From Death to Life, Part 3: Searching Questions

Having previously shared about meeting a Christian in high school, the summer after graduation became a time of searching. Searching for something-or someone-to live for. A purpose.

What I was searching for wasn’t in drugs, alcohol, or sex. The effects those things were having on participants-people I personally knew-was reason enough to avoid them, though all were available. Someone, somewhere, was surely praying for me.

One reason to avoid the drugs and alcohol was to be in the best physical condition possible, to live out my dream of being a major-league baseball player. My previous post stated that I didn’t make my high school baseball team because I was a senior, with no experience. Having no meaningful purpose in life, I held onto my dream. A dream that was soon to end.

Seeing a major-league tryout invitation in the paper, I responded by attending, along with dozens of others my age. Baseball is more than running (in which I did well), resulting in me failing the tryout. My dream was ended. Over. What now?

As it was an opportunity to share the love of God with me, I kept getting invited over to this family’s house, nearly every weekday throughout the summer. Despite the father later claiming that I was an atheist, I wasn’t. An atheist denies the existence of God, whereas I certainly believed in God, even to the point of serving as an acolyte for one year in the church I attended. I’m further proof that just going to church doesn’t make one a Christian. Religious? Perhaps. But a Christian? No.

June became July, turning into August, consisting of more visits, more questions about God and the Bible, arguing on my part, and a growing hunger for what this family had. Interestingly, not once did they invite me to church throughout June and July. 

In either late July or early August, I was invited to come to this family’s church, to attend their evening service. I was attending morning services at a denominational church in a nearby city. Agreeing to attend, I prepared for Sunday evening, August 3, 1969.

Having never attended this kind of church, I had no idea what I was getting into. Join me as I come face to face with a group of people with something I didn’t have: love and peace. Not the love and peace being shouted and sung by my generation then. A different kind of love and peace, for sure.

Next: Part 4: New Dream. Enjoy this journey with me.

© Hubert Gardner Ministries 2019-2024

From Death to Life, Part 2: Searching Summer

With high school over my future lay before me, requiring some decisions on my part. Life is made up of decisions, the results of which determine our direction and, ultimately, our destiny.

Being expected to go to college I had applied to a handful of schools, including a few in-state. My Mom being on staff at the local junior (now community) college meant that my tuition would be free. If acceptances from schools included those far away would I leave the area, or choose the convenience of a 10-minute commute to  classes at the junior college? 

Something besides high school ended that year: my days of playing amateur baseball. To some this would be just part of life. To me, however, baseball was more: it WAS my life. I lived for baseball. The ending of football season meant baseball season was right around the corner. In one sense, baseball was my god.

In the spring of my senior year of high school I had tried out for our baseball team. Things were going well until the coach took me aside to advise me that if he played me he’d have me for one year, but taking a junior meant playing him for two years. My tryout effectively ended at that moment. Being too old to play another summer season, my playing days with/against guys I knew were officially no more. 

Done. Finished. Over.

Aside from the most important thing in my life, baseball was a means of escape. An escape from the deteriorating family life that resulted in my mother leaving our home, just six weeks prior to my graduation. Coming home from school one day I found half of our furniture gone with my mother, who had moved near the junior college she worked at. With my older brother-and only sibling-already gone, it was just Dad, Casper (our dog), and me.

There was one shining light in my darkness. In my previous post I mentioned the family whose (as it turned out) youngest daughter was in our school choir. Those summer days at their house was a difference maker. Peace vs strife. Rest vs. agitation. Unconditional love vs the emptiness in my heart, even though I knew nothing about unconditional love at the time.

Something needed to change, whether I could define it or not.

If you’ve just joined me on this journey from death to life, go back and read my previous post. Then continue with the next post, coming soon. Hint: sometimes what seems to be a closed door forces us to focus on the open door before us, that leads to life. 

© Hubert Gardner Ministries 2019-2024

My Christmas Suggestion

Thanksgiving Day has passed. On to Christmas, with festive displays, seasonal smells, and presents given and received. On the surface I see nothing wrong with this. I like this season.

But I do have a problem with those who refuse to celebrate the real meaning of Christmas. Indeed, some intentionally keep Christ out of Christmas, while (literally) banking on profiting from their products and or services finding homes for Christmas. Our homes. All at a price, of course. 

Here’s my Christmas suggestion:

All individuals, companies, and organizations promoting Christmas-related services and/or products must do the following, in order to have a “Christmas Permit.” This permit allows the holder to profit from such services/products during the Christmas season which, for many, starts in August. Some even sooner. Here would be the requirements of the individual and group permit holders:

1. Have a signed statement prominently displayed on their website, windows, and/or vehicles stating their affirmation of Christmas being the celebration of Jesus’ birth.

2. Require all employees and vendors to say “Merry Christmas,” rather than “Happy Holidays.” 

Sound radical or ridiculous? Maybe, but requiring so would force those profiting from Christmas at least do so honestly. Those who choose not to wouldn’t be allowed to sell anything having to do with Christmas. 

Realistic? Perhaps not, but that’s my Christmas suggestion. What’s yours?

What’s something you’d like to see to return this nation more to the real meaning of Christmas?

Copyright © Hubert Gardner Ministries 2019-2024

What Really Matters in a House

Leave it to Beaver was a popular television series, that aired from 1957 to 1963. Those who watched the original programs or reruns may recognize the outside of the Cleaver residence. Nice house for the day.

The truth about the house is that the outside was just a movie set front for the Cleaver residence. There were no actual rooms inside. No places for children to explore. It was a made-for-TV front. Nothing more than a house’s front, that had no place to enter and enjoy.

People’s lives are like houses. The body is the outside, hiding the real person on the inside. The outside roof may be well designed and insulated, but I wouldn’t want to live on it, would you? There may be beautiful windows, allowing light to shine in on the interior, but outside windows fail to convey how charming the inside rooms really are.

Getting to know the inside of a person is like coming to appreciate the interior of a beautiful home: the inside-not the outside-should be the focus. Instead of living and dining rooms, kitchens, and bedrooms, the “rooms” in people contain dreams, aspirations, gifts and talents, as well as hopes for the future. All worth knowing and appreciating.

As with houses, our focus on people should be them, not the outside of the “house” they live in. Sometimes changes to our outside cause some peoples’ focus to be on that, rather than what’s on the inside. No matter how much “paint” or changes are made to ones outside it’s just that-the outside. 

Over time a house’s front may undergo many changes. The same is true concerning a person yet, like a house, the person’s real value is found in getting aquatinted with and appreciating his/her “rooms”-those things of great value which make that person special in the eyes of the beholder. 

The inside of a house-and person-is what really matters to those looking for real value. The fake fronts, the facades? Let’s leave them to Beaver.

Copyright © Hubert Gardner Ministries 2018-2024

Does God Get Lonely?

For those who believe in God, one thing is understood: God is bigger than us. How big? I don't know, but big enough to meet every need of humanity, including yours and mine. At the same time, this question has been asked for more years than anyone can remember, and many more besides: Does God get lonely? Has He ever felt alone? After all, God is, well, God. All powerful, ever present, all wise. Creator of heaven and earth.

According to the Gospel of John 4:24, God is a spirit. As such, the only part of His vast creation capable of spending quality time with Him would be restricted to those who are also spirit beings. The Bible offers insight into who qualifies to enjoy God's fellowship.

According to the first chapter of the book of Genesis, verses 26 and 27, God made Mankind (male and female) in His image and likeness, someone who was also a spirit being. Nowhere does the Bible state that birds, fish, plants, or other animals are created in God's image. If so (and it is), then God is their Creator, but there is no basis for any relationship, based on fellowship. We can thus conclude that only human beings qualify to spend time with God, to know Him personally.

But, still, does God get lonely? No, in the sense that there's anything inadequate with God. But yes, in the sense that just as we, as human beings, long for fellowship with other human beings, including spiritually. God, as a spirit being, created us with a heart hunger to fellowship with other spirit beings, including Him.

As a result God, Himself, has a hunger to fellowship with other spirit beings, those created in His image and likeness. With animals, trees, and water out of the picture, that leaves us, people like you and me. Not even angels qualify to fellowship with God in a manner that He longs to have with us.

God needs your fellowship; He wants to fellowship with you, to be-if you will-the ultimate Pal. To commune on a level far beyond that enjoyed in even the most intimate marriage relationship between a man and a woman.

So, does God get lonely? He's lonely for a relationship with each human being. He has so much to not just teach, but share out of His own heart on a one-on one basis.

Just Him and you. Pals, confidants, and best friends. That's what God longs for, and what's being offered through His Son, Jesus Christ, the one Way to knowing God.

So, yes God is lonely for you, if you don't know Him. If you do, He's always longing for more: more fellowship, more secrets shared, more revelation into Hims as a Person.

Your questions and/or comments are welcomed.

How's Your HC?

The word conditioning holds different meanings, depending on who you're talking to. There's physical conditioning, mental conditioning and hair conditioning, for openers. For the Christian a different kind of conditioning exists, one that, generally speaking, is unheard of or underused. It's called heir conditioning, as in being conditioned to being an heir of God, joint (equal) heirs with Jesus Christ (Romans 8:16,17).

As children of God, we are His heirs. Usually, being heirs means that someone died, a will was read, and those mentioned receive whatever the deceased left to them. In this case, however, the person who died-Jesus-has been resurrected, and is very much alive.

And, now, as God's children, we still get to receive and enjoy our inheritance. In this life, with no waiting.

God made the world, which is His (Psalm 51:12). He made it for us, His children, not the devil and his crowd. As His heirs, God wants us to have the very best in life, being willing to use it to further His kingdom, here in this life. He wants us to enjoy our inheritance, without our eyes and hearts holding on to temporal things, which we can't take with us.

More than temporal things, though, God wants us to truly know the reality of our place in Christ, as the triumphant Church in the earth, enforcing Satan's defeat, which Jesus won for us. As the Church, Christ's Body (Ephesians 1:22,23; Colossians 1:18, 24), we are to rule as kings in this life, by Jesus Christ (Romans 5:17). This is part of our inheritance. Both yours, and mine.

It takes time to grasp the reality of what God is saying to us: We are His heirs, joint (equal) heirs with Jesus Christ Himself. What Jesus is heir to we are, in equal portions. No intelligent person would think of Jesus as a pauper. No, He's King of kings and Lord of lords. Well, who are the kings Jesus is King of? Among others, us. Again, this is all part of our inheritance.

Being willing to believe what the Bible says about us is the first step towards knowing and walking in our inheritance. For some, the obstacles of religious thinking will have to be overcome, but their persistent efforts towards doing so will be well worth it.

I'm passing on what's begun in my own life. Whatever time and effort I'm putting in to improve my heir conditioning (being conditioned to think, believe, talk, and act like an heir of God) is paying off!

And I'm just getting started.

So, how's your HC? How's your heir conditioning coming along-being conditioned to think, believe, talk, and act like an heir of God? If this sounds too good to be true remember that God sees this about you. Since agreeing with and acting like an heir pleases God, go ahead and please Him.

© Hubert Gardner Ministries 2017-2024

God Loves Introverts

Not everyone is outgoing by nature. For those who are, never apologize for being who and what you are. On the other hand there are introverts. They are often behind the scenes, their creative gifts making possible the finished products which benefit all of us. Introverts are, too often, considered shy. This could be true in some cases, however, being introverted and being shy are not the same. I know one person who, though introverted, is certainly not shy. This person is just not one to start a conversation or enjoy crowds. One on one, a lot of introverts are engaging, conversational (to a point), and offer perspectives on life worth hearing. Introverts can be creative thinkers, seeing solutions others miss.

No one sees everything. My wife and children see things I don't. At times, I see things my wife doesn't. Not to make her look bad but, in part, to protect her; to make her look good. Introverts see things differently; they think outside the proverbial  status quo box; they're very analytical at times. To some that's being slow, but I see it as a potential way to do something in a way that could save family, business, or a church time and money.

In my opinion, leadership quality can improve by making room for introverts, starting with one. Not in pity or to be condescending, but recognizing that inside that quiet one, who's outside the spotlight, may very well be the gifts and talents needed at that moment. Pastors in need of creative solutions do well to ask God to send the right person(s). But how many will recognize God's answer, when it comes in the form of an introvert?

God loves everyone-the whole world for that matter-according to John 3:16, in the New Testament. Are you extroverted? God loves you. Perhaps you're on the shy side; it's hard for you to be around other people, until you get to each other. Well, God loves you. Maybe you're neither extroverted or shy, just a regular gal or guy. God loves you.

Finally, though, you may be an introvert. You're not outgoing; you're not actually shy. Initiating conversation is outside your comfort zone, so to speak. But, once you get started, you have a lot in you to share with those who-you hope-will listen to what you have to say. God loves you. Trust Him to open doors of opportunity whereby your gifts and talents can be shared in your own, unique, way. Be willing to go outside your own comfort zone.

Do you know an introvert? Is it you? How well are their (your?) viewpoints received?

Lies About God

In my experience, God is the most misunderstood person-ever. Some things you can say about God is that He's all-knowing, all-wise, all-powerful, and loving. In fact, God IS love. At the same time there are some things said about God which just aren't true; they're lies. Here are just a few things said about God which, although seemingly true, are lies:

Lie #1: God is in control

You've probably heard it from the pulpit of a service you've attended,"God is in control." But if God is truly in control than why are so many Christians being killed for their faith? Why are so many millions suffering from sickness, disease, and/or poverty? If God is in control it doesn't take much intelligence to realize He's sure made a mess of things.

The truth of the matter is that there is a devil in this world. According to the Bible, his name is Satan, the enemy of God and every Christian. Satan is the ultimate thief, whose three-fold purpose is to kill, steal, and destroy human beings, just like you and me. Whether by sickness, tornados, poverty, or murder, the devil will-if allowed to-make lives miserable. Then he'll then laugh when people, whether intentionally or in ignorance, blame God for what they allowed the devil to do. No, God is not in control.

The truth is that Christians are to rule over the devil, enforcing his defeat, according to James 4:7 and I Peter 5:8,9. Romans 5:17 teaches that we are to reign in this life, as kings-not paupers. We are to put the devil on the run, in Jesus' Name. Now that's the truth.

Lie #2: God can do anything He wants to:

This is another lie that many, including myself, have heard more than once. To be truthful, it's a lie. Why? Here are things God simply cannot do:

He can't make people get saved; He can't make people pay tithes; He can't make people serve Him. Although He wants to, God, Who is a gentleman, can't make anyone do any of these things, because we all have the gift of choice-to obey or disobey God. I could go on about things God can't do, but you get the point: God can't do anything He wants to.

Filter what you hear, through the truth about what's being said or written. Get to know God for yourself, through His Word and through fellowshipping (talking) with Him. Who knows, there may be other lies about God you'll hear and reject, because you know better.

And that's the truth. What other lies about God have you heard? How have you responded?