Category Archives: character

April 23, 2024 · 4:47 pm

Who Is Laura Fasig?

An Encouraging Story For Teachers

For quite awhile I’ve been telling an encouraging story about Laura Fasig. When telling this story recently, I realized that it is so encouraging to some that I should write and publish the story.

One Important Aspect

To be accurate, this story should be entitled “Who Is Laura Fasig … To Me?” The story I’m telling here only addresses one facet of “Who Is Laura Fasig?” No doubt, Laura Fasig’s life was richly multi-faceted. So, I hope and pray that those who knew her far better than I did (especially her family) won’t be offended by my focusing on this one aspect of her life.

Important To Me

Before going on, it’s important for me to tell a little bit about how the most important part of my life led me to become acquainted with Laura Fasig. That is my becoming a Christian.

When people ask me about how I became a Christian, I tell them that the process began the first Sunday after I was brought home from being born at Terre Haute’s Saint Anthony’s Hospital, when my Mother and my Grandma Ray took me to the Second Avenue EUB Church.

Of course, I don’t actually remember that but I confirmed it with my Mom in the latter stages of her life. Actually, when I asked her about it she said, “Yes; me, your Grandma Ray and your Dad.” Since my Dad had left my Mom to marry another woman when I was three years old, I found additional comfort in knowing that he was there too. I’d forgotten that my Mom and Dad had first become acquainted in the Youth Group at Second Avenue.

The picture on the right captures a moment from my Mom and Dad being together in Southern California on R&R during WWII.

Becoming A Christian

Although my going to church started pretty immediately after my birth, of course, that didn’t make me a Christian. I always thought a good way to illustrate that truth was with the metaphor, “Just because you spend a lot of time in a garage, that doesn’t make you a Buick.” John 3:1-21 tells the story of a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, coming at night to inquire of Jesus, who answered him by saying, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” There are, basically, two steps required to be born again … (1) Repenting from a life of sin and (2) Believing in Jesus as your Savior. I did that at Second Avenue EUB when I was twelve years old.

Nicodemus comes at night to inquire of Jesus

The role that Laura Fasig played in my becoming a Christian was that she was my Kindergarten Sunday School Teacher. Although the other kids in Mrs. Fasig’s class were kids from our neighborhood, I only really remember one of them … Jackie Schofield. We actually went to a High School Prom together, we were in school together through college and we’re still connected via Facebook. I, also, remember that our Sunday School Class met in the basement of Second Avenue EUB while “the grownups” Sunday School Service was going on in the sanctuary upstairs. After Sunday School, we would join our families to be together for the main church service. When I think of Mrs. Fasig’s Kindergarten Sunday School Class, one lesson stands out in my mind. It was the story of Zacchaeus, as told in Luke 19:1-10. Mrs. Fasig used a felt story board to teach us that story. I’d never seen anything like it and it fascinated me, Since I clearly recall this teaching seventy years later, obviously, it had a lasting impact,

Zacheus Felt Bible Story Board

Long-term Importance

The kids shown to the left are my Sister, Nancy, my Brother, Dick and the Kindergarten-age me in the early 1950s.

To Kinders, all adults are old. They don’t necessarily recognize different stages of adulthood. In my five-year-old mind, there was little difference in the age of Mrs. Fasig and the age of my Mother. As an adult, I learned that Mrs. Fasig was actually closer to the age of my Grandma Ray. In fact, I learned that when my Mother was a child, on a regular basis, Mrs. Fasig was known to go throughout the neighborhood to gather up kids, taking them to her home to teach them lessons from the Bible. It was knowing this that led me to consider the impact that Laura Fasig had on the lives of others.

Since I hadn’t been in touch with Mrs. Fasig for a very long time, I decided to do some research to find out what had become of her. Of course, today, you can learn a lot about almost anyone via Google. Sadly, I was unable to find any good photo of Laura Fasig but I did find her obituary. That revealed that she had lived to be 99 years old. She had been married to Arnold Fasig and they left behind a Son and Daughter-in-law, a Granddaughter and two Great-granddaughters. And, it confirmed what I said earlier about her life being richly multi-faceted. She was a member of Terre Haute Memorial United Methodist Church, Terre Haute Elks Ladies Golf League 18 Hole Group and she was a charter member of Terre Haute’s Badoura Temple 23 Daughters of the Nile. Her burial is in Terre Haute’s Roselawn Memorial Park; where my Mother, Father and Grandma Ray are buried.

My focus in considering the impact that Laura Fasig had on the lives of others was the number of years the Lord blessed her with. She lived to be 99. In thinking about what my Mother had told me about Mrs. Fasig gathering up neighborhood kids to teach them lessons from the Bible, I realized that took place about 100 years ago. Although my Mother’s family didn’t move into that neighborhood until she was nine-years-old, she would have been Kindergarten-age in 1924. Assuming that Mrs. Fasig continued touching the lives of neighborhood kids until she went home to be with the Lord in 1994, that means she did that for 70 years. One can only imagine the number of lives she impacted during that time.

To me, the way that Laura Fasig impacted lives was more important than the number of lives she touched. I would argue that there is no teaching more important than Biblical instruction, leading to eternal salvation. But how do you measure something like that? I think that my vivid memory of her use of that Zacheus Felt Bible Story Board is a good indicator. That lesson was taught by Mrs. Fasig over 70 years ago and I’m still talking about it. Obviously, that is an indicator of how Mrs, Fasig’s teaching made a positive difference in my life. But, the impact of that teaching didn’t stop with me. You can rest assured that I’ve passed along the Biblical instruction I was given to many others; including our Daughters, our Grandchildren and our Great-grandchildren.

Treasure In Heaven

My regret, in telling this story, is that I never had the opportunity to tell Laura Fasig what a positive impact she had on my life and to thank her for it. I’m confident that she got something far better when she arrived in Heaven. That is hearing our Lord tell her, “Well done good and faithful servant.” If you’re a Teacher striving to make a positive difference in young lives, I hope you’ll keep this in mind. It’s likely that many of your Students won’t recognize the gift you’re giving them in a timely manner. Please don’t let that discourage you. Bear in mind that, like what Laura Fasig did, what you’re doing is making a lifetime difference for your students, as well as in the lives of others whose lives they touch.

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May 28, 2020 · 7:47 am

Build Each Other Up – a Devotional

During the COVID-19 quarantine, Calvary Chapel Rosarito has been providing live streaming topical devotionals every weekday. The video shown below is the devotional from Tuesday, May 26th, 2020. The full text of the devotional follows the video.

Calvary Chapel Rosarito – English Devotional by Gary Wiram

SETTING THE STAGE

In order to set the stage for the focus of this devotional, here are two brief stories:

A teacher wanted to teach her students about self-esteem, so she asked anyone who thought they were stupid to stand up. One kid stood up and the teacher was surprised. She didn’t think anyone would stand up so she asked him, “Why did you stand up?” He answered, “I didn’t want to leave you standing up by yourself.”

Now that you’ve finished laughing or groaning at that one, let me tell you another story about the very same teacher. After getting over her embarrassment, the teacher continued with her lesson on self-esteem by asking some questions she was sure the students could answer correctly:

First, she asked: “Kids, what does a chicken give you?” One student shouted: “Eggs!” The teacher said: “Very good! Now what does a pig give you?” Another student responded with: “Bacon!” The teacher said: “Great! And what does a fat cow give you?” The student who had stood up before said: “Homework!”

Now, those may not be the most hilarious jokes you’ve ever heard but I suspect we all see some humor in them. It’s the sort of humor that I remember being most popular back in the middle of the last century when I was in high school. We referred to it as cutting someone down.

This morning’s devotional is the opposite of that. It’s entitled “Build Each Other Up”. I’ll be using selected verses, in context, from Ephesians 4:17 through Ephesians 5:7 as our Scriptural reference today.

PRAYER

Before seriously digging into this topic, let’s pray for the Lord’s blessing on this time.

Father, thank You for Your provision, making it possible for us to gather in this way, in Your name. Give us ears to hear what You want to say on this topic and give us hearts to be obedient to Your direction, that we might glorify You in the way we lead our lives. We ask this in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen

“Don’ts for the Audience

In the part of Ephesians we’re looking at today, Paul was speaking to the believers in Ephesus. He was exhorting them to be in the world but not of the world. The world they were in was the very pagan culture of Ephesus. Paul admonished them to not participate in behaviors that were commonly accepted in Ephesus.

Look at this list of the behaviors Paul was talking about!:

Lewdness – Greediness – Deceitful Lusts

Lying – Anger – Stealing – Bitterness

Clamor – Malice – Fornication

Covetousness – Filthy Language – Idolatry

Do’s for the Audience

Apparently, the average Ephesians were pretty nasty people. No wonder Paul didn’t want his sheep to turn out like them. No doubt, our Pastors want the same for us today.

In addition to the list of “don’ts” that Paul addresses, he speaks of a quality lacking in the culture of Ephesus that he does want believers to exhibit. Here’s what he says about that:

Ephesians 4:17 This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk 22 that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man 23 and be renewed in the spirit of your mind 24 and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness. 29 Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. 32 And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, Ephesians 5:5 Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. 7 … put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.

As I said earlier, Paul was not speaking to the Ephesian culture, he was speaking to the believers in Ephesus. In doing this, Paul was actually speaking to all Christians for all time, telling us to be shaped by Christ, not by the culture.

Of course, we can’t fully imitate God but we can exhibit the qualities that His Word tells us He wants to see in His dear children. We aren’t instructed to incorporate these qualities in our lives because we just want to be among those who are counted as being good in the world. There are unbelievers who do that. I don’t know, maybe that’s just because they don’t want to be on Santa’s Naughty List. But, we are expected to live this way because, as Paul says, we have “put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.” This isn’t in order that we become God’s children. It’s because we are God’s children. Accommodating behaviors that are acceptable in the culture or, worse yet, adopting those behaviors, dishonors our Christian family. We are not like those who don’t know Christ. We are different. We are set apart. That is why we encourage each other. That is why we build each other up. It’s the reason that this Scripture begins with the word “therefore”. It’s because we have received salvation and we know who we are in Him, so we should encourage one another and build one another up. And, this isn’t behavior we are only to exhibit with Christian Brothers and Sisters. We are to behave this way with everyone … even with those who we don’t like. It’s a call to impact the world we live in not by becoming good but by being who we have become. We are Saints and we must act like it.

God’s Assignments

Here are three areas of building up that every believer has been assigned by God:

  1. We are called to build up ourselves, spiritually. Jude tells us not to be like the ungodly world. Instead, Jude 1:20 says, “But you, beloved, build yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit,”
  2.  We are called to build up the church. 1 Corinthians 14:12 tells us, “… since you are zealous for spiritual gifts, let it be for the edification of the church that you seek to excel.”
  3. We are called to build up each other. 1 Thessalonians 5:11 says, “Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, …”

How To’s

God wants us to learn to use our time with our brothers and sisters in Christ to encourage them spiritually, to motivate them in their times with God and in prayer, to discuss ways to more effectively share Christ with others, to serve them and help them.

God created us to be a part of a vibrant community of people. If that community is healthy, then one of the priorities will be to build others up. A loving group of people wants to see each other grow in their faith and their gifts and we rejoice when we see them accomplish it. Paul’s challenge to each of us is to be someone who builds others up.

It’s really not that hard to build up others. Mostly, we just have to be watching for opportunities to do so. Often, it can be done by saying something as simple as, “Keep up the good work, you’re doing a good job” or “I’m glad you’re here today, you add so much to our group”.

Proverbs 11:25 – Tells us that doing this pays dividends. It says, “The generous soul will be made rich, And he who waters will also be watered himself.”

Intentional Edification

As we recognize that God calls us to build each other up, He also directs us to not do the opposite … That is tearing each other down.

As we read earlier in Ephesians, ”Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted,”.

Our words are powerful. They can build up or tear down and they can switch from one to the other in an instant. Our words also reflect what is going on in our hearts. Paul is exhorting us to become people who build others up. We do that by looking out for the needs of other people. We listen for where people are struggling and determine to meet those needs. We are mindful of new Christians, and we make sure that we encourage them and protect them from anything that might weaken their faith. We watch what comes out of our mouths because we realize that we are an example.

Those with selfish hearts look after their own interests. They don’t look to the needs of others but only to satisfy themselves. They are like the Ephesians. Unwholesome talk reflects the sin in our lives. Loose talking and coarse joking can affect a young believer’s faith. Exaggerating for effect can lower the opinion others have of us. We need to eliminate these from our lives. To do this, start by asking God for forgiveness of what we have said. Then, take our eyes off of what we want and start to look at what others need.

Use your words to build up. Encourage and exhort one another to Godly living. Speak words of wisdom and care into the life of others. When we build others up, we bring significant benefits to our community of believers. It blesses those who are being built up, it provides an example for those who are watching, and it does a work in our hearts that we might not expect, we find a subtle joy in helping others out.

Proverbs 17:22 tells us about that in saying,  “A merry heart does good, like medicine, But a broken spirit dries the bones.”

We have all heard the saying “sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me.” That is not true! Words do hurt! Words can either build up, encourage, motivate or they can hurt, tear down or leave someone with lasting scars. As people of God, we need to be very careful about what we allow to come out of our mouths. Words spoken out of our mouths are very important for the simple fact that they speak what is in our hearts.

Luke 6:45 tells us, “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.”

Long before we had computers, God taught us …

Garbage in, Garbage out.

Final Analysis

What are we speaking? Words that build up or words that tear down? Let us all examine ourselves by listening to the words that proceed out of our mouths. The wrong words can destroy and the right words can mend. Words spoken out of the mouth of those who confess Christ should be wholesome words which edify the body of Christ and glorify God our Father. We need to ask ourselves, “Is God receiving glory from the words that we speak?”

Let me encourage all of you with a few closing words …. You are a child of God. He loves you, He sincerely does. He is there for you. He cares. He is listening. He is for you. He wants to wrap you up in His arms and encourage you. He wants to build you up. He wants to strengthen you, especially in those places where you feel weak. His desire is for you to have all that is possible for you. Seek Him today and look for opportunities He gives you … to build up others.

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April 24, 2020 · 10:50 am

Forgiveness – a Devotional

Calvary Chapel Rosarito – English Devotional by Gary Wiram

During the COVID-19 quarantine, Calvary Chapel Rosarito has been providing live streaming topical devotionals every weekday. The video shown above is the devotional from Thursday, April 23rd, 2020, on the topic of Forgiveness. The following, is the full text of that devotional.

WELCOME

Good morning and welcome! I’m very blessed to be with you for this morning’s devotional. If you don’t know me, I’m Gary Wiram and I’m not a Pastor here at Calvary Chapel Rosarito. But, you may be familiar with me and my Wife, Ruth, from seeing us around church. Ruth leads the Monday evening Bible study for English- speaking ladies, called Sister Sojourners. You may have seen me as part of the Connections Ministry in between services on Sundays. And you may be familiar with both of us as the Leaders of the Seniors Ministry known as Legends.

INTRODUCTION

Many of our recent devotionals have focused on topics aimed at helping to get us through this challenging time of COVID-19. This morning I want to offer exhortation to take advantage of this time by dealing with a topic most of us find challenging even during normal times. That topic is Forgiveness.

The aspects of this topic that I want to address this morning are:

  1. God’s forgiveness for us.
  2. Our forgiveness of others.
  3. Forgiveness for the unforgivable.

As we begin, let’s pray for the Lord’s blessing on this time.

Father, thank You for this opportunity to look to You to see how You can make beauty in our lives from the ashes of this current crisis. Give us ears to hear what You want to say on this topic today. And, give us hearts to be obedient to Your direction. We ask this in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen

It seems that it’s a Calvary Chapel Rosarito requirement to include a joke in every teaching so I want to start with this:

Pastor Carlos recently got a pet parrot. Unfortunately, it had a bad attitude and used fowl language … Fowl language, get it?! A Parrot, a Bird, Fowl! … Anyway, Carlos tried everything to change the bird’s attitude and clean up its talk but nothing worked. Finally, in a moment of desperation, he put the parrot in his freezer. For a few moments he heard the bird squawking, kicking and screaming and then, suddenly, all is quiet. He opened the freezer door. The parrot stepped out and said, “I’m sorry that I offended you with my language and actions. I ask for your forgiveness.” Pastor Carlos was astounded at the bird’s change in attitude and was about to ask what changed him when the parrot continued, “By the way, may I ask – what did the chicken do?”

GOD’S FORGIVENESS FOR US

Seriously, I want us to begin by taking a look at God’s forgiveness for us. Of course, understanding God is completely beyond us. And, certainly, God’s forgiveness is too big and too complex for us to fully grasp. But, looking to His Word can help us to get a sense of it.

John 3:16 is probably the most well known of all Scripture, even with unbelievers. It tells us, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” Although it’s beyond me to understand why God so loved the world, at least I understand that His love for the world is why He provided for our redemption.

And, Ephesians 1:7 Tells us, “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,”

I suspect we’ve all been taught the difference of Grace from Justice and Mercy. Justice is getting what we deserve. We deserve spending eternity in Hell. Mercy is not getting what we deserve. I guess that would be not going to Hell but maybe just ceasing to exist when we die. Grace is getting what we don’t deserve … eternal life in Heaven with God.

Forgiveness is a key element of God’s Grace. It is a gift, as the Scripture says, “according to the riches of his grace,”. This gift is solely from God’s love for us. There was no other pathway to Salvation without it. There’s nothing we could do to earn it and we certainly don’t deserve it. It’s a gift.

And, it is a gift that cost God a great price, a price that is also beyond our understanding … “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses,”.

Those three little words, “through his blood”, don’t seem like enough to fully define the price that God paid for our salvation. A more detailed description would be to say God the Son chose to leave His glory in Heaven, to come to earth, to take on flesh and blood and to live fully as a man only so He could sacrifice that flesh and shed that blood in order that we might have eternal life.  

He gave himself for us. As Romans 8:32 tells us, “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?”

We need to remember that God’s forgiveness is conditional though.

1 John 1:9 tells us, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

“If we confess our sins” … Repentance of our sins is required by God’s conditional promise. That won’t be a part of our eternal lives because there is no sin in Heaven. But, while living in this sinful world, we need to repent and to do so continually.

OUR FORGIVENESS OF OTHERS

Next, I want to address our need to extend Forgiveness to others.

The Scripture we refer to as The Lord’s Prayer, says, “… forgive us our (sins), as we forgive those who (sin)against us.”.

Forgiving others isn’t natural for us but it is tied to our forgiveness from God. Thankfully, as we are forgiven, we are supernaturally given the capacity to forgive.

If, however, we fail to be gracious with that gift, we risk having our grace withdrawn. That is illustrated well in Matthew 18:21-35, the parable of the unmerciful servant. This is the story of a servant whose master forgave a debt he owed that was so great he couldn’t pay it. But then he was unwilling to forgive a small debt that was owed him by another servant. As a result, when the master who had forgiven him his debt learned about this, he turned the unmerciful servant over to the jailers to be tortured.

In addition to facing the challenge that forgiving others isn’t natural, it’s not uncommon for us to find ourselves dealing with having someone repeatedly commit the same sin against us. What in the world do you do about that?! Well, Jesus himself answers that question in a conversation he had with Peter. The account of that, in Matthew 18:21-22, says, “Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.” Peter thought he was being very generous in forgiving someone seven times. That seems pretty good to me too. But Jesus completely blows that out and we need to remember that his 70 times seven doesn’t really mean 490 times. It means there should be no limit to our forgiveness, as is the case with God and our forgiveness.

FORGIVENESS FOR THE UNFORGIVEABLE

And if that’s not hard enough, there are those times in life when we have sins committed against us that we view as being unforgivable. We know, from Mark 3:28-29, that for God the only unforgivable sin is grieving the Holy Spirit. So, when we think of forgiving the unforgivable, what we actually have in mind is something that seems unforgivable by us. And, without the supernatural help of God, we may be right.

“… this my Son was dead and is alive again.”

The story of the Prodigal Son may be one that, if we put ourselves in the place of the Prodigal Son’s Father, illustrates circumstances that would be unforgivable by us. And yet, the Father in this story did just that. As you know, this is the story of a young man who demanded his inheritance in advance. He took off with it to “a far country” and after it was gone, in order to survive, he went to work feeding pigs. A Jewish boy couldn’t sink much lower than that. In this story, we aren’t told how the Father felt about this Son when he first left. Maybe, at first, he thought the Son’s sin was unforgivable. We know from Luke 15:24 that he considered him dead. Regardless of that, after the Son had wasted his inheritance with his prodigal living, God brought a famine to drastically change his circumstances and his attitude. So, he returned home, just hoping that his Father might take him in as a servant. If the Father’s attitude needed changing too, apparently, that had happened. He saw his Son returning when he was “still a great way off”. It seems the Father was watching for and praying for his Son’s return. And when the Son returned, the Father celebrated by saying, “… this my Son was dead and is alive again.”

With sins of others that seem unforgivable to you, maybe you think, “The story of the Prodigal Son is a nice Bible Story but I’m dealing with issues of real life.” If that’s you, let me share with you a real life story. Much like the miraculous forgiveness that resulted from the famine that God brought about for the Prodigal Son, this is a miraculous story of forgiveness that was brought about as a result of this COVID-19 nightmare. 

This story involves two people who I’ve known since they were a very young married couple. They haven’t been a married couple for a long time and like me, they’re no longer young. But I’ve stayed in touch with them closely enough over the years that I can appreciate their miraculous story. Here are the highlights … or low-lights, depending on your point of view:

  • These two were both raised as Christians but they weren’t walking with the Lord when they met.
  • They married when they were very young and they had a baby almost immediately.
  • Their marriage only lasted a few years. They were just in their twenties when they divorced.
  • For most of the time since then, any relationship they had with each other was hateful. No doubt, they both could have told you numerous reasons to justify the bitterness between them.
  • However, they both maintained good relationships with their child, as well as their grandchildren.
  • Although they both recommitted their lives to the Lord, it has been obvious that they weren’t able to embrace forgiveness for each other.
  • But, they were aware of each other’s return to walking with the Lord and with that, they shared a concern for the salvation of their offspring. That concern was greatly heightened when the COVID-19 nightmare hit and it caused them to reach out to each other.
  • In doing this, they thought that if, for the first time ever, they jointly reached out to their younger generations about the importance of faith at a time like this, it might just be what was needed to get their attention.
  • So, they agreed to do that by sending a jointly composed message to their child and their now-grown grandchildren.
  • Since then, they have used Facebook Messenger to keep the seven people involved tied together and to share encouragement daily.

It’s too early to assess the results of this with  their younger generations but it’s clear that, through this, God miraculously accomplished what had eluded these two accomplishing on their own … their forgiveness of each other.

Since I’ve known these people for so long, I probably think that’s cooler than you do. But, for me, watching this happen has been incredible.

You’ve probably heard it said that forgiven people should be forgiving people. As they say back in Indiana, where I grew up, sometimes that says easy and does hard. When I find myself struggling with this, I find it helpful to play the lyrics of an old hymn called Take Up Your Cross in my head. It goes like this:

“Have you really given everything For the One who gave His all for you? Count the cost, take up your cross and follow Him!”

My encouragement to you today, if you’re troubled with having someone in your life that you haven’t been able to forgive, is this: Stop letting your limitations keep you from getting this done. Turn to your Father in Heaven for His provision. Even if it takes a miracle, He will get it done and He will bless you in the process.

Thank you for sharing this time with me this morning. I pray that it was a blessing to you, as it has been for me. I, truly, look forward to the time when we will, again, be able to do this six feet apart but face-to-face.

And, for now, I’d like to close in the way that we close each of our Legends gatherings. It’s with what is known as the Aaronic blessing.

The Lord bless thee, and keep thee:
The Lord make His face to shine upon Thee,
And be gracious unto thee, And be gracious unto thee:
The Lord lift up His countenance upon thee,
And give thee peace.

God bless you.

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April 3, 2020 · 7:27 am

Beauty for Ashes (II)…

… in the Wake of COVID-19

… A Firm Foundation Renewed

The goal of this Beauty for Ashes series is to take a look beyond the COVID-19 crisis to consider how it can serve as a vehicle to make positive changes in our society. In the time immediately preceding this, the world’s current crisis, there were several social issues sorely in need of change. But, typically, time and other resources were too limited to address those needs. Now that many of our “normal” activities have been put on hold, we have more time available to make plans for making those changes.

The first article in this series focused on Families. In that writing, I pointed out that our families, resting on the firm foundation of our communities, was once the strength of our social fabric. With this edition of Beauty for Ashes, I am targeting the importance of restoring the stability of that firm foundation … the faith found in our houses of worship.

The Call to Return to Our Firm Foundation

Legendary Broadcaster Vin Scully offers hope amid COVID-19 crisis

Legendary baseball broadcaster Vin Scully provided a healthy perspective on this in a recent TV interview. With this, he offered an optimistic view, despite the coronavirus pandemic. “Now that I have some leisure time and we’re all locked in at home, I read an article and it was talking about what happened to Americans in World War II,” said Scully, a devout Roman Catholic. “It was such a terrible time. Three-quarters of Americans belonged to a house of worship. Today … half of Americans are involved in a house of worship, prior to this pandemic,” he added. “So there’s your answer … Although they might not be able to go to a house of worship, probably more Americans will be praying since World War II. More people will be coming back to the faith,” Scully went on. “And now that this terrible thing is upon us, people might very well get back to the center. And it’s a better world. We’ll see … “

The Universal Value of a Firm Foundation

Some may dismiss Scully’s views and optimism as melancholy, with distorted memories of how things were “back in the day.” What they fail to recognize is that everything good in the world has faith in God as its foundation. The bad in the world, that I and many others have viewed as increasing at an ever accelerating pace, does not share that foundation.

Our families, as pointed out by the first article in this series, are an obvious example of this. Traditionally, faith-based families have consisted of a man and woman, married for life, who were dedicated to caring for each other, their children, their preceding generations and subsequent generations. Moving away from that faith-based foundation has led to countless social ills for our families and individual family members. One of the most significant factors here is that the children of these fractured families no longer have appropriate role models for parenting.

The lack of faith-based upbringing, of course, permeates all of society and impacts it in a negative way. As an example, we have students showing up in our schools today with little understanding of what they’re there to accomplish. Added to that is the fact that many of these young people lack the development of appropriate behavior habits for a learning environment. Of course, these negative factors just get passed along into the workplace and to every other area of their lives, as our children reach adulthood.

Although many who lack faith in God may fail to recognize it, the root of all the world’s moral standards are faith-based. Specifically, they closely conform to the Ten Commandments of the Bible. The first four of the Ten Commandments pertain to man’s relationship with God. So, generally, non-believers have little problem ignoring those. However, the remainder of the Ten Commandments regard man’s relationship with his fellow-man. These are:

  • Honor your father and your mother.
  • You shall not murder.
  • You shall not commit adultery.
  • You shall not steal.
  • You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
  • You shall not covet.

Sadly, these once certain aspects of our society’s foundation have become more and more of a slippery slope.

The Call to Restore Our Firm Foundation

My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell speaks as President Donald Trump listens during a briefing about the coronavirus in the Rose Garden of the White House.

MyPillow founder Mike Lindell, at a White House coronavirus briefing, encouraged people to pray during the COVID-19 crisis. He pointed out that prayer was needed after religion has disappeared in public schools. He went on to say, “God has been taken out of our schools and lives, our nation has turned its back on God. I encourage you to use this time at home to get back in the Word. Read the Bible and spend time with your families.” Not surprisingly, a largely non-believing press corp has heaped ridicule on Lindell for expressing these views.

First, let me speak to those, whether believers or unbelievers, who doubt Lindell’s implied consequences of his saying “our nation has turned its back on God.” To that I say, consider what God has to say on this topic in Isaiah 59. With that said, my hope is that the conditions brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic will make it clear that, if anyone is deserving of ridicule in this, it’s the non-believing press corp, not Mike Lindell. And, with that, it is my prayer that the world will respond to the wisdom of his advice.

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August 21, 2016 · 2:49 pm

Running for Dogcatcher

Campaign 2

Gary Wiram, PCO – Precinct 690

Have you ever heard someone slam a politician by saying, “He’s so unpopular he couldn’t even get elected Dogcatcher”? According to Wiktionary (not a source I’d trust for something more important), the usage of this phrase is summed up as follows:

“Dogcatcher is virtually never an elected office (only one elected dogcatcher office exists, in Duxbury, Vermont); the phrase is hyperbole, using dogcatcher to indicate ‘the most lowly conceivable office’.”

TODAY’S LOWLY OFFICE

After considering that Wiktionary says Dogcatcher is virtually never an elected office, I’ve decided that the elective position I now hold has become the most lowly conceivable office – i.e. Precinct Committee Officer (PCO). If you don’t know, a voting precinct is a subdivision of either a city or county where each address in the area is assigned to a precinct and each precinct is then given a specific location for its residents to vote. Precinct sizes vary but the U. S. has an average of 1,100 voters per precinct, with each one having both a Democrat and a Republican PCO. These are unpaid elected positions meant to help the parties stay in touch with the thoughts and feelings of neighborhood residents. If a person files to run for PCO and they’re unopposed, their name doesn’t even appear on any ballot. Typically, if a person who files to run for PCO is unopposed, they are appointed to that position by their respective party. However, if more than one person files, each of their names appear on the ballots of voters living in the respective precinct.

THE LOWLY INCUMBENT

Precinct 690

Precinct 690

Two years ago, the Chairman of the Clark County Washington Republican Party (CCRP) asked me to run for PCO in Precinct 690. I agreed to do so, with the understanding that I’d have limited time and energy to do the job. This year, due to my dismay over what has happened at the top of both party’s tickets, I came close to not filing for reelection. After further prayerful consideration, though, I decided that if I’m going to make any difference in getting my party and our country back on course, I needed to be willing to do my part. Interestingly, shortly after I did file, I learned that another person had also filed. That meant that, in my aim to make a difference, I’d have to start by campaigning. Although I won’t bore you with all the details of my campaign, I want to tell you about some of its key aspects and the ways in which I was blessed along the way. Continue reading →

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Image

LOVE WAS HER LIFE’S THEME

My eulogy for my Mother, as read at her funeral.

When Jesus was asked “What is the greatest commandment?”, He answered, “Love God with everything you’ve got and show that by doing likewise with your fellow man.” Of course, that is a paraphrase but my Mother took it literally and quite seriously. I think it’s fair to say that love was her life’s theme.

Geraldine Elizabeth Ray Wiram August 12, 1919 - April 14, 2016

Geraldine Elizabeth Ray Wiram

August 12,1919 – April 14, 2016

FROM BIRTHPLACE TO HOMETOWN

That was demonstrated from her beginning, in her birthplace, Greenville, IL. Her connection with family and friends that she knew prior to her family moving to Terre Haute, was something she always treasured. Of course, the most precious to her we’re those who went with her to Terre Haute; her Father E. K. Ray, her Mother Clara, her Sister Thelma and her Brother who died in infancy. Throughout her life, she looked forward to getting to know him in Heaven and now, she’s getting to do that.

The people I knew as Grandpa and Grandma Ray, Aunt Thelma and Mom started becoming part of their community through Grandpa’s job on the Pennsylvania Railroad, through neighborhood activities, through school activities, through service organizations and probably most important of all, through the Second Avenue Evangelical United Brethren Church. The relationships that were developed during that time are too numerous to mention but, as evidenced by some who are here even today, these were not passing acquaintances but loving relationships that Mom nurtured throughout her life.

MOST SIGNIFICANT NEW RELATIONSHIPS

I do want to mention two relationships that we’re of particular importance though. During that time, my Aunt Thelma met a handsome young man, named Bob McIndoo. For the sake of brevity, let me just say that I ended up knowing him as Uncle Bob. He was a man I truly admired and Mom loved him dearly, as she did Thelma’s and Bob’s children; my late Cousin Ron, my Cousin Janet Sue and my Cousin Jim. Since they have been a prolific bunch, that gave Mom In-laws, grandchildren and next generations of the same to love too.

The other particularly important relationship developed during that time involved another handsome young man named Chet Wiram. Although you won’t find his name in Mom’s obituary, he was of great importance in her life. His Dad worked on the Pennsy too, they lived in the same neighborhood, they went to the same schools and they were together in the youth group at Second Avenue EUB. There were 12 Wiram kids, 10 who survived childhood, so even if they had just become friends, that would have expanded Mom’s social circle exponentially. But, a romance blossomed and when he was 21 and she was 19, they married. Of course, that worked out to the benefit of many in this room today, including my Sister Nancy, our late Brother Dick and myself. Then, along with Mom, in addition to the Rays, the McIndoos and all those Wirams, there was us to love. Added to that we’re the Franzwas, the Sagraves, the D’Amicos and the Dillers, through a Son-in-law and three Daughters-in-law, who she loved as her own children. Since we have been a rather prolific bunch too, grandchildren and next generations were added to Mom’s circle of love through this too.

CHOOSING LOVE

In my view, Mom’s love was most vividly demonstrated in her dedication to her Husband and her children. Shortly after Nancy was born, Dad joined the Navy and went off to WWII. About nine months after Mom visited Dad in his Southern California port, Dick came along. And, not long after the war ended, their baby boomer showed up … that’s me. All during that time, Mom’s love was the driving force, holding that young little family together. At the start of the next decade, though, Chet and Gerry’s marriage ended. Mom responded by pouring her life and love into her children. In the process, she found the job that would provide her living for the rest of her life. She became a Long Distance Telephone Operator. In the beginning, that meant working a split shift and riding the bus two round trips per day, so that she could see her kids off to school in the morning and be there when they came home in the afternoon. She recruited my Aunt Carolyn and several neighborhood ladies to stand in the gap for the times she couldn’t be there. My Sister joined in with that more and more, as she got older. I don’t think its an exaggeration to sum up this season of Mom’s life by saying, “No greater love has a woman than this, than to lay down her life for her family.” Continue reading →

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April 19, 2016 · 6:25 am
June 5, 2014 · 5:52 am

Doing What’s Right

teddy-roosevelt

“Knowing what’s right doesn’t mean much unless you do what’s right.”

– Theodore Roosevelt

Recently, I noticed this quote from our 26th President displayed at the entrance to an elementary school Fifth Grade classroom. As I read it, my immediate thought was, “I wish that was a common attitude with today’s politicians.”

Although “Teddy” Roosevelt is honored as one of America’s best presidents, I recognize that even he, most likely, didn’t always live up to the ideal indicated by his “do what’s right” quote. But, at least, “do what’s right” was one of Roosevelt’s stated ideals. And, surely, that ideal was shared by many of his political contemporaries. Likewise, I’m confident that this was an ideal commonly held by American politicians prior to the T.R. era, going back to the founding of the U.S. Even as recently as the turn of the current century, at least some politicians held to this ideal, as indicated by the well-known signature line of Former Congressman J.C. Watts Jr., who said,jc watts

“Character is doing the right thing when nobody’s looking.There are too many people who think that the only thing that’s right is to get by, and the only thing that’s wrong is to get caught.”

Today it seems that with one political issue after another it is sadly evidenced that, most often, the “do what’s right” ideal isn’t in play at all. Rather than belabor this by reviewing every applicable issue I can think of (Associated Press phone records scandal, ATF “Fast and Furious” scandal, Forsaking the liberty our sacrifice gained for the citizens of Afghanistan and Iraq, Guantanamo prisoner exchange for Bowe Bergdahl, IRS political targeting scandal, James Rosen phone and email records scandal, Syria foreign policy fiasco, Ukraine foreign policy fiasco, Veterans Affairs scandal, etc.), let me illustrate my point by using details related to just one of today’s hottest political issues … The investigation of the terrorist raid on the American diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, on September 11, 2012. Continue reading →

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May 21, 2014 · 9:09 am

A Housewarming Gift In Heaven

Nancy Gary Dick Backyard

MY BIG BROTHER

This past Friday morning, we got the news that my big brother had passed away overnight, near where he lived, in Alabama. When our big sister broke the news to our nearly 95-year-old mother, the words of comfort I offered her included: “Thank you for giving me as good of a big brother as a guy could ask for and thank you for pointing all your kids to Jesus.” My comfort during this time lies in knowing that that’s where my brother is now … at home in Heaven with Jesus. As a result, more than I would ordinarily, I’ve found myself considering what things are like in Heaven.

My Big BrotherChester Richard (Dick) Wiram is my big brother. Of course, there’s a lot I could tell you about him. If you’d like to know some of his biography, I recommend starting with his obituary, that appeared in our hometown newspaper. What I’d really like to tell you about, though, is a bit about the kind of guy he was and how he impacted my life.

BROTHERS?!

When he passed away, Dick was close to 70 years old. I’m nearing 67 so that means Dick got the first three years of his time here on Earth to himself, without the responsibility of being my big brother. If he was still here with us, I expect that he would refer to that time as “the good old days”.

Isn’t that the way it is with brothers? You can say and do things with each other that you couldn’t get away with if it was anyone else. But, you can do so with your brother because it’s usually done in jest and because of the love you share. Dick was great at that. I told my wife, Ruth; it seemed that Dick had done that by taking our Dad’s wry sense of humor and developing it to a whole new level. Continue reading →

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March 30, 2014 · 7:05 am

Dwight Howard And The Blessing of Life

The latest in our ongoing series on American Heroes and Idols

By: Michael Beckman

Cross-Posted From: Tales from a tribble

Dwight HowardAs a big Rockets basketball fan, I was very excited along with the rest of Houston fans when the Rockets signed center Dwight Howard as a free agent in July of 2013.  The Rockets had just signed the best center in the NBA to go along with another super star of the Rockets, James Harden.  This dynamic duo would surely be fun to watch, and it has been.  The Rockets are now one of the best teams in the NBA with a legitimate chance to fight for an NBA Championship.  But more than just acquiring a great basketball player, our city of Houston has been blessed to have a great man join us.

That may be surprising to some because when Dwight decided to sign with the Rockets [especially over his previous team, the Lakers] there was a lot of negative talk that came out about Dwight.  You could read comments on twitter that Dwight was a loser, he was selfish,  he would be a negative on the team, and he didn’t care enough about winning.   Those descriptions about Dwight could not be further from the truth.  None of them apply to this gentleman.  Dwight Howard is a winner, a team player and a big positive to the team, on and off the court.

There is one main reason that the last description of Dwight Howard, that he didn’t care enough about winning, came about.  That is because before the game, during the game and after the game, you will always see Dwight with a smile on his face.  Many basketball fans have taken that to mean he just doesn’t care.  If only they knew the real reason Dwight always has a smile and a positive attitude, even in defeat.  It has nothing to do with Dwight not caring about the game, as he hurts as much as anyone else on the team when they lose a game.  It has to do with life itself.

– READ MORE –

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February 14, 2014 · 6:20 am

President Washington’s Day

washington04072012

PRESIDENTS’ DAY

Presidents’ Day is an American holiday celebrated on the third Monday in February. Originally established in 1885 in recognition of President George Washington, it was traditionally celebrated on February 22, Washington’s actual day of birth. However, according to History.com, the holiday became popularly known as Presidents’ Day after it was moved as part of 1971’s Uniform Monday Holiday Act. While several states still have individual holidays honoring the birthdays of Washington, Abraham Lincoln and others, Presidents’ Day is now popularly viewed as a day to celebrate all U.S. presidents past and present.

ALL PRESIDENTS, GREAT AND SMALL?!

I think it was a damaging mistake to change from honoring the best of our presidents, as we did when I was growing up, to celebrating them all, as is done today. No doubt, some will say that my lament here is nothing more than me being sentimental about how things were “back in the day” but I truly see this shift as resulting in a loss for our culture. I see it as being akin to the philosophies of “no winners or losers” and “everyone gets a trophy”. With these, in what is likely to have started as a well-intentioned attempt to protect those with lesser abilities from being mistreated, the result is a homogenous society where all are rewarded equally, regardless of what effort is applied to their varying sets of talent. And, since there is no greater reward associated with greater effort and/or greater ability, the incentive to actually strive for greatness has been dramatically diminished. That seems to me like just the opposite of the standard we should be setting in establishing a holiday in recognition of America’s presidents.

Of course, I recognize that some may view Presidents’ Day as just being meant to honor the office. I’m OK with that but I believe most Americans look at Presidents’ Day in the way History.com described it, “… a day to celebrate all U.S. presidents past and present.” With that being the case, I ask: Have they all been great and are they all deserving of being honored as such? In looking at the list of 44 U.S. Presidents, I think it’s pretty obvious that the answers to these questions are no and no. As a matter of fact, there have been two in my lifetime who have so dishonored the office that I would object to their being honored with their own holiday. One of these famously said, “I am not a crook.” He was. The other just as famously said, “I did not have sexual relations with that woman.” He did. Ironically, with both of these, if not for their acts which truly dishonored the office, they might have been remembered as among our best presidents, if not among the greatest.

THE GREATEST OF THE GREAT

Thankfully, many of our 44 presidents have been distinguished. But I think there are just a few who were truly great. Chief among them is President Washington. In addition to the fact that he will always hold a unique position, as Father of Our Country, there are many other aspects of his life that can be pointed to as great. Arguably, one of the greatest things about his presidency was something that he didn’t do. He could have become King George I of the USA or U.S. President for lifetime. But, in keeping with the objectives set forth in the U.S. Constitution, that were ‘in order to form a more perfect union”, Washington willingly relinquished his presidential authority in 1796, at the end of his second term. In an article entitled The Wisdom of George Washington, Hoover.org provides the following comparison to illustrate how very exceptional this act was:

The world’s most generous prize money is attached not to the Nobel Prize but to the Mo Ibrahim Prize, awarded for good governance in Africa, as determined by a very simple test: a democratically elected leader who actually leaves office at the end of his term. The winner receives five million dollars plus two hundred thousand dollars a year for life. The 53 African nations yielded one claimant in 2011, but none for the two years previous. The precedent set by George Washington has not been easy to establish elsewhere, prize money or not.

With this in mind, rather than continuing with a Presidents’ Day that honors all U.S. presidents past and present, I’d like to see us return to honoring George Washington, as the Father of Our Country and as the U.S. President who set the standard for true greatness in that office. Whether we do this on the third Monday in February or on February 22, Washington’s actual day of birth, doesn’t matter to me. What does matter to me is preserving America’s founding ideals. As this relates to the subject at hand, I see it as inappropriate to include those who may have only been great at getting elected but who were inferior leaders, when we set aside a special day in appreciation of the office of U.S. President. Rather, I see it as most fitting to observe a President’s Day … President Washington’s Day, to recognize the one who showed the most honor to the office through greater effort applied to greater ability, as our nation’s leader.

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