Tag Archives: amusing

The Song Plays Again……. And Again 

16 Tuesday Jun 2015

Posted by in Christianity, Devotional, Life, People, Raising The Mug

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333526-alpine-car-stereo-receiver-cde-136btI turned on the radio in my truck one day as I was driving and a familiar song began to play. When it ended, the same song began to play again. After it ended for the second time, it started up again. Hmm …… I wonder what’s up with this? The same song repeated over and over as I drove along for the next hour. I found it humorous and since I liked the song, I just let it play. When I reached my destination and completed my task, I climbed back in the truck ………. same song still playing. Someone at the station must have quit, fallen asleep, or was having a really bad day.

Depending on the situation, repetition can have great benefits. Kids learn many social skills by watching their parents and mimicking their actions and words. Repeating the same task in a job helps build speed and efficiency. And repetition can be useful when learning to live a godly lifestyle.

Deuteronomy 11:18-21 NIV

Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates, so that your days and the days of your children may be many in the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors, as many as the days that the heavens are above the earth. 

Moses encouraged the Israelites to repeat the things they had learned so that they wouldn’t forget. He knew how quickly the mind strays to other thoughts, neglecting what is important.

Fix these words in your hearts and minds…… again and again………

Mugs up!

All verse quotes courtesy of biblegateway.com

Blessed Are The Peacemakers 

10 Wednesday Jun 2015

Posted by in Children, Christianity, Devotional, People, Raising The Mug

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snickersWhen our oldest daughter was in elementary school, she was in a rotating class. That is, rather than the teachers moving, the students moved – common for middle school and up, but not elementary students. She shared a desk with another girl from the other class.

One day, our daughter came home from school with a message that she needed us to buy some candy bars for her to take the next day. When we questioned why she needed them, she simply said that her teacher told her to bring them.

Hmmmm……… was there a party we should know about? No.

Was there some extra after school project that needed the candy? No.

After we pushed the point a little further, our daughter began to cry, insisting that the teacher had just told her that she had to provide the candy bars.

This sounded like a job for super mom.

So the next day when Jane dropped the kids off for school, she went inside to have a chat with the teacher. Apparently the other little girl who shared our daughter’s desk had tastier snacks than we provided for our daughter, tastier snacks in the form of candy bars. And, eh hem, our daughter had been helping herself to the other girl’s snacks. When the teacher caught her at it, she simply asked for our daughter to replace what she had stolen……an important detail that our daughter failed to mention.

Suddenly all was clear ………

Matthew 5:9 ESV – “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

Romans 12:18 ESV – If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.

When a person commits a sin against another person, sometimes a little more than, “I’m sorry” is needed to restore peace. Sometime restitution is in order:

“The Bible gives us a good deal of guidance with regard to restitution. The prime New Testament example of this is Zacchaeus in Luke 19:8. There, Zacchaeus, a tax collector turned believer, repents of his former life and he gives half his possessions to the poor (whom he formerly robbed) and paid back all he stole fourfold. This was going above and beyond what was required, often times, by the law. In Exodus 22 and Numbers 5 we find laws concerning restitution. Sometimes the offender is to simply replace what it was he took or destroyed. Other times there was an extra cost on top of the value of the property as a kind of interest or restitution for the trouble of having to deal with lost, stolen, or damaged property.” opc.org

Maintaining peace is one thing. Restoring peace, once it has been disrupted, may take a little more effort. Restitution is a good beginning – it shows that the heart of the offender has changed and that they are sincere in their apology. They are in fact doing the best they can to replace or repair the damage that they caused.

Here’s to a peaceful day. Take a deep gulp from your favorite mug and ask God to guide you in areas where you can help restore peace.

All verse quotes courtesy of biblegateway.com

That’s How Rumors Start!

09 Tuesday Jun 2015

Posted by in Christianity, Devotional, Life, Marriage, People, Raising The Mug

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secret

photo courtesy of forbes.com

When my wife and I first got married, she had nearly black hair. As she aged, some grey began to appear so she would dye her hair from time to time. Perfectly normal for women in the US. At some point, her hair stylist convinced her to go blond, which, by the way, I was highly opposed to. That’s a story for another day ……..

Anyway, shortly after the change in hair color, Jane and I were sitting in a restaurant having lunch. A friend came over to greet us. He confessed that when he first saw us, he thought I was having lunch with another woman because he didn’t recognize my wife! Ha, ha! That’s how rumors get started!

secrets-to-staying-trimI thought to myself afterwards, “What if he had just sat there and made no approach. He would have left the restaurant thinking something entirely different from the truth.”

What you don’t know can hurt you. Information or misinformation can cause potentially irreparable damage to a person’s reputation. Be careful about jumping to conclusions. Always verify the facts before assuming something is true. Gossiping and spreading rumors is never a healthy activity. The “Golden Rule” is always appropriate – Do to others what you would want them to do to you.

Proverbs 11:9 (NIV)

9 With their mouths the godless destroy their neighbors,
    but through knowledge the righteous escape.

Have a happy and blessed day! Keep a hot mug in your mouth and you won’t have time for gossip!

All verse quotes courtesy of biblegateway.com

There’s A Bug In My Mug

02 Tuesday Jun 2015

Posted by in Animals, Christianity, Devotional, Life, Raising The Mug

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Funny-Camel-39

photo courtesy of funnystack.com

I love my coffee piping hot, but I’ve been known to leave a mug on my desk until it gets too cold to drink. So then I’ll heat it up again in the microwave.

I know ………. it’s not the coffee connoisseur’s way. In my defense, it’s usually the second or third cup that gets ignored and has to be reheated……… never the first cup…….. never.

Apparently certain flying insects like my coffee as well. If I’m not careful and leave a cup unattended for too long, I’ll gulp down a gnat before I know it.

Matthew 23:23-24 NIV

23 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. 24 You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.

These are the words of Jesus chastising the leaders in the church after he had warned his followers not to listen to them. What?! Jesus taught his followers not to listen to the leaders in the church? That’s right. Why?

Because they were hypocrites ………..

Not all, but many of the Pharisees and scribes had no faith in God. They were not true believers. They were using the church and its systems to get rich and gain prestige. They took advantage of the poor and illiterate rather than assisting them. They made themselves look good on the outside, but inside they were rotten to the core. They were good at pointing out small deficiencies in others but were oblivious to their own giant deficiencies.

In these verses, Jesus said you tithe ……… but you neglect. In other words, you support the church financially but you do nothing to further justice, mercy, or faithfulness. You do nothing to alleviate the suffering of those you are supposed to be shepherding.

Which is more important? To give financially to the church or engage in people’s lives?

Hmmmm………… surely there is someone you know who needs justice or perhaps mercy. Maybe they just need a faithful friend.

Well ……….. I guess swallowing a gnat in my coffee is better than swallowing a camel ………..

Mugs up!!

All verse quotes courtesy of biblegateway.com

What Do You Expect – 10 Speeds?

01 Monday Jun 2015

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Sears Free Spirit

Not my bike but similar – photo courtesy of Randy Zabarsky

I remember the first 10-speed bicycle that I owned. I was maybe 13 at the time. Yellow framed Sears and Roebuck Free Spirit. If it came with instructions about how to ride it, I didn’t read them. Why would I want to do that when I could just take off down the road like a senseless pup? Experience is such a great teacher ……..

Single speed bike cruisers have a different brake system than 10-speeds. With the old cruisers, you simply push backwards on the pedals and it will slow down. Not a 10-speed. With all the gears attached to the pedal crank I guess they couldn’t maintain that feature. You push the pedals backward and all that happens is they spin. No …….. with a 10-speed bike, you must use hand brakes attached to the handle bars. I haven’t ridden one of these in years so the system may have changed. Back then, you squeezed the left handle for the front brakes and the right handle for the rear brakes.

So I took off around the block on my maiden voyage. At the top of our street there was a slight hill that we loved riding down to gain some speed. I was flying down the hill toward the house, not realizing how exciting life was about to become. I tried to stop by pushing backwards on the pedals ………. nothing happened. Then, in a panic, I squeezed the left hand brake control, which is the front brake. With a 10-speed bike, if you only actuate the front brakes at high-speed, an interesting thing happens – the entire bike flips forward and catapults the rider off. So ……… I took a lesson in how to fly with 10 easy speeds.

Ouch ………

What do you expect to happen when you pray? Immediate answers? No answer at all? What is the purpose of prayer if you expect nothing to happen?

Here are some popular verses in the Bible about prayer:

Mark 11:24 ESV – Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

1 Thessalonians 5:17 ESV – Pray without ceasing,

Romans 8:26 ESV – Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.

Matthew 6:7 ESV – “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words.

Luke 11:9 ESV – And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.

The charge seems to be very simple – say what you need to say, believe something will happen, and leave the rest to God. Right? Then why does it feel like I’m pedaling but going nowhere?

Multiple geared bikes are popular because once you put them in motion, you can ride at tremendous speeds by changing gears, much like an automobile. You start at the lower gears, but once you gain some momentum, you can switch to the higher gears and be moving at 30, 40, or 50 miles an hour. The record is 82 mph.

With a bike, it is necessary to keep pedaling if you want to continue to move. Not so with prayer. Once the prayer has been made, it is God who does the moving, not you. That’s not to say that a prayer can’t or shouldn’t be repeated. But the power of prayer does not rest in your activity but rather in God’s willingness and ability to act on your behalf.

No prayer ever goes unanswered, not one, not ever. How, when, where, and to what degree is difficult for a human with a finite mind to understand. But once the prayer is said, something mysterious has been put into motion. God begins to act on your request and as he works, momentum is increased until the task is complete.

IMGP37152

State Botanical Gardens of Georgia

Answers to prayer are not promised on human terms. Many times, God changes the heart of the person praying and they no longer need their request. Answers rarely come at record speed. Occasionally God may grant something immediately, but more times than not, it’s a process that takes a while. Little by little the results unfold before you.

The point is that something always happens, even if you don’t see it. So when you pray, know with certainty that God hears; anticipate that he is working on your request. Always expect, but be prepared for the unexpected ……….. the answer may come in a way that you least imagined.

Here’s to a new day – raise your mugs high with hopeful expectation!

All verse quotes courtesy of biblegateway.com

The World Is Dancing!

31 Sunday May 2015

Posted by in Christianity, Devotional, Life, People, Raising The Mug

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Yesterday was sort of a long day. Packing stuff up in boxes ………. moving them to a storage facility. Remind me next time I’m born not to accumulate so much junk.

I could sit here and complain or ……….. I could dance.

You see, I believe God is a happy god who rejoices over his creation. And his creation rejoices over its maker. That is ….. most of his creation………… man tends to stand outside the party much of the time. But that is not how God intended it to be. He wants us to dance!

Psalm 98

A psalm.

1 Sing to the Lord a new song,
    for he has done marvelous things;
his right hand and his holy arm
    have worked salvation for him.
2 The Lord has made his salvation known
    and revealed his righteousness to the nations.
3 He has remembered his love
    and his faithfulness to Israel;
all the ends of the earth have seen
    the salvation of our God.

4 Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth,
    burst into jubilant song with music;
5 make music to the Lord with the harp,
    with the harp and the sound of singing,
6 with trumpets and the blast of the ram’s horn—
    shout for joy before the Lord, the King.

7 Let the sea resound, and everything in it,
    the world, and all who live in it.
8 Let the rivers clap their hands,
    let the mountains sing together for joy;
9 let them sing before the Lord,
    for he comes to judge the earth.
He will judge the world in righteousness
    and the peoples with equity.

While this particular psalm doesn’t mention dancing, I think it is implied. Other psalms like 149 and 150 do specifically use the word.

What you read in Psalm 98 is the joyfulness of creation: the earth shouting for joy, the sea roaring, the rivers clapping their hands, and the mountains singing. What a marvelous image, all that has been created giving praise to the Creator.

The world is dancing all around us. So today, I say let’s lay aside whatever is preventing us from moving and keeping us off our feet. Let’s join in the dance!

Mugs up!!

All verse quotes courtesy of biblegateway.com

Photos courtesy of orangedonkey.net and pinterest.dancing animals

A Mullet State Of Mind

26 Tuesday May 2015

Posted by in Animals, Christianity, Devotional, Life, People, Raising The Mug

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mulletsIf you search hair styles from the late 80″s / early 90’s, you’re bound to run across this one – the “mullet.” Why the haircut was given the name “mullet” is a mystery. A mullet is a fish. If you’ve ever been to the beach, you probably swam with some since they’re common in warm coastal waters worldwide.

A lot of celebrities wore mullets back in the day: Jean Claude Van Damme, George Clooney, Jerry Seinfeld, Patrick Swayze, Billy Ray Cyrus, Chuck Norris to name a few.  Look at Michael W. Smith and Steven Curtis Chapman, both giants in the Christian music industry. They both had mullets too!

M W Smith Steven Curtis Chapman

There was an interesting phrase that expressed the philosophy behind the “mullet” haircut – business in the front, party in the back. It’s a perfect example of a split personality. You see, all people tend to have dual personalities: capable of being very good and capable of being very bad.

Though everyone battles their own personal sin each day, for a Christian, there should be a clear delineation between the inward battle and the outward activity. There are some who think it perfectly okay to party hardy on Friday and Saturday night, as long as they get cleaned up on Sunday morning. Scripture gives a stern warning about that way of living:

2 Corinthians 6:14 –  For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?

1 Peter 4:1-4 –  For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do—living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry.

Romans 12:2 –  Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind……..

Romans 13:12-14 – So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. 13 Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy.

Matthew 7:21 –  “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.

True followers of Christ cannot live a dual lifestyle: hell raiser one day – saint the next. What would you call that? Hypocritical? That’s sort of a mullet state of mind – business in the front, party in the back. It’s the very thing that Jesus blasted the Pharisees for doing. If the Holy Spirit is indeed living within, it should convict us to change.

Understandably, change does not come easy, so there is hope for every struggling soul. Even Paul wrote that he fought the inward battle to do the right thing:

Romans 7 – For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. …..24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? 25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!

A new day is upon us. A new chance to move in the right direction.  Here’s to slamming the door for good on a mullet state of mind. Mugs raised high!

All verse quotes courtesy of biblegateway.com

The Jawless Fish

24 Sunday May 2015

Posted by in Animals, Christianity, Devotional, Life, People, Raising The Mug

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Mullet

a mullet fish – photo courtesy of Wikimedia

Years ago I wrote a song/poem about creation specifically as a rebuttal to the evolutionary theory that all life started from the mud in the form of a jawless fish. My wife came across it as she was cleaning the house yesterday; thought you might enjoy it!

At school the other day they taught us man evolved from fish.
I scratched my head and wondered, “What genius thought of this?”
They said this lucky mud just started stirring round one day.
And pretty soon these critters sort of formed themselves from clay.

The critters joined together and made a little squish.
And what evolved was finally what they called a jawless fish.
Now I’m not one to question, so I figured it was true.
Besides, they wouldn’t teach no lies to little kids at school!

So I listened as they taught us how old “Jawless” learned to crawl
And turned his little fish fins into tiny feet and claws.
He then commenced to change himself with lots of other twists.
He became amphibians and reptiles that would hiss.

Jawless, he was fearless, he had so much to achieve.
Forget about the halibut, he wanted lungs to breathe!
Soon he grew tired of wearing scales and fins and such.
He decided it would be more fun to add some warmth to touch.

So he grew himself some fur and turned his claws to paws and feet,
And walked across the landscape in search of food to eat.
Before too long he stretched his back and forced himself to stand
And transformed his appendages to legs and arms and hands

The more I heard, the more I thought this really couldn’t be!
This thinking we was fish might make a monkey out of me!
If this were true, why not say we came from bugs instead?
And we could all pretend we had antennae on our heads!

If man evolved from fish, then he’s got to be a mullet.
Thinking like a fish up in the head is sure to dull it!
To me it’s only logical when I say what I believe
That God created man when he made Adam and made Eve.

And so it’s my conclusion if the truth were really told,
That “Jawless” is nothing more than a lie from long ago.
The God who made the earth did not leave it all to chance
And hope that somehow randomly that we would learn to dance.

Hope you have a wonderful day, mugs up!!

When Telling The Truth Backfires!

22 Friday May 2015

Posted by in Children, Christianity, Devotional, Life, People, Raising The Mug

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saying the wrong thingThanksgiving dinner at my parents’ house ……. the whole extended family and my little brood of hellions were all sitting around the table munching our meal quietly. Suddenly in the silence between bites, my 5-year-old son blurted out, “You know what my daddy does sometimes? He sticks his hand up my mama’s dress.”

Utensils fell among snickers, gasps, and coughing ………

While I waited for all the blood that had rushed to my face to retreat to its proper place in my body, I choked down a mouthful of turkey and tried to regain my composure. I thought, “Why did he say that? And why now?”

All I could do is remind myself,  “Someday the purpose for this embarrassing moment will be made crystal clear ……….. someday ……..someday.”

Maybe that day is today.

Here’s the interesting part of this story – what my son said was true. However, the information was completely misunderstood because no one in the room, other than my immediate family, knew where that vision in his head originated. Here’s what really happened:

It was a typical Saturday morning in the Claxton family living room. The kids were running around playing or watching TV. Jane, my wife, was standing on a chair, changing a light bulb in the ceiling fan and yes ……….. she was wearing a dress, a long calf-length dress. I, being the prankster that I am, sneaked up behind her, slipped my hand up the hem of her dress and tickled her legs. She squealed and we all laughed – end of story …….. until that infamous Thanksgiving dinner. Obviously the prank stuck firmly in my young son’s mind.

Word of warning – don’t do or say anything in front of a child that you don’t want made public!

Just because something is true doesn’t mean that it bears repeating. My son didn’t mean to embarrass his parents nor did he think the comment was out of place. He was just trying to lighten the mood with a funny story. He lacked the wisdom and restraint to know that his statement would be misconstrued.

The point – telling the truth, even if done in earnestness, can backfire and splatter turkey and dressing all over your face if not presented in the proper context.

Romans 16:17-19 (ESV)

17 I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. 18 For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive. 19 For your obedience is known to all, so that I rejoice over you, but I want you to be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil.

Telling the truth without proper context is not actually the truth….. even the truth can be abused and manipulated.

The phrase interpreted smooth talk comes from chréstologia, two Greek words combined –

  • xrēstós – describes what God defines is kind and eternally useful!
  • légō – to come to a conclusion

In layman’s terms, Paul was writing about a person who has taken something that under normal circumstances is true, kind, eternally good, and useful and manipulated it for his own benefit. He has presented it out of context or left out important facts causing you to come to the wrong conclusion. That is a misrepresentation of the truth. If caught, such a person might respond, “Hey, I was telling the truth!” Yeah, but didn’t tell the whole truth, just your version of it. That’s deceitful! The apostle warns us to watch out for these kinds of people. Unfortunately, the warning wouldn’t be necessary if the problem didn’t exist.

These are some of the last words included in Paul’s letter to the Romans. The appeal is to use good judgment in how you listen, being careful not to believe everything you hear ………. sometimes vital facts are left unspoken.

I want you to be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil.

 Excellent advice from Paul. Excellent advice ……..

Have a mug full of something hot and tasty and let’s get our day off to a good start!

All verse quotes courtesy of biblegateway.com

Dasaschroof!!

17 Sunday May 2015

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grace

Dasaschroof!!! – Code word for “That’s the truth!”

I know I write a lot about personal failure. That’s because it’s a common theme that never goes away. The greatest thing about failure is grace ……… God’s grace. He never gets tired or bored with my incompetence. He just keeps dishing out more grace, day after day…….

And Dasaschroof!!!