Why I Love Snow

Why I Love Snow: Confessions of a snow-lover

People often tease me because I am always hoping for snow, large amounts of snow.  I joke about the days of the week that I want snow and the days that I don’t.  Generally, I prefer snow to fall around my church schedule.  So I like snow after Sunday afternoon and before Wednesday, and/or Wednesday evening through Saturday morning.  The latter is my favorite because Fridays are my day off. 

Not complaining or bragging, but I am a very busy person, like many of you.  I like to accomplish things, lots of things.  Some say that I am “over involved”, and that may be true.  My life’s work is primarily sedentary.  In other words, I often sit and a desk or sit in a car.  Although I try to exercise often, my busyness often prevents me from it.

I enjoy snow.  I like to play in it.  I like tubing and sledding.  I like to walk my dog in it.  I like to spend time with my grandchildren outside in the snow.  Hey, I will play in the snow with anyone with the energy to go out.  I don’t like cold, so I bundle up A LOT!! 

Most of the time, when it snows, I have work to do.  Snow doesn’t prevent me from working on the computer, making phone calls, caring for people, doing administrative work or preparing sermons or Bible studies.  I don’t often get to STOP and enjoy the snow anymore. 

Some say that I think too much. Well, recently, I have thought a lot about why I like snow.  There are at least two reasons that I desire snow, often and in large amounts.  The first is snow shoveling.  It is not that I love to shovel as much as I appreciate the benefits that come from it: exercise, solitude, dog-time.  When it snows, I don’t have a choice, so I can’t feel guilty for doing it.  It takes about an hour to clear my driveway.  Because of my schedule, it is important to clear the driveway in case I need to go out for ministry or emergency reasons.  I can count on shoveling to give me an hour or more of solitude, working my muscles and relaxing my mind while I listen to music.  I like to shovel for the challenge of it.  At 56 years old, I realize that there is coming a time when I won’t be able to physically do as much as I do now.  I also like the results – both cardio and strength exercise.  I get to work out – I have to work out.  And I enjoy it.  My dog is ALWAYS outside with me when I shovel.  She brings the stick to the fence for me to throw for her every time I pass by her.  Good times with the dog. 

The second reason that I enjoy snow doesn’t occur every time it snows.  In fact, it seldom occurs.  In order for me to truly enjoy snow, it has to be timed correctly and it has to be significant volume over a period of time.  A heavy snow fall is a reason (some say an excuse) to stop, to just stop everything, to stay home, to not work, to sleep in, to read and sip tea, to spend time with family.  I would not always want to sleep in and “lay around” but once or twice a winter for a day or two is nice. 

I LOVE SNOW!  I hope that I always will.  For those of you that don’t, that’s okay – snow around here is always temporary.

-Ken Claflin

As I was dining with my wife of 34 years, we saw this sign.  As we discussed the message, I began to see that each line had a subtle second meaning.  Seven statements are made here, and on the surface, I could agree with all of them except maybe the last one.  However, this sign means a lot more than it is saying.  Don’t be deceived.

There is no question that “black lives matter.” They matter, but no more and no less than any other lives. This mantra arose from the misjustice experienced by black people around our nation.  Black people should not be discriminated against; they should be treated fairly; they should receive justice.  But is this statement calling for special treatment?  I’m not sure, but I do know that in the USA, all people are created equal and should be treated as such.  On the other hand, the BLM movement is not in favor of all black people.  According to the Black Lives Matter website, this is who they care about:  “We affirm the lives of Black queer and trans folks, disabled folks, undocumented folks, folks with records, women, and all Black lives along the gender spectrum. Our network centers those who have been marginalized within Black liberation movements.”  They are only interested in certain black lives, not all black lives.

“No human is illegal.”  That is also true.  People are neither legal or illegal.  However, some people commit illegal acts.  The second meaning behind this statement is referencing illegal aliens or immigrants.  This is a subtle support for people illegally entering this country.  Personally, I am not in favor of deporting illegal immigrants; instead, I think we should make it easier for people to enter this country.  There should be consequences for breaking the law, but we need to change the laws to allow people to immigrate to this great nation.

“Love is love.”  Of course it is.  What else could it be?  The subtle message?  This is a support for the LGBTQ community.  The claim is that individuals should be free to express their love for same sex partners the way that heterosexual couples do.  I don’t have an objection to people loving people, but as a Bible believing Christian, I think that sexual intimacy should be between a husband and a wife.  Before you argue, remember that there are many “socially unacceptable” and “politically incorrect” expressions of “sexual love”.  Is it okay for a loving parent to have sex with a child?  Is it okay for a person to have sex with someone forced into prostitution (from the human trafficked sex trade)?  Is it okay for a loving pet owner to have sex with an animal?  The “rules” for sexual expression are governed by laws.  Laws are governed by the “will of the people”.  Same-sex relationships used to be considered wrong in our culture but it has recently changed.  I prefer the older values.  But my question is how far will the change go?  Will a future USA legalize pedophilia, bestiality, human trafficking and prostitution?  We’ll see.

“Women’s rights are human rights.”  Once again, I fully agree with the statement, until you take it to mean that women’s human rights trump the rights of unborn human rights.  If women’s rights are human rights, it stands to reason that man’s rights are human rights and that an unborn human has rights too.  Our culture has a double standard.  We propose that a woman should have the right to kill and remove an unborn baby because it is in her body.  But then we also prevent any human from selling their organs for organ donation. It is legal for a woman to terminate a pregnancy, but it is illegal for her to sell her extra kidney to someone who might die without it.  Isn’t that her body too?  This is a double standard.

“Science is real.”  Implied here is some kind of insinuation that God is not real.  It is not obvious, but it is here.  For honest and objective people, science and the Bible do not disagree.  Science is real, but it doesn’t have all the answers.  In fact, science has more questions than answers.  Science is real, AND God is real.

“Be kind to all” may be a reference to vegetarianism.  “All” probably implies animals in addition to people.  I agree that we should be kind to all people and to all animals.  But it is okay to humanely harvest animals for food.  Remember that hunting is actually necessary to manage wildlife populations.

Injustice can be localized.  Injustice in a far away country does not affect justice here.  I agree with the intent but not the statement.  The intent is that we should be concerned about injustice everywhere, and I agree.  But our concern should not be selfish – I will fight injustice there because I am afraid that it will come here!  Instead, we should care about our “fellowman” and assist where we can.

So, do not believe everything you read.  Think.  Ask questions.  And as it says in Romans 14, “Be convinced in your own mind.”

A Day in the Life of a Pastor

Somebody asked me yesterday, “Do you have a job or are you just a pastor?”  Funny question.  Others tease me saying that I work two hours per week, one on Sunday and one on Wednesday.  What does a pastor do?  Have you ever wondered?  In the ministry, there is no such thing as a typical day.  Days vary and you never know what might happen.  Let me tell you about my day yesterday.

Yesterday started at 5 AM when I got up to take my mother to the airport.  She was here visiting for a week.  While she was here, I “took the week off” for vacation.  I tried not to go the office more than once a day.  Anyway, as a pastor, I also have a personal life, so I took my mom to the airport.  Afterwards, I grabbed breakfast and returned home. I took a quick nap before going into the office.   

By 9:30 AM, I was in the office.  Most office days start with a conversation with my secretary if it is a day that she is in the office.  I “unload” some tasks on her and she brings me up to speed on some things.  Turns out, she is having computer trouble.  I put my “computer tech” hat on and take a look at her computer.  After a quick call to my son who is in the computer business for advice, I fix her computer.  I wasn’t quite done when someone stops by the office to see me.  We discuss a variety of things including current events and a passage of Scripture that he has been studying.  As he is ready to go, another parishioner pops his head in to say hello.  He had come by earlier and was praying here at the church.  He was done but didn’t have time for a long chat because he was on his way to work.  After that, I am reminded that there is still something wrong with the computer.  I finish the last piece.

Alone in my office, I pray and read a variety of Scriptures, contemplating my sermon message for Sunday.  I try to start my sermon, at least choose a text, on Tuesday.  We have been doing a series from Philippians, but there is something else on my heart.  It needs more prayer.  At the same time, I am returning text messages and I think one phone call – I don’t recall. 

My wife dropped by just to tell me that she was on her way to pick up the grandkids.  I must have missed her call or text.

Next, I review the church calendar for next month.  At the same time, I look forward at several months events.

I have lunch plans – someone needs help digging a hole.  It’s an usual request but it is important.  I loaded my shovels (short and long handle) in the pickup before I left for the office this morning.  I run to the local pizza place, get to slices and a Coke, and drive to a friend’s house.  After the hole is dug, I grab an ice cream cone on my way back to the office.  It took longer than a normal lunch. 

Back in the office, I try to get a few more things done before I have to teach karate at 6 PM.  Usually on Tuesdays, I snack before karate and eat dinner afterwards.  I reply to some emails, one resulting in a phone call.  Second phone call.  Running out of time.  I eat a fig bar and rush home to put my karate uniform on.  No one shows up for the 6 o’clock class (first one since the pandemic), so I return to the office and work on something for 30 minutes.  Before 7, I return to the karate room.  Good showing for 7 o’clock class.

Karate ends at 8 PM, and I go back to the office.  First I return a text message about a church appointment next week.  We go back and forth and finally set a date and time.  Next, I check in with a group leader from another church about a group event that we are doing together.  Both of those are done, so I’m headed home after 8:30 PM.

Time to build a fire in the backyard.  The grandkids are here (I finally get to spend some time with them) as well as another guest.  We do smores and hotdogs.  The fire starts to die down, so we pack things up and head into the house.

My wife gets the grandkids settled into bed on the couch and starts to watch a movie with them.  I go downstairs, open up my computer and start working on tomorrow’s Bible study.  I don’t know what interruptions to expect on Wednesday, so I want to get a good start on it tonight.  According to the computer, I started at 9:47 PM and finished at 11:44 PM.  During that time, my wife lets me know that the grandkids are asleep and that she is going to bed.  Before leaving, my wife shares what God had put on her heart to share with the ladies.  It is very similar to the message I am working on for Sunday, but I don’t say anything to her.  God is amazing.

Before going to bed, I like to plank – it’s an exercise.  I plank for two minutes and do a quick 10 pushups and head to bed.  (By the way, I did brush my teeth and pray with my wife.)

Every pastor is different.  Every day is different.  This is not a typical day because there is no such thing as a typical day.  I might have missed something, but you get the idea.

What is your day like?  Whatever it is, love God and love people – serve God and serve people.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! 

What does that even mean?  Is it a wish, a challenge or a statement of fact?  Well, we cannot assume that is a statement of fact.  It hasn’t happened yet, so how do we know that the new year will be a happy one?  The statement “Happy New Year” is a wish for those that give it, and it is a challenge to those that receive it.

How can we have a “happy year”?  I propose that the definition of a “happy year” would consist of a year where there are more “happy days” (not the old TV series) than unhappy days.  If that is the case, what will it take to make that happen? 

It comes down to how you spend your time.  What will you do with your time this year?  The year 2020 is a leap year, which means we all have 366 days.  That equates to 8784 hours.  If we sleep approximately 8 hours per night, we will all have 5,856 waking hours and 351,360 waking minutes.

What will you do with your hours and minutes this year?  How will you spend them?  First, let’s talk about the difference between “spending” time and “wasting” time.  What is the difference?  The difference is the end result.  If you “spend” time, you gain something.  If you “waste” time, you gain nothing. (It is beyond the scope of this blog, but I would propose that most activities have some value, even if it is small and that few activities are actually a total waste of time.)

Some people criticize gamers for “wasting” their time.  Is gaming a waste?  What about playing cards or board games, are they a waste of time?  What about watching television or going to the movies?  Is entertainment a poor use of time?  The Bible says that exercise has “little value”, so does that mean that exercise is a waste of time?  (No, the Bible acknowledges that exercise has value on earth, just no value for eternity.  If you are in a hurry to reach eternity, don’t exercise.  LOL.)

Entertainment has some value.  However, like anything else, its value can be overestimated.  Some forms of entertainment have social value, encouraging people to spend quality time with each other.  Other forms of entertainment have health benefits (like sports).  Some are educational.  For all my gaming friends, research shows that there are many benefits to playing video games (cognitive benefits and others).

There are many ways to spend your time.  Read a book.  Research something that you are interested in.  Start a new hobby.  Find a fun way to exercise.  Pray.  Read the Bible.  Start a blog.  Spend time more time on social media.  Spend less time on social media.  Learn to cook (or learn to cook something new).  Travel.  Call someone.  Text someone.  Hang out with someone.  Volunteer somewhere (fire, EMS, hospital, animal shelter, Red Cross, etc).  Go shopping.  Clean something.  Build something.  Take a class. 

So the question is, will you have a “happy new year”?  I propose that it is up to you, and it comes down to how you spend your time.  We all have the same 5,856 waking hours in the new year. Whether we have a “happy” year or a “not happy” year will depend on the CHOICES we make.  As you consider how to spend your time, be sure to consider the benefits (and the costs).  Spend your time wisely, and you will have a happy new year!  The year 2020 can be better than 2019 but it is largely up to you.  Go for it!  Make this the best year ever!

“Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.” 2 Corinthians 9:6 (NIV)

At the end of this new year, will you look back and say, “I had a good year”?  It’s up to you.  Decide today.  Decide everyday.  Live this year with purpose and intent. 

Accept the Diversity - We don't all have to be the same.

The United States is all about diversity.  It always has been.

Some live in the North, some in the South, some in the East, some in the West.  Those geographical designations represent different subcultures of our great nation.  But there are even more variations of those.  There is the Pacific Northwest (where I'm from), the Deep South, the Northeast, the Mid-Atlantic, the Midwest and it goes on and on.

For a project in elementary school, I had to research my genealogy.  It turns out that I am Scottish, English, Norwegian, French-Canadian, Native American (Crow tribe), Pennsylvania Dutch and I can't remember what else.  The interesting part is that I am one quarter Norwegian and less of everything else, some measured in sixteenths and thirty-secondths. US Citizens and legal immigrants come from an even wider variety nationalities and ethnicities.

Many early settlers came to North America looking for religious freedom.  Today, there are Christians, Muslims and Atheists in the USA.  There are also Hindis, Buddhists, Wiccans and a whole lot more.  In the United States of America, we are free to practice our faith, as long as it doesn’t infringe on the rights of others, without fear of government interference.

Not everyone is going to agree.  But we don’t have to agree on everything to get along.  If fact, we only have to agree to obey the law to get along.  Any laws that we don’t like, we can work to get changed.

Nobody is exactly like me.  The good news is that you don’t have to be exactly like me to be my friend.  Most of my friends are different in several ways.  But we are still friends.  We still work together or train together or respond to emergencies together (I’m a volunteer firefighter) or compete in martial arts together or go to church together.

• I like to hunt, but I like people who either don’t like to hunt or are opposed to killing animals.
• I know vegetables are good for me, but I still don’t like how they taste.  I like red meat, my favorites (in order) being elk, bison, grass-fed beef, and venison.  I don’t like eating fish or seafood.  But lots of my friends enjoy seafood and some of them are vegetarian and even vegan.  We don’t have to eat the same foods to get along.
• I practice martial arts and believe in my right to defend myself.  I have friends that don’t agree.
• I am a happily married heterosexual man.  I have friends who are single or living with their partner unmarried and/or are gay or lesbian.
• I am a Pentecostal Christian.  I believe the Bible is true.  I have unbelieving friends.  I have several friends that don’t share my beliefs or morals.  They are still my friends.
• I believe in intelligent design, that God created the earth and all life on it.  I have friends that believe in the Theory of Evolution.  We sometimes discuss it but usually just agree to disagree.
• Politically, I would like to see a balanced national budget.  I would like politicians to get paid less and to use the same health care and retirement programs that the rest of us have. 

I firmly hold my beliefs.  Like my friends that have other views, we all believe that people should all be more like “me”.  But that is not the reality.  The reality is that some people will never change.  And there are some things about me that will never change.  On the other hand, I have changed some of my views over the years just like others.

So what am I saying?  Accept the reality that we all differ in some way.  We can all rally for our causes.  We can all stand for what we believe.  And we can do it without hurting each other; without insulting each other; without fighting each other.  If you want respect, give respect.

So, whether you voted for Trump or Clinton or one of the other choices, let’s work together to make this country what we want it to become.  Let’s work together.  Let’s communicate by speaking AND listening.  Let’s support each other personally even when we don’t support each other’s view.

Rick Warren said it better than I can when he said: “Our culture has accepted two huge lies. The first is that if you disagree with someone’s lifestyle, you must fear or hate them. The second is that to love someone means you agree with everything they believe or do. Both are nonsense. You don’t have to compromise convictions to be compassionate.”

I will close with the words of Jesus and the Apostles.

Jesus Christ said: “Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”  The Apostle Paul said: “Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law.”  The Apostle Peter said: “Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble.”  The Apostle John said: Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”

God be with you,

Ken Claflin

Memories of Dad

My dad often said he was tired, and he was because he always seemed to work long hours.  He was always busy.  But my dad was never TOO tired or TOO busy to help a neighbor or to come to the rescue of one of his children.  I remember going with Dad to help him tow a teenage neighbor’s car home where he fixed it.  The way Dad did it required two drivers, his Ford F-150 and sturdy chain.  My job was to ride the breaks all the way home.  Another time, he went to rescue my older brother and tow his car home.  Something bad had happened to the car on an old golf course.  Another memory was when a Christian school administrator called after dark reporting a broken down school bus. It was raining that night but Dad went anyway.

My Dad passed away ten years ago.  As I thanked God today for those memories, I realized that my Heavenly Father is not unlike my earthly Father.  Even though He is busy watching over more than 6 billion people, He always has time to hear my prayers and to speak to my heart.  He never tires.  He is always faithful and is always there for me.

I thank God for my earthly father, Roy Claflin, for the time he spent with me, for the example he lived before me, and for his love.  But I also thank God for my Heavenly Father, who loves me unconditionally, who never leaves me, and who always hears my cry.

In Psalm 68:5, God promised to be a “Father to the fatherless”.  Is He your Father?  The Apostle John said in John 1:12 “But to all who believed Jesus and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.”  If you believe on Jesus and accept Him as Lord and Savior, God will be your Father.  What are you waiting for?

pk

Heroes

“The godly people in the land are my true heroes!”  Psalm 16:3 (NLT)

We rightly claim that local law enforcement, firefighters, EMS and military personnel are heroes.  They are heroes, not because of a single act of heroism, but because they show up to work every day.  They are in the struggle day after day willing to face whatever may come.

Life is like that for all of us.  We never know what we will face as we start each new day.  As a believer in Jesus Christ, doing our best to live according to God’s will can be a struggle at times.  The Bible says that Jesus was tempted the same way we are but He never sinned.  We are not so fortunate; we sometimes fail to do the right thing.  But we don’t quit; we don’t give up; and that makes us the hero that the Psalmist describes.

Later in the same Psalm, it says, “I know the Lord is always with me.  I will not be shaken, for He is right beside me.”  Knowing that, we can face anything.

So rise and shine and give God the glory. Face the challenges of a new day.  Be a hero!

-pk

PS Stay warm out there.