Sound The Midnight Cry

"Called Home"

I listened to a national radio talk host mention the tragedy at Sea World this week where a trainer was killed by a killer whale. He made the statement to his audience, “we never know when any of us will be called home.” His obvious inference is that none of us are promised a long life and that any day could be our last one.

Now I’m sure all our hearts go out to the family of the one whose life was taken in this unusual event. It is always painful when we hear of someone taken in the early prime of their life, no matter what the circumstance may be surrounding it. However, the point that caught my attention was not the circumstances of the tragedy; rather it was that phrase, “when any of us will be called home.”

Immediately my mind was filled with a familiar sound of a bell ringing. As a child (the oldest of 7) my mother had a unique way of letting us know that dinner was almost ready. My mom had what I would call an old, hand-held school bell that could be heard for several blocks. Many of my childhood years were lived on an Air Force base, but you could still hear the bell when she rang it and it was serving notice that you were being “called home”. That distinctive ring of the bell declared that you had 10 minutes to get home, clean up and get to the dinner table. And believe me when I tell you that to say, “I didn’t hear the bell” didn’t get you anywhere but deeper in trouble than you were already in for being late.

“Called home” – all kinds of thoughts come to mind with that statement:

• A college student telling his friends that they had called home for some money.
• A spouse that called home to leave a message for their loved one concerning a change in their schedule.
• An elderly individual that has lived a full life and has passed into eternity we say has been “called home”.

The majority of people believe in an “after-life” but it isn’t something that many talk about. After all, it is a sobering subject and not one that many are ready to seriously entertain [this I know from having sold life insurance for several years]. Yet, it is very real and relatively very close to each of us [one last breath].

So it’s with interest when someone says, “They were called home” that I wonder, “Where is home for that person? Where is their eternal home?”

In John’s Gospel, chapter 8, verse 44, Jesus said, “You belong to your father, the devil…” This Jesus spoke to the Pharisees, the religious leaders of his day “…your father, the devil…”—and we all know where his home is.

Now some will mock this writing and boastfully declare, “I’m going to hell and all my friends will be there too.” I’ve heard many people over the years make that statement but when death is knocking at their door, they aren’t so arrogant. I’ve prayed many times for God’s mercy that they would have the opportunity to find a “new home” before that last breath comes. Those that repent of their sins and trust Jesus Christ, find a new residence when that time comes that they are “called home” – heaven becomes their new home.

So the next time you hear a bell ringing, ask yourself, “If the bell tolls and calls me home, where will I be?”

“The Saints Ain’t The Aints No More!”

Two weeks after the Super Bowl and the folks here in Louisiana are still buzzing about the New Orleans Saints victory. Everywhere you go within the state, you see flags flying and windows on vehicles covered with writing boasting of the win. Yes sir, as one headline put it, “The Saints Ain't the ‘Aints’ No More.”

Now for those that don’t have clue what that means, let me explain (or as I guy I know would say, “Let me hep you with that”).

Over the past 43 years as a franchise of the NFL, the Saints had…well, let’s just say that they had their problems. They had some great players over the years like Archie Manning (yes, the dad of Peyton Manning, QB for the Colts that just lost to the Saints), but it seemed they could find more ways to lose football games than seemingly possible. Enter—"the Aints" as in "they aint never going to win".

The trademark of the “Aints” became a paper bag worn over the head of New Orleans fans. The bags were the creation of Saints fan Buddy Dilberto, who first donned a bag in 1980, borrowing from the Unknown Comic, a fixture on the Gong Show at that time. They came to be a symbol of the Saints and their lack of success. Hundreds of fans decorated them in black and gold and wore them to the games. (Yes, even Peyton and Eli Manning wore them to games in the 80's).

This week, a notice was posted that New Orleans' own Glen David Andrews, along with the Baby Boyz Brass Band, will lead a jazz funeral second line through New Orleans (Treme and Faubourg Marigny) starting at 5 p.m., February 20th. "Fans are encouraged to bring their old Aints paper bags and place them in a coffin," writes the New Orleans Times-Picayune.

Strange as it may seem, but mind began to think about the scripture in 2 Peter 3:3-4: (NLT) “Most importantly, I want to remind you that in the last days scoffers will come, mocking the truth and following their own desires. They will say, “What happened to the promise that Jesus is coming again? From before the times of our ancestors, everything has remained the same since the world was first created.”

In other words, the Apostle Peter tells us that there will be those that will say, “You keep talking about His coming back. Wake up and smell the coffee—He ain’t coming back!”

After 43 long years, the New Orleans ‘Aints’ are now the  NFL Super Bowl ‘Saints’. The die-hard faithful have been rewarded for not losing faith in their team. The jazz funeral is a celebration that is symbolic of the end of one era and the beginning of another.

For the follower of Jesus Christ who remains faithful through life, there is something even greater—it’s called the “Blessed Hope”. “…we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13).

The ‘saints’ of God will shed this body and receive an incorruptible one. The years of waiting will seem like a distant memory as they gaze upon the One that loved them and called them by name. The music will be a rendition of “the saints go marching in” that only heaven could assemble as the throng of the ages gathers before the throne of God to give praise worthy of Him and Him alone.

The New Orleans Saints received a Super Bowl trophy. For the ‘saints’ of God, Revelations 22:12 tells us, “…behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work.”

Now...Ain’t that sweet!

Update: Aint's Funeral Video

“I Hear Footsteps”

We’ve all watched a movie when at the height of the suspense the sound of footsteps are heard. They may be slow and deliberate or they may be light and quick. Regardless of the sound, it is clear that it is an announcement of something that’s about to happen.

That’s the picture that came to mind last week as I read the news from around the globe. News reports of Iran’s Khamenei that Israel's destruction is imminent according to the will of Allah and “not even the might of the West can save Israel now.”

• Syria’s Assad stating that it is prepared for war with Israel and at that they slipped Hezbollah Fateh-110 missiles able to destroy Israeli cities.
• Meanwhile, Lebanese PM Hariri stated, “We'll back Hezbollah if war with Israel breaks out.”
• During this same time, DEBKAfile reports that Iranian Revolutionary Guard instructors at specially established training facilities near Tehran are already well advanced in training those Hezbollah fighters. They also produced a battle map showing the objective of 5 Hezbollah brigades complete with detailed topographical and demographic studies.
• This in conjunction with U.S. intelligence that has gathered detailed war plans drawn up by Iran, Syria, Hezbollah, and Hamas that the U.S. has already shared with Israel. With it, the U.S. has dispatched Patriot Missile systems to Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Kuwait. This is complimented with Sea-based X-Band Radar and two U.S. warships capable of shooting down Iranian missiles being moved into the area by Washington.
• And finally, Egypt noted last Sunday that two Israeli missile ships passed through the Suez Canal reportedly heading for the Persia Gulf.

All of these events and that doesn’t even touch the financial issues facing the EU as four nations teeter on the verge of bankruptcy. At home in the U.S., massive debt issues have everyone worried from Wall Street to Main Street.

These events are the sound of footsteps on the God’s time-line. Jesus said that in the last days men’s hearts will fail them “from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth.” Luke 21:26

As unsettling as this may sound, it is a reminder to us that all of this was foretold thousands of years ago in Scripture. And that reassures me that the God that revealed these events back then, is still in control today.

It also tells me “I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day.” 2 Timothy 1:12

It also tells me that God doesn’t lie and what He said will happen, will come to pass…of that I can be certain.

So, the news events of each day only serve as footsteps signaling the soon return of Jesus Christ to planet earth (also foretold)…and they are getting closer with each passing day!

“Who Dat Nation!”

Those of us living in Louisiana can attest to the fact that “Who Dat Nation” is alive and well. With the Super Bowl bound New Orleans Saints are  the hopes and dreams of the forever faithful "Who Dat" fans.

To say that the NFL created a controversy last week when it issued letters telling area merchants that they could not sell merchandise with “Who Dat” printed on it, is an understatement at best. There are those in South Louisiana that would tell you that they don’t need a lot of reasons to start trouble, and the NFL’s statement in their eyes, was grounds for a righteous rebellion. After all, who are they to tell the fans that the chant of the last 20 years was now “trademarked” by the NFL? Their actions even enlisted a U.S. Senator joining the revolt of the people crying against the tyranny of the NFL. “Who Dat!” became a battle cry as well as a statement of a people like a Phoenix rising from the flood waters of Katrina and Rita, stretching upwards on the back of their beloved Saints football team. The Saints were marching into Miami and no person or organization was going to tell them what they could wear or couldn’t wear or say.

I say all of this as I reflected on the original chant, “Who dat say gonna beat dem Saints? Who dat? Who dat?” I woke up the other night with this on my mind (I don’t know why as I certainly have enough other stuff in my life to consume my thoughts). Yet, there it was repeating itself over and over: “Who dat say gonna beat dem Saints?”

I lay there wondering why this would be on my mind (other than the game was only days away), I thought of the issues I was presently dealing with in my world and tried to fathom “why” would I be thinking about “Who Dat?” Suddenly it became so clear.

The passage in Romans 8:28 came to mind (my favorite verse): “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

I realized at that moment God was speaking to me to realize that the “all things” happening my life at that moment had its reasons. Verse 31 continued with, “What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?”

I remember the first time in my teenage life when I realized that God was for me and not my enemy. I grew up with the idea that God was just waiting for me to step out of line so He could take me out. How life changing it was when I understood that God was working everything for my good (even if I didn’t understand ‘how’).

The Apostle Paul’s letter continues in verses 36-39: “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?...No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

It was then that I realized that God himself was the originator of the first “Who Dat”! With that understanding, the “saints” of God can face any adversity that comes our way and know “God is for us” and there’s not a force on earth or a devil in hell that can deter us from finishing out mission in life.

So when the trump of God sounds and the saints of God rise in the air to enter triumphantly through the gates of glory, don’t be surprised if you hear a delegation of God’s people from Louisiana singing, “Who dat say gonna beat dem saints? Who dat…who dat!” Look over your shoulder—I’ll be one of them!