Still Grateful

On March 23, 2015, I posted a song that I had written titled "I Am Grateful." I sent a link to my friend M L Daniels, who is an outstanding composer. He volunteered to help me make the song into something of better quality. We have been working on it since then, and now we are finished. He mainly kept my melody, but he reworked the harmony and some of the rhythm. I think you will agree that he is a very good composer based on what he did with my feeble effort. I had to rework the words also, and I am pleased with it now.

What I am now trying to do is use this work as a new spiritual discipline. Many of us use meal time as a reminder to pray. Now I am wanting to use the greeting, "How are you?" as a reminder to reflect  from a spiritual point of view, and remember again the things that are important in life.

I don't know how to attach the mp3 file that M L has made of the song, so if you want to hear a string version of the song, then contact me and I will send it to you. I can send it as an attachment to an e-mail. I might be able to attach it to a text, but I am not sure.

I pray that God will bless the use of this song.

I Am Grateful

Here is a song that I have been working on for quite some time. You may know that when people ask me, "How are you?" I like to respond with , "I am grateful." I decided that I needed to put into words my reasoning behind that answer. Here is the result.

More than anything, this is a way to document that this song was written by me. But if you find it useful, then you may feel free to use it. All I ask is that you give me credit if you use the song in any way except for personal reflection. Thanks. May God be praised. God is good, all the time.

Big Announcement

Because of the options we are being presented currently in our great United States of America, I have finally decided to make the following announcement. I am now running for the office of President of the United States of America.

I make you the following promises. I will not disguise my long-held positions with smoke screens to hide what I really stand for, and I will not waffle. All national issues will play second fiddle to the following four planks in my official political platform.

Official Political Platform:

*  No more changing our clocks. If people need more time to "play" during the summer, let them work it out with their employers.
*  We will switch completely to the metric system. No longer will any switching to larger or smaller measurements of the same quantity involve numbers such as 212, 32, 36, 1760, 5280, etc.
*  We will legislate away the concept of percents. The presence of calculators makes the confusing practice of multiplication or division by 100 no longer necessary. Instead of measuring per hundred, we will measure per unit. This will save about two years of mathematics instruction for our children, and we will no longer have to endure someone claiming to give 110% of themselves.
*  We will legislate a plural for "you" in the English language, and it will be "yall." There will be no apostrophes in "yall" and "yall all" will be illegal, because it will be redundant.

I hope I cannot count on your vote.

A Short Story

The internet is a place where anyone can publish, even without a peer review. I have written a short story, and I am choosing to publish it here. I am interested in your feedback.

The Firing Squad

By Bo Green

February, 2012

Jeroica was a small, third world nation ruled by a dictator. One of the first decrees of the original dictator of Jeroica was to put on record a law stating that any citizen of his country who openly professed to be a Christian should be executed by a firing squad. This dictator’s heirs continued to rule the nation and still enforced the anti-Christian law.

Two boys lived in the city of Heron in Jeroica. They were born in the same neighborhood and went to the same schools. Cruce was two years older than Ferno, and although they played together only occasionally, Ferno idolized Cruce and wanted to be like him. Cruce was a good student and a good athlete, so Ferno studied as hard as he could to try to match Cruce’s grades and practiced to be an athlete like Cruce.

When young men graduated from school in Jeroica, they were conscripted to serve in the national army for four years. But when Cruce graduated from school, because of his high academic achievement, he was given the opportunity to travel to Buenos Aires to attend a respected university at his government’s expense instead of serving in the army. Cruce was targeted to be a future leader for his country, so he studied government and business, graduating with honors.

But during Cruce’s stay in Argentina, he changed; he became a Christian. Cruce considered not returning to Jeroica, but believed that he had a duty to return because the government had invested much money in him. So Cruce returned, hoping that the law against being a Christian had been repealed during his absence. It had not and he was forced to decide whether to hide his Christianity or to speak out about his new life. He had found an inexplicable joy in his conversion to Christianity and that joy bubbled up within him. People who knew him saw a difference in him, and asked him what had happened to him. So Cruce began to cautiously try to explain his new life. After only seven months back in his homeland, soldiers came to his home and arrested him. There was a perfunctory trial and Cruce was sentenced to be executed by a firing squad.

A firing squad consisted of five members of the army who were chosen from among the soldiers who had exhibited exemplary service in the army. It was an honor to be chosen for a firing squad. For Cruce’s execution, Ferno was one of the chosen. However, there was a bit of turmoil when the members of the firing squad were announced. A young soldier named Galin was fervent in his hatred of Christians. He even bragged to his buddies that if he were chosen to help execute a Christian, he would be sure to shoot right before the others so that he could have the honor of being the one who really killed the Christian. Galin was not chosen for the firing squad, however, and so he tried to bribe the ones chosen to let him take their place. No one did.

When the day of the execution arrived, the firing squad took their positions and Cruce was led out of his cell to stand in front of a white stone wall. The one being executed by firing squad had the option of wearing a hood or not, and Cruce chose not to wear a hood. At the moment Cruce was led out, Ferno realized that the one he was to help execute was his boyhood idol. At first he wished that he had let Galin take his place on the squad, but it made his stomach churn to think of Galin actually enjoying killing his friend. He would rather do it himself than let Galin do it.

In Jeroica, it was the custom that all guns in the firing squad had bullets, so Ferno could not have assumed, to ease his conscience, that his gun did not put a bullet in Cruce. Ferno felt as if he was about to faint, and he watched Cruce intently. Cruce’s hands and feet were not tied; but since there were scores of armed soldiers around the arena where the execution was to occur, to attempt an escape would have been futile. Cruce stood calm and erect, slowly looking along the firing squad from right to left. When the countdown to fire began, Cruce’s face had a slight smile and he held out his arms so that his body formed the shape of a cross.

When Cruce raised his arms, Galin exploded. He ran from his position at the side of the arena shouting that no one being executed should be allowed to flaunt Christianity that way. After a few moments of confusion and furor, Galin obtained permission to stand beside Cruce and hold his arms down during the execution. So Galin squeezed Cruce’s arms to his side.

Ferno was incensed. He considered shooting at Galin instead of Cruce during the firing, but he was afraid to do it for fear of getting caught. But he knew everyone would be looking at the one being killed rather than the firing squad. So there was a chance he could deny shooting Galin and no one would know. His soul was conflicted. But as the countdown to fire started and Cruce struggled to raise his arms, Galin spit on Cruce, and yelled, “Make his blood spill on me! I want this Christian’s blood on me.” Ferno lost control, and when the order came to fire, he moved just enough to shoot at Galin.

When the guns fired, Galin fell dead and Cruce raised his arms back to where his body formed the shape of a cross. Realization of what had happened quickly enveloped the five members of the firing squad and they looked at each other with open mouths. Then they looked around the arena to see a host of rifles pointed at them. They meekly laid their rifles at their feet.

Later that day, six men were executed by firing squad. The first five had their heads covered with hoods. The last one did not wear a hood, but stood calm and erect, looking from one member of the firing squad to another with a slight smile on his face, and held out his arms out so that his body was in the shape of a cross.

Mother's Day Flowers, and Other News

In a very nice gesture, Be's three children cooperated in sending her some beautiful flowers for Mother's day.



I walked in the Abilene Relay for Life April 29. I walked 10 miles to reach my goal, and Be walked with me. We started the walk at about 7 pm and were home by midnight.



We took a few breaks during the walk. The longest break was for the Luminaria Ceremony. In this ceremony, white paper bags containing battery powered "candles" are placed entirely around the track and the lights in the stadium are turned off. Each sack has the name of a cancer survivor or someone who has died from cancer. It is quite sobering to see how many people have been touched by cancer. The sacks were about 1 to 2 feet apart all the way around the track. We sat in chairs behind my sack during the ceremony. It was very windy.



I was walking in an effort to raise money for the American Cancer Society. With very little effort on my part, several generous and kind people gave a total of $1070 in my honor. Because of that I was given a nice green T-shirt which I wore proudly for the last 10 laps. On the back of the shirt was written "$1000+".

Resignation

December 16, 2010

To the University Church of Christ Elders

It is taking more time to recover than I thought it would. Though my physical stamina is increasing rapidly, my emotional stamina is rebounding more slowly. There is no doubt in my mind that during the trials of my experiences in the last year and a half, God has given me eyes to better see when people are hurting and in spiritual pain. And I praise God and thank Him for such clearer vision. But with eyes to see comes a burden to act. It is this facet of my healing that is slower to recover. My mind is flooded with opportunities to serve, but my soul is not yet able to do the work required. Even small and simple tasks sometime seem an insurmountable challenge. The spirit is willing but the resolve is weak. Frequently my inner being experiences emotional overload followed by agonizing guilt. I am not “losing it.” Indeed, I am recovering, but it is taking longer than I would have liked. Additionally, certain family concerns have increased in the last few days that further complicate the issues that I am facing.

Therefore, to help facilitate my journey back to full spiritual vigor, I respectfully ask that I be relieved of my responsibilities as an elder of the University Church of Christ. I make this request with regret and humility. It is an honor for me to serve in this congregation of God’s people. But I need some relief from the burdens inherent in being an elder.

Please continue to pray for me, as I do for this eldership. I anticipate being increasingly able to serve vigorously in God’s work in the future. And I pray that you also will have increasing resolve and dedication in your service to the Master. May God bless us in His kingdom work.

Blood and Sin -- An Analogy

Why is the shedding of blood necessary for forgiveness? Did God just make a decision that blood was required for atonement, or is there some inherent truth that demands blood as an antidote for sin? The fact that sin is not a trifling matter is indicated by some of the words and phrases that are associated with salvation: redemption, atonement, sanctification, ransom, justification, righteousness, born again. The variety of words indicates a deep and obscure nature of one’s escape from the results of sin.

But blood seems to be an integral part of the salvation of humans from sin. Under the Old Covenant, the sacrifice of animals was prescribed in great detail, and animals were to be sacrificed many times a year. And not just any animal would suffice. It had to be the best available and was sometimes described as one “without blemish.” Additionally, the high priest of the Hebrews was to offer a special sacrifice in the section of the temple known as the Most Holy Place. The high priest was the only person who could enter this room and he could only enter once a year “and never without blood, which he offered for himself and for the sins the people had committed in ignorance.” (Heb. 9:7)

If we continue to read in the ninth and tenth chapters of the book of Hebrews, we observe that the annual offering by the high priest is a shadow of the sacrificial offering of the New Covenant. “Day after day every priest performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God. Since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool, because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.” Thus, in the New Covenant, the sacrifice of the blood of the Lamb of God is sufficient to atone for the sins of all, once for all time.

Now I propose an analogy based on a recent experience I have endured. Less than two years ago I was diagnosed with acute myelogenous leukemia (AML). Leukemia is a disease of the blood. We know that “life is in the blood.” (Lev. 17:11) With leukemia, cancerous cells in the bone marrow prevent a healthy production of blood. Because a sufficient amount of healthy blood cannot be produced, without medical intervention, the end result is death. For our analogy, think of cancer as “sin.” It is something not created to be in the body, is harmful to the body, and leads to death.

The main symptom I experienced as a result of the leukemia was severe anemia. My body did not have enough healthy blood. So I needed for people to donate blood for me. I was given blood transfusions to help keep my body working until the cancer could be brought under control. Think of the blood donations as sacrifices. Of course, donating blood does not cost one his life, but it does require giving some time, and having a rather large needle stuck in your arm for several minutes. In the course of my treatment, I needed blood transfusions time after time, never leading to a cure for the cancer. The blood also had to be from healthy people, not the weak and frail.

What was proposed as a way to bring the cancer in my body under control was multiple repeated rounds of chemotherapy. Think of chemotherapy in our analogy as human efforts to control the sin in our lives: perhaps like meditation, therapy, psychological analysis, self-mutilation, incarceration, or even religion. In my case, the chemotherapy brought me into remission, but it did not seem to be able to cure the cancer. In the case of the sin in my life, I may have the sin under control for a while, but the result of my sin is death. In both my physical life and my spiritual life, I need a cure; a once-for-all infusion of healing blood.

For the treatment of AML, there is now a wonderful treatment called a bone marrow stem cell transplant. My brother’s bone marrow was a match for mine and he was willing to “sacrifice” some of his blood for me. So along with enduring medical tests and having to take shots of powerful medicines for me, he went in to the hospital on two consecutive days, sat almost without moving for over four hours each day with large needles in both arms, and gave 5.3 million stem cells for me. But I also had a role to play in this treatment. In essence, I had to agree to die in order to receive his blood. The chemotherapy that would be given me would weaken or kill much of the bone marrow stem cells in my body. Enough would be killed that if I did not receive the new stem cells, I would die. The purpose of the new stem cells is to come into my body, see my stem cells as foreign and kill them. My cells would resist, but they would be so weakened by the chemotherapy that they could not stand up against the new healthy stem cells. So in theory, all the cancer in my body would be killed, and I would be cured.

Of course, the stem cell transplant procedure is risky. So I made a decision. I decided to believe that the process would cure me. From the time that I decided to allow my blood to die and until the transplant, I merely allowed the nurses to give me the chemotherapy, and at the appropriate time, to give me my brother’s stem cells. In the analogy, think of the receiving of the stem cells as being baptized. This is how I accepted the life-giving blood given by my brother. How ridiculous would it have been for me to say that I believe that I can be cured by a stem cell transplant, and then not let the nurses give me the blood. The analogy is so strong here that it is common for the nurses to sing “happy birthday” to the recipients when the stem cells are infused. They think of a person as being born again, with new DNA in their blood system. The day of infusion is called day 0 and the “age” of the recipient of the transplant, and therefore the appropriate treatment, is measured from that day.

When I transfer my thoughts to the sin in my life, and in your life, I know that ALL of us are dying because of sin. For Jesus to give enough blood for all of us to be cured, it took all of His blood. He had to give his life for us all to be cured, that is, be saved. In my mind, it is a human miracle that I now have my brother’s blood keeping me healthy, and that I am free from cancer. But that miracle is nothing when compared to the miracle of new birth in Christ, free from the power of sin.

May God be praised by our words and by our deeds every day that we live sin free because of the sacrificial blood of Jesus. And may we never take salvation lightly.