Read Closely

Inspired to act or speak

With or without any idea,
Right or wrong,
Imagination soars
To Highest Heights,
Emboldened in spite of Fear.

Action demands itself.

Brandish my Sword,
Lit by hot, holy fire,
Onward to Victory,
Glorious.

Vacation Part II

Still enjoying my holiday from work. In the last eight days, I have driven through Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia - visiting family and friends in Cullman (AL), Nashville (TN), Raleigh (NC), Atlanta (GA), and Macon (GA). Whew. Strangely, I'm not tired at all from the traveling. It's actually been rather relaxing and just so energizing to connect and reconnect with so many people that are so dear to me ...

Which brings me to the following pictures of good friends and their diapered youngsters. I'm not sure what's more beautiful: the grandeur of sweeping mountain landscapes or the adorable smiles of a baby. Either way, God's creation is glorious. Praise the Lord.

Alison, baby Owen, and Andrew

baby Owen, all smiles (with Donald the Dolphin and Betsy the Cow)

Anna, baby Elizabeth Grace, and Robert

Vacation Beauty

One thing I love about vacation is the chance to step back from the everyday things of life. It's an opportunity to really enjoy some of the gifts of God's nature without most of the normal distractions and certainly without the general "routineness" of daily life. (I think I just made up a new word. If anyone knows of a real word that signifies the same idea, please let me know!)

As a native of the U.S. South (I've lived in Alabama, Georgia, and Mississippi, y'all), I have been blessed to experience a little of the beauty outside the 'Ole South, including hiking trips through the mountains of New Mexico, Alberta (Canada), and Alaska, a mission trip to Moscow, Russia, and business trips to Puerto Rico, California and New York. However, there is still something intimately lovely about the Southeast - from the Smokies to the Gulf Coast, and much in between. So here are a few pictures from my trip through the Southeast so far. Hopefully more to come.

And keep in mind that these images are only a shadow of the true experience, which is only a foretaste of glory divine, for which all of creation (including us) groans with the pains of childbirth for that day when all will be made right. For more, see Romans chapter 8, Isaiah 35, and Revelation 21.






Cattle near Natural Bridge, Alabama


Railroad tracks near Waynesville, North Carolina

Moonshine Creek Campground near Waynesville, North Carolina

Lake Junaluska, North Carolina

Lake Junaluska


Lake Junaluska

Lake Junaluska

Lake Junaluska

Living in the Lap of Modern Luxury

You know, sometimes we really take for granted the modern conveniences that we have grown accustomed to having. I was just kind of warm a few minutes ago in my house, so I walked down the hall and turned the thermostat down a couple of degrees for the air conditioner to kick on. I was hungry, so I heated up some peas in the microwave and warmed up some fish in the oven – and in about 15 minutes, I was eating my meal. I wondered what was happening in the world of sports, so I turned on my satellite television to find my favorite baseball team, the Atlanta Braves, playing extra innings against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Then I decided to hop on the computer and check my electronic mail (via a cable internet connection wirelessly transmitted to my laptop).

And that’s when it hit me: I really have more than I could ever need or want materially. And I have almost all of it at my fingertips, needing just the click of a button to accomplish the most complex of modern tasks. I don’t usually give a second thought to the kind of luxury I live in even as a middle-class American. We (Americans and others in highly developed nations) are downright spoiled.

I daresay that if a man or woman from the 18th century were somehow transported into a medium-sized town of middle America in 2009, they would hardly recognize anything that looked similar to their life in the 1700s. Some of the person’s immediate thoughts might be: (1) To where are all these people going in such a hurry? (2) If this mechanical carriage goes any faster, I think I’ll vomit, and how do the drivers not constantly crash into one another? (3) There seems to be so many public eating houses, I wonder if anyone dines with their family at home. (4) I am seeing so many grocery markets, but not many farms to grow the produce. (5) Most people seem to live in absolute palaces – I wonder if they are members of the royal family. (6) Why are everyone’s children acting like little heathens? Shouldn’t the parents be whipping them instead of laughing? (7) All this noise and activity is making my head spin. I think I should lie down.

So next time you toss some bread in the toaster, or clothes in the dryer, or dishes in the dishwasher, or next time you hop in your car for a quick trip across town to get batteries for your TV remote, try to stop for half a second and consider that you’re still one of the first people in the thousands of years of the human race to have such luxuries at your instant disposal. Sometimes I wonder whether it’s a blessing or a curse.

Chick-fil-A

I was just thinking ... Chick-fil-A is amazing. Great food. Great business. Great marketing. All based on biblical, Christ-centered values. What more could we ask for?

Red, White, and Blue

Sitting here between Memorial Day and July the Fourth, I’m feeling just a little more patriotic than usual. Therefore, today’s J.W. List will honor some of my favorite things Red, White, and Blue.

Favorite Red stuff:
- A plump, juicy Red Delicious apple
- The sun right before it dips below the horizon on a cloudless day
- Christ’s blood shed on the Cross
- A cardinal strutting and chirping in the springtime
- An autumn maple leaf
- My proofreading pen
- Georgia Bulldogs, Atlanta Braves, Atlanta Falcons, Ole Miss Rebels

Favorite White stuff:
- A blanket of snow on top of a mountain
- The soft hair of a Maltese puppy
- Gandalf’s beard
- A Rick Pitino Louisville game suit
- Marshmallows
- A powerful lightning bolt in a summer storm
- A blank sheet of paper ready for a new chapter

Favorite Blue stuff:
- The ocean
- The sky
- Smurfs
- The color of the Smoky Mountain haze
- The hot base of a flame
- Cameron Crazies
- Atlanta Braves, Ole Miss Rebels

Wise Words from a Humble Man

We sang the hymn “Jesus, I My Cross Have Taken” in church this morning, and even though I had sung it before, the words really hit me today. They are not only beautiful, but there is profound truth woven throughout the verses. It captured me so much that I decided to look up the song’s author, Henry F. Lyte. What I found is that he was born in Scotland in 1793, moved with his family to Ireland because of war between Britain and France, and was soon abandoned by his father and left orphaned at the age of nine when his mother died. He went on to become an Anglican pastor, successful poet, and hymnologist despite battling tuberculosis for most of his life up to his death at age 54.

Knowing Lyte’s background has made the words of this song that much more poignant. His humble attitude drove him to surrender to Christ, and this faith produced great endurance in a clearly difficult life, all leading to a bright, victorious hope of future glory. The last verse is especially amazing!

Jesus, I my cross have taken, all to leave and follow Thee.
Destitute, despised, forsaken, Thou from hence my all shall be.
Perish every fond ambition, all I’ve sought or hoped or known.
Yet how rich is my condition! God and heaven are still my own.

Let the world despise and leave me, they have left my Savior, too.
Human hearts and looks deceive me; Thou art not, like them, untrue.
O while Thou dost smile upon me, God of wisdom, love, and might,
Foes may hate and friends disown me, show Thy face and all is bright.

Man may trouble and distress me, ‘twill but drive me to Thy breast.
Life with trials hard may press me; Heaven will bring me sweeter rest.
Oh, ‘tis not in grief to harm me while Thy love is left to me;
Oh, ‘twere not in joy to charm me, were that joy unmixed with Thee.

Go, then, earthly fame and treasure! Come disaster, scorn and pain!
In Thy service, pain is pleasure; with Thy favor, loss is gain.
I have called Thee Abba Father; I have stayed my heart on Thee:
Storms may howl, and clouds may gather; All must work for good to me.

Soul, then know thy full salvation rise o’er sin and fear and care;
Joy to find in every station, something still to do or bear.
Think what Spirit dwells within thee, think what Father’s smiles are thine;
Think that Jesus died to win thee, child of heaven, canst thou repine?

Haste thee on from grace to glory, armed by faith, and winged by prayer.
Heaven’s eternal days before thee, God’s own hand shall guide us there.
Soon shall close thy earthly mission, soon shall pass thy pilgrim days,
Hope shall change to glad fruition, faith to sight, and prayer to praise.