General topics / Randy’s family

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I Thought I Left This Behind In Texas!

Those of you who know me well at all know that I have generally very positive memories of Texas and our five years of life there. It is a place of many fond memories during a unique period of our lives (from 78-83).

There were, however, several things about Texas that I was pleased to leave behind: extreme heat, insects, and tornadoes.

Well….. after the summer of 2011, there is not a lot of temperature/comfort difference between living in Maryland and living in Texas. And bugs? Well, Texas still has the larger number of varieties – including those well-named, nasty biting little fire ants – but the stink bug thing is beyond any entomological experience in the Lone Star State.

So, tornadoes! Surely life in Maryland is safer than Texas in terms of escaping the most dangerous of storms! I remember a good old boy in Texas telling me that there only seemed to be more tornadoes there because the state was simply so big. Maybe he was correct, to some extent.

According to Weather.com, Maryland is (counting tornadoes per square miles of land mass) the 3rd most likely state to be hit by a tornado! Florida was #1, and of course (as we all know from the Wizard of Oz) Kansas was close behind … and then we in Maryland are #3!!  The remainder of the top 10 was, in order: Illinois, Mississippi, Iowa, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Alabama, and Louisiana.

Maryland is the ninth smallest state in the nation, but it’s the fifth largest when it comes to population density. And it is our location between the ocean and the mountains that sets up conditions conducive for violent thunder storms.

Texas didn’t even make the list and didn’t even get mentioned as an “also-ran!”

With earthquakes now also, this is a dangerous place!  (Without even taking into account the actions of the Maryland State Legislature!)

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My Landscaper Son

Those who are local and more tuned into the Buchman family comings and goings know about my son Benjamin and his business called Maryland Regional Landscaping. Today and tomorrow are annual days that he sets up a display at the Hagerstown Flower and Garden Show – held at the Community College field house. Literally thousands of people attend this event, and it is an opportunity for Ben to initiate conversations with potential clients for landscaping or hardscape designs.

Ben really is very creative. And as many of you know, he did graduate from the University of Maryland’s Institute for Applied Agriculture – majoring in landscape design. I have had several of the nursery supply types of people in town tell me that he is a unique blend of botanical knowledge of the plant material with an unusual eye for the artistic side of it … that many are one or the other, but not both. He does nice work, without doubt. People tell me that all of the time; but of course, actually making a profit in a business that is so intensive with trucks and equipment and insurance and all else (in Maryland!) is the challenge.

I’ve begun a sort of web page for his business as a way of helping him out – to give him a web presence and to post some pictures, etc. It is still new, but I’d invite you to look at it if you can:  http://www.benbuchman.com

And if you know of anyone needing a landscaper … well … give the boy a call!

It is interesting to look back over the past 30 years (Nathan will be 30 on 4/24) and think about the boys’ earlier lives and now the careers they are following:

Nathan – who has franchised now a total of 12 stores of the company he began called Potomac Bead Company – When he was a little boy, he was always wanting to sell things to people … like extra tomatoes from our garden. He would set up a table at the end of the driveway, and before long they were gone!

Benjamin – was always digging in the dirt and planting things … and was the one most interested in gardens and how things grew.

Aaron – now a structural engineer – As a little boy, he was the one who would take whatever materials were around the garage and back yard and put them together in the elaborate construction of a fort.

I’m still not sure about the final two! Jesse was always the super-competitive one (yelling at the other kids in tee-ball for not paying attention and getting the other team out!) … and now he has been asked by the Dan Bongino for Senate campaign to write for them! So, politics?

Caleb??  He might be an actor! He can imitate ANYONE!

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A Wise Guy Chicken!

I believe I have a totally defiant chicken.

Surely they know I’m watching them and counting how many eggs they lay per day. We have 20 hens … so, I expect at least 17 or 18 eggs per day. There is not much room for slacking off!  I think we’ve only hit 20 a day on three occasions. So that tells me that everyone is capable, but that some days, somebody is holding out and being lazy.

And one of these chickens must have a sense of humor also, saying, “So, he wants to see an egg every day … OK, I’ll give him one that he can count on his official list ……”

 

UPDATE – this is a week later than everything posted above …

So, while feeding the chickens one day this week, I had a little talk with them (they didn’t say much back). I spoke to them about the importance of “continuance of effort” … that really, they only had one job per day to perform, though I was thankful for any stinkbugs that they ingested. And, I just casually threw out there the question about what type of soup them liked … and mentioned that chicken noodle was hard to beat for most folks.

Well, I think it had a positive effect, as can be seen from the picture below …

 

 

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There Really is Something in There!

There is a 13-year gap from our oldest to our youngest of five boys. So even though we have a couple of grandchildren, it is not really that long ago that we had little ones in the house. Along with also not being people to throw things away quickly, we still have quite a lot of the toys from our kids that the grandchildren can now enjoy when visiting.

One item that Bella (32 months old) really enjoys for some reason is a toy camera. In a way, it is odd that she actually understands it is a camera, as it is an old instamatic style with a “flash cube” that turns 90 degrees when you “take” a picture. If you look inside one of the holes, there are actually circulating pictures of different wild animals.

Bella does not seem to understand that there really are pictures of animals in there! Closing one eye is a serious kid challenge! We will say, “Look in here and you can see a picture of a bear” … and there really is.  But she thinks we are just pretending, and so plays along by saying, “No, I see a snake.”

A lot of folks are like that about faith. They play along with church and learning about the Bible and its teachings. Of course, these things are real and true. God has revealed Himself in Christ and the written Word, and many people play along like its real … not that they actually have considered it to be. But God’s work of redemption in this world through the life of Christ – this is the true reality.

March is here, the weather is warming, and the winds of Spring are blowing … we are headed toward Easter and the celebration of the central truth of the faith – the resurrection of Christ.

“If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. … If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.”

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Mr. Porkupinickuous, or, “With Friends Like This, Who Needs the Holy Spirit?”

Over my years as Pastor at Tri-State Fellowship, you may have occasionally heard me tell a story or two about a youth pastor named Mike Fen, whom I worked with at my previous New Jersey church. Actually, Mike spoke one time at TSF in my early years here, when at that time he worked for the missions research ministry called “Caleb Project.”

Mike remains a good friend. He is from Nebraska, went to the University of Texas and Dallas Seminary, was a youth pastor with me in NJ, and since then has served in a variety of ways in Colorado.

Mike and I have together been to war and back (a long story of navigating a church difficulty I am certainly never going to write about online!!). There is nothing we cannot say to the other! He always teases me about my NJ roots and Eastern accent, but he is more aggressive and confrontational than I am! That is why he has the name of Mr. Porkupinickuous!

Oh, you say you’ve never heard that word? Probably not, because he and I coined it. Back in our days together in the early 90s, one day when telling the alumni director of our seminary (Dallas) about whom was working with me, he said, “Yes, I remember him; he’s a bit like a fellow walking around in a crowd with an open umbrella that sort of pokes people in the eye here and there!”  So, the idea of poking people sort of caught on … and then it morphed into the idea of being like a porcupine … and finally, it took form as an adjective – “porky” … but it seemed it needed to sound more formal than that and also not be confused with just being obese – so it turned into the wonderful word “porkupinickuous.”  The actual formal dictionary definition is “to have or express thoughts, attitudes, or actions that pertain to feelings not dissimilar to a close encounter with a porcupine.”  You get the idea!

So, true to form, when Mike calls – as he did tonight – within minutes of a few perfunctory questions about how I am, he quickly cuts through any smokescreens, whines, rants, carnal attitudes or general crap, and with the gentle touch of a 20-pound sledge points out whatever is lacking in perfect godliness!  With a friend like this, who needs the Holy Spirit?

The truth?  Two things …

1.  Everyone needs a friend or two like this. The praise of such is applauded by a smart guy named Solomon who said, “Better is open rebuke than hidden love. Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses.”

2.  Though there is a lesson in this blog post, I wrote it to see if Mike will actually follow through and read this blog as I suggested, and prove that he has by leaving a comment. How about it – you porkupinickous scagpants shrub?

 

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Pastors Facing Death

My eyes came across two articles this week about two pastors facing death – both likely dying soon from two very different circumstances in two very different corners of the world.

One is the story of a rather well-known pastor of an American mega-church, the other a largely unknown Christian leader of a house church network in Iran.

The former is dying from a long-term battle with ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease), the latter appears to have lost the battle with the Khameni cleric-driven regime of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Pastor Ed Dobson of Calvary Church of Grand Rapids was diagnosed with ALS and given 3-5 years to live; that was 11 years ago. As the disease has worsened, the former executive with the Evangelical political action group Moral Majority has had to step away from his leadership and preaching at the 5,000-member congregation. What ministry work he is able to still provide is most often performed in 1-on-1 settings of helping others facing similar crises. Along the way, Dobson has also taught extensively through a series of videos that have been produced – as this spiritual leader who taught people so well about how to live, teaches now about how to die as a part of the walk of a pilgrim in the faith.

Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani was first convicted of apostasy in November 2010. He appealed this charge to the level of the Iranian Supreme Court – all without release. Nadarkhani has refused to recant his beliefs and to recognize Muhammad as his savior. The word leaking from Iran this past week is that a final execution order had been issued. The general pattern is that when this sort of thing happens, the accused basically disappears and no word is heard about them again.

For those of us who have our settled faith in Jesus Christ, the Scriptures teach that “…we always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body.”

Christ himself said of our prospective life of following him… “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.”

Even as we live, we are dying creatures – our lives a daily testament of a larger and eternal perspective. This is the end game toward which we live and move and invest … yes “invest.”

It was interesting to hear Dobson say that it was always his thought that if he were to face something terminal, THEN he would really read Scripture a lot and pray a lot. But his immediate experience (though not lasting) was just the opposite – he was overwhelmed with the circumstances of his immediate experience.

The time to prepare and “invest” for terminal experiences is now. To do otherwise would be like saying, “If I ever face a devastating financial setback, THEN I’ll start really working and really saving money!” That may help, but better to invest well in advance.

We never know when the doctor’s report may give us the devastating news we have seen myriads of others receive, and then live and die through – folks no better than us in any way. Though we do not have the immediate personalized threats against our faith as is the sad experience today in Iran, as one would read the anti-Christian vitriol of comments under both these stories, such is not as outlandish as it maybe once appeared. But whatever, the Scriptures remain true in the teaching …“I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.”

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50 Years Ago Today … John Glenn in Orbit

I remember well this day 50 years ago when John Glenn was the first to orbit the earth. The space programs along with everything about astronomy were fascinating subjects to me as a kid – my parents thought for sure that I was headed toward science as a career. I even ordered all the optics from a catalogue and built my own telescope – doing the math on the focal length of the reflecting mirror to cut the tube to the appropriate length, along with the location of the hole for the lens holder. It worked – it still does as I yet have the thing. But, high school science classes did not generally agree with me (nor did many other classes if the truth be told – I was not a very good student before my college years).

My primary memory of this day in 1962 was being rushed out of my 1st grade class and into the next room, the location of the only working television in the whole school. Every grade of students were there to watch the launch in fabulous black and white!

It is amazing now to think that 50 years later the space program is essentially shutting down. I understand the economics, but it is very sad. The space program was one of the few government programs that produced a lot of bang for the buck – with spin-off products that have positively impacted everyday life.

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Civil War Blog Directions …

Today in the sermon I referenced some fantastic quotes from men who died at the Battle of Antietam. These are men with a sold-out passion for a cause.

I mentioned my friend John Banks who works for ESPN, but who has a great interest with me in the Civil War. His long-established blog honors particularly men from Connecticut where he now lives – as John strives to enshrine the memory of those who gave the ultimate sacrifice upon the altar of freedom.

Here is his blog address: http://john-banks.blogspot.com/2012/02/antietam-connecticuts-civil-war.html

And here is mine: www.enfiladinglines.com

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In the Good Ole Days

Apparently back some decades ago in the good old days (that weren’t really so good), pastors were partially paid by congregations with such things as vegetables, chickens, beef, bread – along with living in the church parsonage. In fact, as recently as when I was growing up, I recall the pastor’s wife of my home church explaining to me why they never locked the door to their house. She said, “We don’t want to lock out anyone who might be coming to give us something while we are gone!”  Indeed, I remember as a teenager being sent to the parsonage with an extra bunch of processed vegetables from the garden – in order to put them in their freezer. And sure enough, none of the pastor’s family was home, so I just walked in and did it anyhow!

I am NOT advocating we go back to the old days. I’m quite happy with my quarter-million dollar salary… it’s all good!   (insert smiley face here)

However, I will give any of YOU one dozen farm fresh brown eggs from our farm in exchange for one dozen egg boxes – holding a dozen eggs, or even 1.5 dozen eggs. How’s that for a deal?!?

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He Occupied Europe – A Tribute

As most of you know, I was a pastor in New Jersey before coming to Maryland in 1994. Among my congregants there were a number of World War 2 veterans. One of my last actions as pastor in that church — two weeks before coming to Hagerstown —  was to honor these men in a service, upon the occasion of the 50th anniversary of D-Day. Each of them told their story of where they were at the time, and each of them were thankful for surviving – as none of them knew Christ when younger men. They had some pretty amazing stories of survival. It was an incredible Sunday morning of testimony of God’s grace and provision.

One of these men died this week at the age of 95.

Dick Richards was in Company C, 395th Infantry Regiment, 99th Infantry Division. Just into Germany near the end of the Battle of the Bulge, as a field officer, he went around from foxhole to foxhole one evening to check on all his men. He had returned to his own to settle down for the evening – which he told me was an especially good and comfortably dug-out hole – lit a cigarette (his last ever!), and a mortar shell landed in the hole with him. It blew off about half of his face and jaw. The Germans had been watching him, correctly surmised he was an officer, and chose him as a target. Dick was evacuated quickly, and over a long period of months (and I believe several years) underwent quite a number of reconstructive surgeries. Though the scars would never all go away, and though his speech was a bit difficult and garbled, his recovery was rather amazing.

Dick was awarded the Purple Heart and two Bronze Stars for meritorious achievement. His unit was among the best. Though outnumbered by the Germans 5-1, they inflicted casualties at a ratio of 20-1.

I met Dick a long time after the War. He served on some of our church boards and was a faithful attender. Definitely an “earthy” and “folksy” sort of a guy, he had an apple orchard on his property. I always enjoyed visiting him and hearing his stories and receiving his good common sense encouragement. I was a young, young pastor at the time, and Dick was a real blessing to me.

We should be grateful for the service of these warriors and patriots – who fought huge enemies, and won!  I had to laugh at a cartoon I saw recently — of an old man with a cane looking at an occupy freak and saying, “that’s funny, when I was your age I occupied Europe!”