Biden Divides Us. Here Are 12 Principles That Can Unite Us.

 "Americans are woke. They woke-up and realized President Joe Biden is no moderate. He is spearheading the most radical policies in modern history, policies that would transform this nation into an unrecognizable country—far less safe, more impoverished, and more unfree.

Nevertheless, the vital issues of the day pull us together. Conservatives share a common vision for maximizing human freedom and opportunity. They are primed to unite and fight. What’s more, many Americans who do not identify as conservatives share these goals. Any national leader who champions this unifying vision will win the support of a vast swath of centrist America, and will energize conservatives in the process.

Here are 12 issues that conservatives have answers for. Together, they make up a platform that a majority of Americans can rally around."

Read the entire article by various authors here at The Heritage Foundation.

Picture used by permission from Pixabay.

 

Jim Williams - A Steady Hand

 
Twenty five years ago I walked into the small town barber shop of Jim Williams.  It was like walking into Mayberry.  The interior was old-fashioned.  Classical music lightly played through the speaker.  Theater seats, newspapers, and conversation welcomed customers.  Old and young men sat and shared recent news.  Every Christmas he gave out black combs marked with “Williams Barber Shop.”  He would give me several saying, "Here, give some to your boys."

I was nineteen years old - a freshman at Presbyterian College. Mr. Jim was in his sixties.  We began a friendship that would last a quarter of a century.

At our first meeting, we found common ground in our faith.  We both believed in Christ, read the Bible, and were Baptists.  I doubt if there was one time out of the several hundred I visited his shop that we did not talk about God's Word in our conversations.

He cut my hair for much of those years, except for the four years I was in seminary.  He remained an encourager in my life, he often wanted to talk about the Lord, and he shared many of the faithful qualities of his generation. 

Jim opened his shop in 1952.  When he celebrated his 60^th anniversary in the shop, he asked me to come and sing at a special gathering.  I was unavailable, but I appreciated his thoughtfulness.  I later sang at his request at his brother’s funeral.

Jim was opinionated and didn't mind sharing those thoughts.  He had a "this is what I think, and you can take it or leave it" mindset.  He had the exterior of a stubborn old man who was set in his ways.  I would often come home and share with my family something funny Jim said.  But knowing him for many years, I knew that there was depth and goodness beyond the outside.  And I knew that he sincerely wanted to please his Lord.   

Jim always asked about my life.  He showed interest in my family, my education, my various pursuits, and in the churches I served.  Occasionally he would stop cutting, put his hand on my shoulder, and offer unsolicited advice.  I knew he genuinely cared about me and hoped for my best.  I think in some ways to him I was always that nineteen year old college student who walked into his shop.  When I gave him one of my business cards a year ago, he looked at my picture and began laughing.  He said, “I forget that you aren’t a freshman in college anymore.  You don’t look like you did then!”

He was excited when my wife and I recorded our musical CD's.  I received a memorial from him when my father died.  He even assisted me during my doctoral research by allowing me to interview him.  In recent years as I became a published author, he took interest in hearing about my writings and regularly asked where I was being published.

Jim taught a Sunday School class weekly.  I could expect an update from him regarding what book of the Bible he was currently teaching to the Knights of the King class.  He embodied faithfulness.  He was proud of his boys.  He often talked of his late wife, what a wonderful woman she was, and how he missed her.  I remember his stopping cutting hair one time and saying, "When she was here I had a home.  Now I have a house."   

The day I learned of his death, I told my wife, Jim is one of those folks that you thought would always be around.  You just never thought he would be gone.  

I will miss his steady hand on my shoulder. 

God bless you, Jim, and goodbye old friend. You are now with Christ and those who have gone before you.

Angels

I enjoyed teaching about angels in my Life Group on Sunday morning.  Angels are a fascinating aspect of the Bible and Christian history.  Billy Graham's book entitled Angels sold more than 3 million copies and includes several fantastic angel-testimonies.

My favorite "angel" story involved a lady named Thelma Gaines whom I knew for years.  She loved the Lord and walked with him for years and years.  Her husband, an alcoholic, abandoned her and her two daughters years ago.  She had kept on trucking, walking with the Lord and loving her family.  She loved to listen to Charles Stanley and would regularly ask my mother, "Did you hear what Dr. Stanley preached this weekend?"  Ms. Thelma contracted cancer in the 1990's.  I remember visiting her several times at St. Francis Hospital in 1995 before she died.  The last several days prior to her death, she went into a semi-coma and did not open her eyes nor communicate with anyone.  One minute before her body died, with both of her adult daughters in the room, Ms. Thelma opened her eyes, sat up in bed, held her arms out, and exclaimed, I knew you would come for me!  Then she fell back into the bed and her body was dead.

I hope I never forgot the reality of Ms. Thelma seeing the angels of God coming into that hospital room to take her spirit into what the Bible calls "the bosom of Abraham," the place of rest for those who have put their faith in the God of the Bible.

I eventually wrote a song about angels called Angels in this Place and included Ms. Thelma's testimony as a verse in the song.

Rossie Davis

I have had a heavy heart today since I heard the news that our friend Rossie Davis died last night of a heart attack. He and his family had just gotten to the beach this past weekend and were no doubt looking forward to a week there.

I visited with Rossie's mother Helen for a while this morning. I held her and she wept and wept in my arms and would not let go for a long time. Rossie's wife Jamie and the children are driving home this afternoon. As providence had it, Rossie was 48 and his oldest son almost 15. Rossie's daddy died when he was 47 and Rossie was 15. Also, Helen's father died on a Father's Day, June 18 years ago.

Rossie was in a breakfast small group with several of us from our church. For about 5 years, Buddy, Bob, Donald, me, and later Chris and Jay met regularly with Rossie (who always arrived late - ha!). His family will undergo major adjustments in the coming days.

I remember Rossie for his tears. Though he was not like this much person to person, as a pastor I would see his face many times in the crowd or in the choir loft. He was usually one of the first people to start crying when something touching was shared.

Losing friends makes you evaluate your own life, no doubt. None of us are guaranteed another day. Makes you consider what things that we worry about are really important. What are we doing today in the life of those we love that will outlast us? What are we doing that matters to the Lord?

Teach us to realize the brevity of life, so that we may grow in wisdom. - Psalm 90:12

Some thoughts to chew on . . .