What a day this has been. At one point I thought tomorrow must be Saturday. Today is still Tuesday. I had planned to do other things. I have so many things on my To Do List, I just need to take the time to do what business leaders call a brain dump. A brain dump is the act of emptying your mind of all the stuff you have in your head. The process encourages you to take a legal pad and write down every little thing that you need to accomplish, covering all personal and professional chores. Every nagging deadline plus all the other things you have committed to do for others. Everything until you can think of nothing else—that is until you take a walk around the block. Then do it some more. I find it a helpful way of seeing what is important. 

I once visited a man who was working in his home workshop in the backyard. I noticed his wall calendar was from 1963. Every few years the calendar matched the exact days of the current year. He said that the old calendar was good enough. He was retired. My life does not seem to work that way. I carry a journal with a handy multi-year calendar where I map out future sermons and reminders. I have a calendar in the car to record my daily mileage and note special trips. I work with the church’s master calendar of scheduled events and building usage. I have three electronic calendars for everyday commitments and appointments. Those calendars do not talk easily with each other. So I’m trying to develop a Master Calendar of Everything, but my low-tech self is still trying to schedule a day to start it.  I am still learning to embrace the interruptions of my perfectly planned days. 

I take my clue from Mark chapter 5 which chronicles one day in Jesus’ ministry. His schedule for the day was to take a boat ride across the lake, visit some of the villages, then head back. It turned out to be one crazy day of interruptions “as He was going.” I am also mindful of the story Jesus told of the religious leaders who were too busy, too clean, or too important to stop and help an injured man on the side of the road. They ignored their interruptions and failed to even acknowledge the presenting need. Jesus valued people above schedules, and relationships above calendars. 

Keep healthy. Pray mightily. Enjoy your life today. Value the interruptions. And let’s experience the love and power of God together.

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The Tulsa area continues to deal with the aftermath of what I am calling The Father’s Day Eve Windstorm. Just after midnight that Saturday night, gale force, then hurricane force winds and rain came sweeping across the state. Tulsa recorded Category 2 Hurricane-like straight winds of 90 to 100 m.p.h. The damage has been heartbreakingly sad for the lovers of the hundreds of fallen and broken trees. The trees fell on roofs and fences. Winds tore away chimneys, awnings, metal covers and outbuildings.  Power poles snapped or fell over, pulling other poles and lines nearly to the ground. It took a full seven days for the power to be fully restored. This level of destruction has not been seen here since the great Ice Storm of 2007. Looking over the damage to the trees, I noticed many of the large broken trunks were hollow or rotted inside. Others, that were completely blown over, exposed the earth underneath and their shallow root system. There is a sermon illustration from this event about people needing deep roots and solid faith that I may have to preach one day. 

This all brings to mind the story of a famous elderly violin maker from the last century who took his apprentice on a long journey to get some wood to make more violins. They began by walking through a forest of rich and stately trees. The apprentice spotted the perfect tree, but the violin maker said, Not yet. Soon they started up the mountainside which was covered with tall pines and oaks. Surely one of these thought the young man. Not yet. As they climbed higher and higher up the mountain the trees began to be fewer and shorter. There’s a good one over there, said the old man.  The apprentice did not think it looked good at all. He asked, “Why this one? Why not a bigger, taller one like back in the forest?” The violin maker replied. These trees up here have weathered the storms. They’ve faced bitter winds and snow and even drought. They will not break under the pressure of bending their wood. These trees, made stronger through adversity, will make the most beautiful music.

I have heard that some insurance adjustors are cautioning home and business owners to wait until September before replacing their roof. They are predicting more severe weather is coming this summer. It may just be they are trying to spread out the insurance recovery costs. I do know more adversity will come our way, so let’s make the most beautiful music we can together.

Keep healthy. Pray mightily. Enjoy your life today. Weather the storms. And let’s experience the love and power of God together.

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This Reflections, Whispered Secrets, was published by The Center for Congregational Ethics for the daily devotional reading based on Luke 11:53-12:3 from the Revised Common Lectionary Year A for June 24, 2023.

Juries and trials are part of the everyday news. Lawyers make their best case, judges guide the process, juries decide. When called up to serve, I mistakenly thought I would be dismissed from jury duty because I was a Baptist minister. During jury selection, the federal judge commented he wanted “a true cross-section of citizens.”  I served on one of those secret federal grand juries for 18 consecutive months. We set a record for the most days in session in the Northeastern District of Oklahoma. I learned that whispers in secret can become embarrassingly public and sometimes deadly.

The U.S. Constitution requires that any charge made against someone by federal law enforcement must be reviewed by a jury of their peers. Of the original ten constitutional amendments called The Bill of Rights, Amendments 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8, address juries and trials. All types of federal crime came before us, ranging from simple possession of drugs to corporate fraud, and public corruption to violations of international sanctions.  We were serious and pushed back against the prosecutors when we felt they were not making their case.  For me, the experience was sad in many ways.

Facing the fear in the eyes of the disciples and the hate in the hearts of the religious leaders, Jesus turns to give a personal word of realism to those nearby:  Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.  There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs. This is a word of understanding for the believer and practicing hypocrite alike. Character matters. Truth brings light. Hypocrisy is infectious. Guard your heart.

Darryl S. DeBorde is pastor of the Braden Park Baptist Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

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I was asked last Sunday to provide the list of Prayers God Always Answers that I talked about in the morning message. This is a summary based on Psalm 119:145-152.  The opening verse, I call with all my heart; answer me O Lord, and I will obey your decrees, sets forth the issue of unanswered prayer. I have felt that the traditional response that God answers with Yes, No or Wait, while true, rings inadequate and unsatisfying to many. I shared a brief sermon I preached called Three Prayers God Always Answers: Forgive Me, Save Me, and Use Me. Each of these prayers cut to the heart of our relationship with God and others. 

I have concluded that God is listening to every prayer, for God knows the motive of our hearts. Here are other prayers God always answers:

Hear Me Prepare Me Bless Me

Help Me Equip Me Comfort Me

Show Me Lead Me Fill Me with Your …

Guide Me Strengthen Me   Spirit, joy, peace, 

Teach Me Empower Me Heal Me

Most of our praying, though, consists of a grocery list of things we want from God. Oswald Chambers is quoted as saying: “As long as we get from God everything we ask for, we never get to know Him; we look at Him as a blessing machine. Your Father knows what you have need of before you ask Him. Then why pray? To get to know your Father. It is not enough to be able to say. ‘God is love.’ We have to know that He is love.” The psalmist requests in verse 149, Hear my voice in accordance with your love; preserve my life, O Lord.  Jesus’ example in the Garden teaches us to pray, Thy will be done. 

The hardest questions are always about the prayer Heal Me. God does answer that prayer. Many people confuse biblical healing with being cured. The healing we most need may be far deeper than a dreaded diagnosis. Jesus healed multitudes of people, but all of them have died. For the believer, death is the ultimate healing.  All of this, by the way, can become very self-centered if we are not careful. That is why we should intercede on behalf of others, by name if possible. The prayers of the righteous avail much.

Keep healthy. Pray mightily. Enjoy your life today. Seek the Father’s heart. And let’s experience the love and power of God together.

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This is a reprint from the time of Covid, April 27, 2021

As the designated adventurer at our house, I am the grocery shopper for more than a year now. I have learned that pimentos are never located on the olive aisle and that Velveeta cheese is located wherever the last tired stocker set them down because it is not a cheese. I have learned to eat my shopping mistakes. Try as I might, apparently chocolate dipped ice-cream bars do not qualify as a shopping mistake. The actual worst of my grocery mistakes was just a few weeks ago. My assignment was to get a can of old-fashioned quick cooking steel cut oatmeal. I honestly thought I did. But I didn’t. I got old-fashioned steel cut Irish Oatmeal in a can, 1 pound and 12 ounces net weight. It did not say quick cooking or fast cooking or 10-minute quick oatmeal. Dorothy noticed immediately. It was decided that we would press ahead. There was a winter storm in the forecast.

Upon reading the fine print on the back of the can we learned that the shortcut method was to boil water in a pot, add the oatmeal, stir and boil for 5 minutes. Cover the pot and store it in the refrigerator overnight. The next morning, put the pot back on the stove, bring it to a boil and stir it for another 9-12 minutes. By my estimation, the quick-cook method takes about 25 hours. We opted for the traditional method—30 minutes on the range. I also noticed that the recipe kept referring to this as porridge. I remember porridge as something Little Orphan Annie had to eat, with a big frown on her face. Porridge is oatmeal, flax and other bird seeds boiled in a big pot, which is stirred constantly until you are done. It suggests you add buttermilk or honey and brown sugar suitable to taste. Our pot of porridge lasted for days. We tried syrup and apple sauce with cinnamon on it and we tried smothering it with various flavored yogurts. Our final attempt was to use a large amount of pumpkin pie filling. That actually tasted best. By the way, porridge diluted to a thin, watery state is called gruel. It was used to help the sick get well. It tastes worse than it sounds.

We make mistakes. We try to hide them, own them, or make up for them. The best policy is to admit them, deal with them, and learn from them. We still have a pound or so of the oatmeal left in the can. It will keep.

Keep healthy. Pray mightily. Enjoy your life today. Press ahead.  And let’s experience the love and power of God together.

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