Today was Patty and Dee’s 51st Wedding Anniversary. That is a lot of years of events, accomplishments, and criseses. Through all the up’s and down’s over the years we have always been one. That is a claim that not many can make, we have always been one. The essence of love is unity; there is no love without unity. Unity requires sacrifice for the other person, it requires giving in and compromise. Oneness requires patient conversation and listening. Unity and oneness requires humility in letting the other person be right this time. Unity, for sure requires a lot of forgiveness, not ordinary forgiveness that takes a while to work up to, but extraordinary forgiveness that chooses to forgive immediately, every time there is a cross word or a rude comment, it is immediately forgotten and overlooked. That isn’t easy to do, but we have for 51 years. Patty and I are very different in every way. Often differences create division and strife, but our differences have created an interplay of mutual care and cooperation of strengths being amplified and weaknesses being compensated for so that together we are so much more effective and efficient in living life, doing ministry, and raising our family. Unity and oneness requires a mutual submission and authority that works seamlessly without votes or fights to arrive at decisions that are good and wise. True unity and oneness like that of God the Father and Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit is supernatural, it just is. From my perspective, Patty is 99% the reason our marriage is so good, and many of you agree with me, but Patty believes that I am 99% the reason our marriage is so good, wow, now that makes me feel appreciated and honored. A unified marriage creates an environment of security, peace, joy, self-worth, acceptance, and honor that both partners thrive and grow in. As good as it has been next year is going to be so much better.

Someone told me the price of a particular pickup for sale in today’s auto/truck market, and I thought, wow, you have got to be kidding me! I asked what it was in particular that made it worth that much money, and the response was quality. The word quality can describe a truck or car, a home, clothes, of course the word could be used to describe a boat or a hunting rifle. A word that would be an opposite to the word quality would be the word junk.

Let me apply the word quality to thinking. But before we describe quality thinking, let me state this law of life, ”You can be certain that the quality of your actions and your life will never exceed the quality of your thinking.” Proverbs 23:7 says, ”As a person thinks, so he is.”

One quality thinker that I love to read recently said, ”there is obviously not a lot of clear thinking taking place in our country today evidenced by the words that are spoken and the things that are done.

Quality thinking is focused thinking. It might be on a problem that needs to be solved, or a plan that needs to be made, instead of fleeting thoughts on a variety of topics both important and frivolous. Focused thinking stays on the problem, plan or goal until there is resolution, a sense of accomplishment. It takes discipline and mental work to stay focused.

Quality thinking will often be critically reflective of ourselves in an effort to improve and grow in character, in our skills, and in how to accomplish more with our life that matters. The word quality assumes inspection, improvement, standards, and goals.

Quality thinking will not be influenced or controlled by our emotions. If a person replays a situation in their mind in which they were hurt, offended, humilated, cheated, or disrespected the resulting decisions and behaviour will not be quality, but junk.

Another very important essential in quality thinking is thinking that is based on reality instead of fantasy, what is true rather than made-up. Our brains are incredibly creative and they can create scenes that would give ”Alice in Wonderland” a run for it’s money.

There are a number of other descriptions of quality thinking that we could pursue as we work on continually becoming a person who is growing in wisdom, character, relationships, and accomplishment.

There are four major disciplines that we can engage in that will really help in our pursuit of being a quality thinker. The first is reading good books written by people who are quality thinkers. The higher the quality and the greater the depth of the content of a book the more focused our thinking needs to be to take in what we are reading. Our brains are lazy and much prefer to relax and take it easy as we read. Good books make us think .

The second is listening to good speakers and teachers who know their topic well and communicate about it clearly, persuasively, and convincingly. There is so much good stuff available on podcasts, and YouTube on any number of topics. I like to listen to people I know will present a view that is different than mine so that while I listen I need to interact with the content forcing me to think.

The third is writing, writing our thoughts down and then reading them, and evaluating if what we wrote makes sense. Writing a blog is a very effective discipline to improve the quality of our thinking, even if nobody ever reads it.

The fourth is discussions with quality thinkers, often who again have a different opinion or view than I do. A number of years I was involved with 4 other pastors and we got together about once a month for several hours and discussed various theological topics. It was a very unique group in that no one ever got mean spirited in their defense of their view or belief and everyone was incredibly gracious in their communication to the others. It was a very profitable time for me as a young pastor learning to think outside what I had been taught all of my life.

So now we have a family pet, a dog, a ”Jackapoo” which is a cross between a Jack Russel Terrier and a poodle. Regularly during the day I call him Patty’s dog, when he poops on the floor, when he pee’s on the floor, when he whines, when he barks, and when he chews up one of my books. The solution, my kids say, is to train him, then he won’t do those nasty things anymore. A dog’s intelligence is slightly higher than those rioting in Portland so it takes a little work to train them, and lots of patience. I am letting a Patty do the potty training, and I will take care of the whining, barking, and chewing, and Sherri is going to train him not to jump on you, although I don’t care if he jumps on me. Roscoe is already pretty sensitive to my voice, he can easily tell the difference between my ”good boy” voice, and my ”bad boy” voice, and responds appropriately to both, so my part of his training won’t take long.

God trains us, and uses difficult times in life to do it

Hebrews 12:10-11 God disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness. All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.

God, the creator of the universe trains me so that I will be just like him. The Bible talks about those who are stiff necked, hard-hearted, and scoffers who don’t train well, not even with God the all-wise one doing the training. I have a given number of days to live and I don’t want to miss a single training episode with my creator.

I believe the Bible is the inspired Word of God, telling us what is true, right, and good from God’s perspective. In the following passage from the Gospel of Luke is a story of Mary who was pregnant with Jesus visiting Elizabeth, who was also pregnant with John the Baptist.

Luke 1:39-44 Now at this time Mary arose and went in a hurry to the hill country, to a city of Judah, and entered the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. And she cried out with a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And how has it happened to me, that the mother of my Lord would come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped in my womb for joy.

The only way a civilized person could justify abortion is to declare that the unborn baby is not yet a real person. Otherwise abortion is murder, premeditated murder, premeditated murder based on personal comfort.

In discussions that take place about the validity of masks to prevent the spread of the Corona Virus the statement made over and over is, ”You have to go with science”.

For any person to declare that an unborn baby is not fully human is totally devoid of science. The argument for abortion is based on the right of the pregnant woman to do what she wants with her own body even if it means killing an unborn person.

So, I declare that I don’t want to wear a mask because it is dehuminizing, and I don’t believe it works anyway. It is my life, my body and if I want to risk getting COVID, that is my right. The response is, ”how selfish of you, you could be giving someone else the virus, you should be willing to put up with wearing a mask for the sake of others.” one politician suggested that those who don’t wear masks be charged with murder.

Joe Biden, the Democratic candidate for president of the United States and Kamala Harris are champions for the right of any woman to abort her baby at any time, and yet he declared that if elected president he would make wearing face masks a national law, after all it is your patriotic duty, and he also declared today that he would totally close down the country again over COVID if scientist recommended it.

Really?

For most of my life I have had a gift from the Lord, being naturally motivated and having an abundance of energy. I have always made goals, to do lists, and I am always trying to get more done than I did the day before. I have a difficult time sitting for very long before I am off on a new project. I am never happier than when I am super busy, and the most rewarding feeling for me is being dead, dog tired at the end of a day. I don’t think it was anything special I did, I think that it is just the way God wired me. You can call it a blessing or a curse, but for me, most of my life I have looked at it as a huge blessing from God.

I have always had days in the past where I was totally unmotivated to do anything, but it rarely ever lasted more than a day, and then I was back pushing to get a new project done.

But for the last month I have been struggling with being totally unmotivated to do anything, not depressed, just a general lack of energy, physically and emotionally. I am still being faithful to my duties, responsibilities, and disciplines getting them done with shear discipline and self-control, but it is a drag. I find myself drawn to my recliner to take a nap all through the day.

I don’t know what the cause is, but I would like to figure it out and fix it. It could simply be old age and naturally declining energy, it could be this COVID thing that has my schedule all off course, and my dreams and goals on hold, it could be related to my having Parkinson’s, and it getting worse, most people with Parkinson’s struggle with this.

If it is one of the above or a combination of all three I probably am going to have to grow in self-control and discipline so I can continue to bear fruit for the Lord and bear even more and more fruit, even if I don’t feel like doing anything. I have been journaling a bunch of late on the necessity of doing just that as a possible new chapter in my life.

I don’t like feeling tired, I don’t like getting less done rather than more, I don’t like feeling like a wimp, I don’t like feeling old.

I am not writing this as an attempt to get sympathy from you, and I am certainly not looking for advice on how to fix it, though I am not above getting counsel from friends on dealing with stuff they have already gone through. What I am wanting to do is write about my journey through life, describing the challenges and struggles that I have, and how I deal with them. Always a pastor at heart and gifting I want to teach, influence, and encourage those in my life to always live for the lord and run the race set before us with endurance and joy. The best way I know how to do that now is by modeling, by being an example to those going through similar struggles. That is my goal with this daily blog.

Roscoe’s first day at the Duke house has been successful. All the grandkids love him, and he has managed well all of the hugs, being hauled around by all the different kids, drug around by his leash, and already being taught a host of ”tricks.”

One of my Pastor friends saw the first picture of him and said, ”whoooeeeeee the Fishman, hunter, mountain climbing Dee Duke has got himself a ”chick dog”! So I was encouraged when Roscoe got to fighting with Sam’s family’s dog who is much bigger than Roscoe, and when I came into our room tonight he growled me at me. I am hoping that the Jack Russel temperament comes out stronger than the poodle. The goal of those who came up with this cross of a Jack Russel Terrier and a Poodle was to have the best of both breeds in temperament. I would say it like this, ”Tough but Nice.”

That is interesting, because I think that is Jesus’s goal for us, ”tough but nice.” Tough in that we manage the pressures of life well, we carry responsibility faithfully, we don’t get anxious or uptight about COVID or anything else life brings us, we don’t grumble or complain about anything but rejoice always, and we never quit.

Nice in that we always speak words of grace to everyone no matter how grumpy or rude they might be to us, we forgive anybody of anything quickly because Jesus has forgiven us, we look for opportunities to help people and meet needs in their life even if we don’t like them, and we never gossip or slander anyone, not even Kate Brown.

I am pretty sure I got me a good dog, ”tough but nice.”

I am writing this in the waiting room at the Philadelphia International Airport at 3:30 in the morning. At my feet I have a little puppy dog that I just bought from a family in New Jersey.

My favorite dog of all time was ”Russel,” a Jack Russel Terrier. I had him for 14 years before he died, and he was a great dog. I got a second one, and even gave him the same name, but he wasn’t the same. His Jack Russel temperament made him hated by almost everyone in my family, and when he was run over by a car while chasing a cat everyone celebrated. Our son Sam and his family recently got a new dog that is a cross between a golden retriever and a poodle. It is a very nice dog, and while I was commenting on his temperament Sam mentioned that they are crossing Jack Russels with Poodles, calling them Jackapoo’s. I was intrigued and started doing research on the ”breed” and the availability of them. I discovered that they must be popular because they were selling them for $2,000 to $3,000. I kept looking and found this one for $500, but in New Jersey. I recently had to cancel an airplane flight to Alaska because of the CORONA thing and they gave me a credit instead of a refund. I needed to use it in the next 3 months or I was going to lose it, so that is why I am sitting in an airport in Philadelphia. So I am the proud owner of a Jackapoo! I thought about calling him Russel III, but am going with Roscoe instead.

The Bible actually has a lot to say about sleep, but not much about the importance of getting enough but there many warnings about sleeping to much.

Proverbs 6:9-11 How long will you lie down, O sluggard?
When will you arise from your sleep?
“A little sleep, a little slumber,
A little folding of the hands to rest”—
Your poverty will come in like a vagabond
And your need like an armed man.

Proverbs 19:15 Laziness casts into a deep sleep,
And an idle man will suffer hunger.

Proverbs 20:13 Do not love sleep, or you will become poor;
Open your eyes, and you will be satisfied with food.

Proverbs 24:33-34 A little sleep, a little slumber,
A little folding of the hands to rest,”
Then your poverty will come as a robber
And your want like an armed man.

One of the facts of life is that if I sleep too much, I won’t fall asleep, quickly and I will wake up often. So if I don’t sleep well I choose to sleep less. Someone came up with the rule that we needed 8 hours of sleep. I can lay in bed for 8 hours but I can’t sleep for 8 hours. I will toss and turn and sleep in fits. If I sleep for 6 hours, I go right to sleep, and I don’t wake up, and I wake up rested. I know everyone is different in their sleep needs, and my point is to discover what the minimum amount of sleep is that you need and don’t sleep more than that.

It is also very beneficial to go to sleep, and wake up at the same time most days. Our body likes routine.

I bought a tree stand for this upcoming archery season and set it up in the tree in front of our house. When I got home from church Sunday I climbed up and sat in it to test it out, and I promptly fell asleep and my daughter Sally took this little video of me sleeping 20 feet off of the ground in my tree stand.

The point is I can fall asleep easily, just about any place, at just about anytime. My first principle of sleeping well was prayer. Choose to be a faithful person of prayer but especially when you lay down to sleep. The gift God promises to us when we pray is peace, and people with a peace so great it is incomprehensible sleep well. Here are a few of my memory verses that I often meditate on when I lay down on my bed or in my recliner.

Psalms 3:3-6 But You, O Lord, are a shield about me,
My glory, and the One who lifts my head.
I was crying to the Lord with my voice,
And He answered me from His holy mountain.
I lay down and slept;
I awoke, for the Lord sustains me.
I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people
Who have set themselves against me round about.

And my second principle is meditate on Bible verses you have memorized well. The power of God’s Word will free you up from the fretful, bitter, angry, anxious thoughts that the devil and his demons plant into our minds and thoughts that keep us from falling asleep.

The third principle is to establish a regular time and routine of exercise into your life. About 6 years ago I started riding a stationary bicycle for an hour almost every day of the week. A stationary bike is super because I can read while I ride, getting two things done at once. A bicycle is low impact and maintains a regular and steady heart rate. I ride with enough resistance and speed to keep my heart rate at 120 bpm for one hour. I have discovered that an hour is magic, that is I didn’t notice a lot of difference until I started riding an hour each day. I am not sure of all that happens inside my body when I ride an hour a day, but I do know that I feel 100 (not scientific) times better when I do. One of the benefits is that I sleep well, I fall asleep quickly, sleep sound and rarely wake up for at least 6 hours. A lot of people have made goals to exercise and haven’t done it. The reason is obvious, exercise is work and we all are naturally lazy. It takes some serious effort, accountability, and planning to become a person who regularly exercises, but the rewards and benefits are 100 times worth it.

Several people asked me what my dozen daily disciplines are.

1. Read the Bible. I read approximately 30 to 40 minutes each day from the Bible. 2 chapters each day from the Old Testament not including Psalms and Proverbs. 1 chapter in Proverbs that corresponds to the day of the month. 5 chapters each day in Psalms, there are 150 chapters in Psalms so I read it through each month. 2 chapters each day in the gospels, Acts, and Revelation. 4 chapters each day in Romans through Jude.

2. Work at memorizing the Bible and reviewing verses already memorized. I spend 30 minutes each day on this discipline.

3. Spend 30 minutes in prayer by myself each day. This doesn’t count the many times during the day that I pray for what I see and encounter.

4. Pray my personal prayer of commitment each morning. This is not part of my 30 minutes of private prayer and takes about 5 minutes.

5. Pray with Patty.

6. Write in my journal which includes self-examination and confession of any known sin along with a written prayer for wisdom, strength, opportunity, and holiness. This usually takes about 15 minutes.

7. Write my blog, which usually takes about an hour of thought and writing.

8. Ride my stationary bicycle for one hour. While riding the bike I do my Bible reading and book reading.

9. Read 20 pages in good books in a variety of subjects.

10. Read my goals and do some writing on strategy for accomplishing them. I started the year with 71 goals and now have 50 left.

11. Write a ”to do” list for the next day, and review accomplishments of that day.

12. Record how I spent my time for the day under preassigned areas.