguard was sent out to get us and bring us back to safety.   Though embarrassed at being in that position, we quickly responded to the lifeguard and came back to the safe place.

This little story seems to correlate with what is happening to so many of God’s people.  We have been given the reward of salvation through the death of Jesus Christ.  Because we are in His grip, we no longer have to drift aimlessly.  We abide in Him.

My sister and I thought we were strong enough to dabble and even go deeper and still be safe.  It almost cost us everything. Brothers and sisters, if we are not careful, we can get pulled into an ocean of compromise.   Compromise with the world is a danger for even the strongest Christian.  It can start out so subtle.  “Yeah, I know this is not something I need to be a part of, but I know I’ll stay strong.”  I did not realize that the deeper I went into the ocean, the more disastrous things would become.    

Satan doesn’t show up in his red suit with his pitchfork and pointed tail saying, “Follow me and I can destroy your integrity.  Come on!  Have fun!  All it will cost you is your family.  Let’s go a little deeper and that way you can lose your ministry and your life.”   It never happens that way!

No, it is more along this line, “You are under so much pressure, go out and have a little fun.  Hear how much laughter is coming from the crowd at the bar?”  “You know sex is exciting.  Who said there are rules? How can it be wrong if it feels so right.” “Hey, why not get involved in that shady deal.  That’s what it takes to get ahead.”   I could go on and on, but I think you get the point.  

There are always consequences to sin.  Always!  It might not be immediate.  It could take years.  It can even affect future generations – our children, our grandchildren, our nieces, and nephews.  Make no mistake about it, consequences will show up. 

The only way to stand strong in this culture is to know the Word of God and live by that Word.   Please do not consider this as a negative word.  Quite to the contrary!  In today’s culture, it is so easy to drift. Jesus is throwing out a life preserver to those who have drifted. Come back to shore. 

“And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”  Romans 12:1-2 (New Life Version)

Even though I pray, sometimes I have doubts.  There I said it!  Let’s face it, none of us want to be labeled as “Doubting Thomas” or a person of unbelief.    I do not walk a life of unbelief, but there have been times that unbelief was yelling in my ears. 

How about you?  Have you ever had to fight the voices you hear? How can one more thing happen to my family? The hits just keep coming.  God, do You see all of this?  God, where are you?  Don’t you even care?  After decades of hearing the stories and lessons of the Bible, are they even true? 

I realize that I am opening a can of worms for some who cannot fathom that God tolerates any unbelief.  As I was reading from John 20, the story of “Doubting Thomas” came up at the end.  I read it several times and pondered it.   Let’s look at that story and a few verses preceding the story. 

On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.

Now Thomas (also known as Didymus, one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So, the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”  But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”

A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!” Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” – John 20:19, 20, 24-29

As we enter the story in John 20, the resurrected Jesus has shown up at a gathering of the disciples.  Because of fear, those disciples were in a room where the doors were bolted and secured. All of the disciples had been affected by the death of Jesus.  What if they come after us?  What will we do now without Jesus here?  Those disciples were having a crisis of their own. 

Miraculously, Jesus was suddenly in the room with the fearful disciples.  The first thing Jesus said is not, “You are weak believers!” The first thing Jesus said was, “Be at peace.”  Jesus came to calm their internal storm, not make it worse.  He then showed them His scarred hands and side.  It really was Jesus!  What a moment that must have been!  Can you imagine the tears of joy!

Later, they found Thomas and told him the story about the visit from the risen Lord. I can visualize their excitement as they told how Jesus suddenly appeared in the room and showed them His hands and side.  Thomas said, “Really? I’ll believe it when I see it.”  Is Thomas really any different from the others?  They had a rejoicing party after seeing the hands and side of Jesus.

One week later, the disciples were once again gathered in the room, and this time Thomas was present.  Jesus showed up again.  He did not rebuke any of them, including Thomas.  Jesus again said, “Be at peace.”   Jesus then spoke directly to Thomas. He did not rebuke him, shun him, or shame him.  Jesus spoke to the issue with which Thomas was struggling. “Come.  See my hands and my side.  Stop doubting and believe.”   Jesus did not come to give a scathing rebuke to Thomas. He came to cure Thomas’s unbelief.

The same Jesus who had healed bodies and delivered people from demons, came to cure unbelief.  Unbelief will try to visit us when circumstances are overwhelming.  Unbelief will try to raise its head.  Jesus stands ready to meet us in the place of unbelief, not to rebuke us, but to heal our unbelief. 

Jesus did say, “Blessed are those who can believe without seeing.”  I am not saying that Jesus approves of unbelief and doubt. I am saying our Savior knows that there are times that we experience doubt.  Because we are sinners, He died to save us.  Because we are sometimes doubters, He came to cure our unbelief.  “Calm down.  Be at peace.  See, look, touch, believe.”

There is no gain in beating ourselves up when oppressed by doubt. Let’s quickly run to Jesus when we need to be cured of unbelief.    May we confess like the father of the demoniac in Mark 9, “I believe; help my unbelief!”  Those are some of the most honest words ever spoken by a human. Don’t be afraid to say them.  He invites us to see, look, touch, and believe again.