BUT I THOUGHT!

Welcome to another “Saturday Fair Tale”. Once upon a time there was a kingdom, and The King that ruled it was unique. Unlike the other kingdoms ruled by kings who did not care about his subjects, This King cared deeply for his citizens. Whenever one of His citizens had problems, and they would bring them to Him, He always helped them through whatever issue they were facing. He never turned away anyone.

The King wanted the very best life for His citizens. And to ensure their best life, He wrote laws and rules that were for the benefit of His citizens. Because He is The King, He wisely never asked the citizens for their input. You see, The King was very wise–wiser than anyone and everyone else. His laws and rules were not intended to deprive His citizens of joy and life. To the contrary, they were given to enable them to live the very best life. Now, one of His rules was no one could wear a Yellow Feather in their hats. And because The King was so very good, most did not question the rule.

But one day, a citizen by the name of Gray thought about the rule of no Yellow Feathers. Gray loved Yellow Feathers. He thought that the rule was rediculous. One day he said to himself, “I bet the Yellow Feather Rule was made a long time ago, and The King didn’t understand how some of us felt about Yellow Feathers. I feel like it’s OK to wear a Yellow Feather in my hat.” So, he did. It was obvious when he walked down the street that he was violating The King’s rule against Yellow Feathers. Soon others who liked Yellow Feathers saw his courage and decided they would wear Yellow Feathers.

Other citizens, who loved The King, began to question Gray about his decision to wear Yellow Feathers. Some would say, “Don’t you know that’s against The King’s rules?” And Gray would proudly say, “Oh, it’s OK! I feel like Yellow Feathers. It is how I was born!” And they would reply, “Don’t you know that one day The King is having an Accountability Day and He is going to judge everyone?” Accountability Day! If anyone was found to be living outside His Rules were to be forever banished from His Kingdom. Yes it was coming though no one knew when. But this didn’t bother Gray. He would always say, “Yes, but The King is good and loving. I love The King and I love His citizens. So, that’s all that matters. This, and how I feel.”

And then it happened! The King’s Trumpet blew and one by one, each citizen appeared before The King. Those who lived by The King’s carefully designed Rules, were welcomed and told they were no longer citizens, but His daughters and His sons. They instantly became princesses and princes. Amazingly, they became exactly like their King. But Gray noticed as he waited his turn, that some were being banished forever from The Kingdom. They started crying loudly as they were led away.

Gray became uneasy. He thought to himself, “I know I wore Yellow Feathers because that’s how I felt and I really loved them. I loved The King and His citizens, surely He won’t banish me!” When it became his moment to face The Accountability, he noticed The King looked sad. The King said, “Gray, you know I love you. I always have. But you chose to ignore my rule about The Yellow Feather. I know how you felt about Yellow Feathers. I know what you believed about Yellow Feathers. But you would not trust Me. Gray, I am sad to tell you, that you are forever banished!”

Gray wanted to argue with The King, but suddenly he realized that he was wrong. He pleaded with The King for another chance. He wanted to use all the reasons why he broke The Yellow Feather Rule, but the words just wouldn’t come. He felt guilty. And The King sadly replied, “Gray, you always had another chance before this moment. But Accountability Day ends another chance.” And as Gray was led away from The King, he knew The King was right. And to make Gray’s heart even sadder, and hurt even more, he heard the unmistakeable sound of Great Joy coming from within The King’s Palace. And Gray’s broken heart said to him: “If only I had trusted The King!”

THE END

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BIGGER OR SMALLER?

Once upon a time, at a tractor dealership, there were two tractors–Billy and Franklin. They couldn’t possibly be any more different. Billy was a used Kubota L180 and Franklin was a brand new, shiny John Deere 8345R. It was truly a Mutt and Jeff kind of difference. Franklin’s paint was green and pristine–not a scratch or dent anywhere. But Billy, well his orange pain was faded from decades of use. And their sizes? Just one of Franklin’s tires was taller than Billy.

Everyday Franklin would tease and torment Billy because of his small size. Franklin would say things like, “You only have 17 horsepower, but I, I have 345 of them bad boys! I have 4 wheel drive and you–you’re just a pitiful 2 wheel drive! I can do 1000 times more work than you! I can work 100 acres in less time that you could do just 2 acres! Look how clean my lines are–and just look at your faded paint and those scratches. I have a cab with an air conditioner for the summer and a heater for the winter to keep my owner comfortable! You don’t have a cab–and if anyone DID buy you, they would be forced to endure the heat and cold! Who in the world would want you?” Well, Billy just couldn’t help himself–next to Franklin he was indeed small and he believed he was useless. No one would want him.

One day a customer walked across the lot and was checking out Franklin. Franklin whispered to Billy, “See! I told you no one would want you.” The salesperson and the man talked a while and Franklin was so proud. The customer climbed up into that awesome cab and fired him up. The roar of power was something else! He gave that look of gloat in Billy’s direction. But to Billy’s surprise another man walked up to him, checking him out carefully. Billy thought, “He doesn’t want ME!” The customer climbed up on his seat and Billy also fired right up–but he didn’t sound anything like Franklin!

After the sound of their engines ended, Billy heard the man look at Franklin and say, “Oh, yes! I’ll take it!” Franklin had a smile as big as the Big Dipper as he looked at Billy. Billy was even sadder than before, though he was glad he wouldn’t have to hear Franklin’s boasting anymore. And he almost missed hearing the man looking at him say, “This is perfect and exactly what I’m looking for and need! I’ll take it!” Billy was confused; “How could I be perfect when Franklin, well, Franklin is everything I’m not?”

Customers and salespersons headed for the office. In just a short while, the man who said he wanted Billy came out with a smile bigger than Franklin’s. Franklin said, “I bet he’s changed his mind and wants a tractor like me!” As the man got closer, he saw he had some papers in his hand and said, “OK, let’s go home!” The other man was still busy filling out paperwork and arranging financing. Billy’s new owner climbed onto the seat, fired up his engine loaded Billy onto his trailer and went to Billy’s new home.

The man soon begin to put Billy to work, preparing a garden. Franklin eventually made it to his new home and began preparing the man’s crops. As Billy worked, he thought, “You know, I’m not doing near as much ground as Franklin. How can I be useful?” Harvest time came, and the ground Billy worked, though small in comparison to Franklin’s gound, did look good and bountiful. His owner gathered in those vegatables, and those vegatables fed his owner’s family, and even had enough to share with others who didn’t have any! He watched as people gratefully accept what Billy had helped to grow.

Now when Franklin’s crops came in, it took big trucks, lots of big trucks to haul off all he had helped produce. Those crops went to places where they were processed and prepared for people to buy. Franklin was very contented knowing he had produced far more in that one season than Billy could produce in years. But Billy–well, he was thankful that he had a part in helping some people enjoy fresh vegatables, and even enough to put up for later. Billy knew it wasn’t as much as Franklin’s harvest–but his little harvest meant a lot to those who enjoyed the fruits of his labors.

And the Moral Of Today’s Story is this: Our contributions to the Kingdom may not be as big and impressive as those in the limelight–but they are important, very important, to those who benefit from our contribution!

Saturday Fairy Tales: The Other Side Of The Road

Welcome to another edition of Saturday Fairy Tales! Today’s Fairy Tale is about Pete the Possum. Pete was just a young possum. He had 16 brothers and sisters. But rather than playing with them, Pete loved to go to The Stump and listen to the stories told by the old possums. And the story he loved most of all was the one about The Other Side Of The Road!

The Elder Possums told fanciful tales about a place of grand abundance. There were all sorts of varieties of berries to feast upon all day long; on the other side of the road. Oh, the size of the insects, so fat that just 2 of them would fill your belly, on the other side of the road. Even the humans would lay out food just for them, on the other side of the road. These tales were spun every day.

One morning Pete noticed Frank, one of the Possum Elders, wasn’t there. The day before Frank talked about going to the other side of the road. Pete wondered if Frank had gone there. Every so often, one of the Elder Possums would be missing. Pete said to himself, “I bet he went to the other side of the road! It must be a wonderful place on the other side of the road since none of them returned.

This excited Pete. He began to daydream about the other side of the road. Pete began telling his friends at school about the other side of the road, how marvelous and wonderful it must be. Perry spoke up, “My Granny Mae told me it was too dangerous the other side of the road.” They made fun of Pete for believing such a thing. But Pete wouldn’t hear anything about the danger–just all the wonderful things on the other side of the road.

One day Peter was at The Stump to hear more tales about the other side of the road, but no one was there. He wondered where they were? Had all of them gone to the other side of the road? Pete said out loud, “Is it too dangerous to go to the other side of the road?” He heard someone say “Oh, no! The reason you don’t see them is because they are so happy over there!” Looking around and seeing no one, Pete shouted out, “Who’s there?” “Up here!”, the voice said.

Pete looked up and it was Bufford the Buzzard. Pete replied, “But I’ve heard it’s a dangerous place.” “No it’s not”, said Bufford. “How would they know? They’ve never been there! But you should go there, to the other side of the road.“ Pete thought for a moment–his thoughts fixated on all the wonderful food over there. “And all the Elder Possums are there, too. Don’t you miss their stories? They will gladly show your where to find the best feasts! And I heard them talking the other day about you, Pete! Oh, how they wished you were there!” Pete thought a few more moments. Surely Bufford wasn’t lying! Why would he lie?

Pete made up his mind to go to the other side of the road. He came to the edge of the road. Looking to his left and then to his right, Pete saw nothing dangerous about it. And he saw all kinds of berries waiting for him. He chuckled to himself, “Perry is going to miss out on all the wonderful feasts awaiting me! Dumb Perry, listening to Granny Mae.” Looking again to his left and then right, seeing no danger–Pete set out to the other side of the road. He started slowly, just in case some unknown danger approached. He safely crossed over to the other side of the road. He ate his fill of berries and went back across the road.

Feeling proud of his accomplishment, Pete started to go back home. He looked over his shoulder at all those berries. “Why should I go back home? This place has all I’ll ever need!”, he reasoned. There was no danger at all! It was so much better on the other side of the road. So, he turned around and as he crossed the centerline of the road and was about to obtain all he could ever want or need when he heard a strange noise–and the last thing Pete saw was the tires of that big truck. And Bufford the Buzzard smiled at his next meal. The end.

The Moral of the story is: the other side of the road isn’t what we think it is! Temptations come and offer us something better than what we have right now. More fun! More happiness! More of everything! But temptations turn into sin–and the outcomes from sin are never good!

Saturday Fairy Tales: The Walking Stick

Once upon a time, there was a man named Henry. Henry loved to walk through the hills near his home. Some of the paths were treacherous, and several times he nearly lost his balance. One day as he was walking along, a limb had broken off and was blocking his path. He reached and picked it up and had an epiphany. “This would make the perfect Walking Stick!” thought Henry. So he took it home, and with a little work in his workshop, he had the perfect Walking Stick.

It was about 6 and a half feet long and was very sturdy. This Walking Stick became his companion on every walk. One day as he was climbing one of those treacherous hills he started to slip, but his Walking Stick steadied him. “What good fortune happened to me that I have this Walking Stick!”, said Henry. On another walk, a snake was in his path. With the end of his Walking Stick, he flipped that snake out of his path. “What good fortune happened to me that I have this Walking Stick!”, said Henry. Later that week a coyote started towards him. He thought about his Walking Stick, and he started swinging it like a sword, and the coyote ran away in fear. “What good fortune happened to me that I have this Walking Stick!”, said Henry.

Henry became quite confident with his Walking Stick’s power and in his skills in using it. He found more and more uses for his Walking Stick. He often said to himself, “What good fortune happened to me that I have this Walking Stick!” But one afternoon, as he was walking with his powerful Walking Stick, a bear came charging at him. Nothing he did with his Walking Stick deterred that bear. And the Walking Stick in which he placed so much confidence, was unable to save him from that bear! The End!

The Moral Of The Story

Though Henry was very confident about his Walking Stick and in his ability to use it–it wasn’t enough for every situation he faced. Every day people have confidence in things and their abilities to use them to successfully navigate life. But those things are incapable of always helping us. Only a relationship with Jesus Christ can help us navigate life and conquer those problems that threaten our peace and our life.

A Saturday Fairy Tale

(This will become a Saturday Series for me; as I am inspired)

Once upon a time, there was a man named Bennie. Bennie was always talked about by the community as a good man. He went to church every Sunday. He could be seen welcoming guests who came to church. He sang in the choir. Whatever the Nominating Committee asked of him, Bennie always said yes. He volunteered for every project and event. His pastor frequently called him “The Salt Of The Earth” kinda man!

One Sunday morning as he was sitting in the choir, Bennie started noticing the other people. He was so caught up in noticing, his heart wasn’t in the choir’s anthem. Music that had stirred his heart was just another habit. He was so caught up in noticing others, that he wasn’t listening to his pastor’s message. He could not help but notice that Fred from work was there. He knew Fred was living with his girlfriend with the proper marriage certificate. After the service was over he congratulated his fellow choir members for another great anthem, though he didn’t remember the name of the song.

Then came the following Sunday and Fred was noticing again. He saw Carol coming into the sanctuary. He thought to himself, “That’s not appropriate clothing for church! She’s showing way too much flesh.” Jim and Betty came in, “Late again!” he muttered to himself. When the offering plate was being passed along he noticed The Widow Jones put in a five-dollar bill. He knew her late husband left her well-off. He thought about that fancy house where she lived. “She could do a whole lot better than a fiver”, he said to himself.

Sunday became Fred’s day of noticing other people. When Henry and Liz came in holding hands as they always did, he remembered, “Wasn’t that Henry’s truck over at Jessica’s house the other night? I believe it was! I KNOW it was! Liz was out of town with her job. And Henry is looking so, so–what’s the term? Smug and self-righteous, that’s the term!” After complimenting his Pastor for another great message, which he never heard because he was noticing people, Fred went home.

That afternoon Fred did a lot, I mean a lot of thinking. He thought to himself, “You know, I’m a whole lot better than all those hypocrites! And after all these years of faithful attendance, I do know a lot about Jesus and the Bible. In fact, I know enough, more than enough, that I don’t need to go to church anymore. Besides, the people are so distracting!”

The very next Sunday, Fred remembered what he thought about the previous Sunday, so he decided to stay home. But something didn’t seem right to him. So he went to his computer and found a different church’s live stream. The musical production was awesome and the preacher was engaging. After watching it, he felt a little better. The next Sunday Fred decided to try attending in person at HIS church. But the distractions persisted and consumed his noticing.

Fred’s attendance became more and more sporadic. He quit the choir and resigned from all the positions that blessed Nominating Committee had put him on. Now, on the Sundays he was attending in person, he watched a variety of churches streaming services. Then he noticed that he didn’t have to watch them live–for his convenience those churches saved those services to watch later.

Since Fred didn’t have to busy himself on Sundays watching worship services, and being his day off, he found other things to occupy his time. He could always watch that streaming service later. Finally, he stopped watching them altogether. And Fred was feeling so much better without being surrounded by all those pitiful church people, or so he thought.

But life changed, as it always does. His Dad died and not a single person from church was there offering love and care. His new friends were there, but their advice was shallow and didn’t help. Then Fred had a crisis at work–he was let go. Again, no one from any church came to his side. Fred was all alone. It made him a little sad–but when he thought about all those hypocrites, what was the name of the church he used to attend? Nevermind! He didn’t need them! He was very content living without those annoying connections with other people.

Fred adjusted very well to his life. He became very self-reliant and self-sufficient. All that talk he had heard about the importance of the Body of Christ in one’s life seemed so foolish to him. How in the world could he be so deceived. He was a bit mad at himself for believing all that baloney! And so Fred lived in isolation for the remainder of his earthly life.

One day death was approaching Fred. He knew it would. In his mind, he reviewed all that huge amount of information he knew from the Bible. He remembered the day he was baptized and joined that church, the name he couldn’t remember–but he was a member there. One night Fred closed his eyes as death came to him. When he opened his eyes again, he expected to see pearly gates, walls of jasper, streets of gold, and his very own mansion that would put Widow Jones’ mansion to shame.

Instead, Fred was in this large room by himself. Not another soul in sight! He was a bit confused because none of this matched what he learned those years he went to church. He thought to himself, “Maybe this is just a waiting room–a holding area–while they do the finishing touches on my mansion. And where are all the people who should already be here?” Not another soul could be seen. He wondered how long he had been in that lonely room. But then he remembered that in eternity there was no such thing as time. But he still wondered, “Where is heaven? Is this heaven?”

Panic set in and Fred screamed out, “What’s going on? What’s this place? It doesn’t look like anything I learned from the Bible! Where all you, God?” A bright light shined, it hurt his eyes, and he heard a voice, the voice of God. “What’s wrong, Fred?” Fred replied, “This doesn’t look like heaven!” God replied, “It’s not.” Fred started to tremble, thinking he was in hell. But he knew this wasn’t like the place he learned about. This time Fred shouted, “This doesn’t look like hell, either!”

It sounded to Fred like God let out a little chuckle. Then God replied, “It’s no.” Frustrated Fred said, “Just then what is this place?” There was silence, and Fred swore he just heard God sigh–it was a deep and sad sigh. “This place”, God replied, “is the place you longed for, sought hard for, and the place on earth you became contented. Fred, this is what you wanted while on earth–so now you have an eternity of it. Being alone.” The end.

The Moral Of The Story

No, this is NOT a lesson on what heaven and hell are about. It’s a lesson about what we desire when it comes to the Community of Faith. There are all kinds of good excuses to avoid being with others in the Body of Christ. Even with her faults and flaws, truth is we need the Body of Christ–the Fellowship Of The Broken Who Need To Be Whole. And the bottom line of The Moral is this: Whatever you desire the most–you will get. So, ask yourself–will it satisfy you for eternity?