Today…
As we celebrate Freedom and all that is included within it…

May you as a servant of God…
choose to indenture yourself to Christ and His Work.

Paul spoke often of being free to do whatever.

Yet he wrote more often of being a bondservant to His Lord.

As we are free in our lives and in our country
may we choose to be indentured to
The One Who paid for our longer lasting freedom.

 

Terry
July 4, 2016

 

A devotional I read today puts it perfectly.

I see many of you already doing this.
And doing it well.
I admire you for doing it.

You are doing well at a position I have never been in.

Raising your children.

I have assisted in raising stepchildren…
but I was never their father.

I was not the major influence.

You are.

Never allow anything, outside your wife, to interfere with that.

Your children need YOU.

The devotional spoke of how teenage boys do not do well in counseling.

It’s because they needed and need their Fathers.

I have heard this before…. odds are great that if a father doesn’t discipline his son, the state will most likely have to at some point.

Love them.
Discipline them.
For if you truly love them…
you will discipline them…
it’s an element of love.

Give them quantity of time.
Quality time makes no sense to a child.
They need quantity. Large quantities.

 

Quality time is rationalization by a lazy parent.

 

Treasure and train those who call you “Daddy”.

Understand what a blessing it must be to hear that word.

It’s a 20 year task and a lifelong responsibility.

Love them.
Lead them.
Guide them.
Instruct then.
Discipline them.
Be consistent in front of them.
Know they hear, remember, learn and act out everything you do and say.

Great rewards follow great effort.

 

Terry

July 2016

 

 

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He seemed to be about 6’4 to all of us. He seemed to never miss a shot. He walked the halls of Rosemont Junior High School in 1965 and 1966 with every young basketball players eyes following every move he made.

He had been undefeated in his first year at another school, came to Rosemont and won every game in his first year. He was a ninth grade basketball coach…yet to us he was as big as Phil Jackson was with the Bulls and Lakers.

We hung on every word he spoke.
And when he said to my friend,
Ricky Ford, who was a “Troy Aikman” in the eighth grade, that Ricky had caused him to lose his first game ever as a Coach…we all took it as though Moses had thrown the tablets down and broke them because of us.

After lunch each day everyone would walk out onto an open area next to the track just outside the Wood/Metal Shop area until 5th period started.

Coach White would walk out sometimes and literally hold court among us.

One day he came up to our group and began talking with us.
He looked at me and said,
“Terry, give me your hand.”

I lifted up my right hand to him, he took it in his two hands and in front of Ricky Ford, Eric Johnson, Rudy Lambert, Sherman Lee and Don Warren…
he began lifting my hand by my middle finger with his hand, and releasing it.

He did this three times.

As my wrist would flop down he again lift up my hand and let my wrist drop my hand.

He looked around the group.

As he held my hand still in the air,
he looked at me and said…
” Guys ….this is a shooters wrist.
It’s an NBA shooters wrist.”

That was said to me in the Fall of 1967 and I remember it as clearly as these keys I am now touching. I can tell you the sun was bright that day and we all looked at him with awe as he walked back toward the Gym.

I became a very good shooter.

I did not achieve the level he mentioned… but at the moment he spoke those words and for years after I felt like I might.

 

The words we speak to those younger or dependent on us carry 50 years or more of weight and significance.

 

I am still a very good shooter.

I do not play any longer because I do not want to try and do something my mind had committed to memory… but my body might have let slip.

My mind recalls what Coach White said to me often.
I also remember what another Coach once said to me which dripped of doubt and skepticism….but not very often.

What Coach White said has remained
an encouragement …not merely about my ” shooters wrist”….
but combines with other encouragements that have created the confidence that my Creator has allowed me to have.

Speak light.

Whether Bill White actually believed I possessed an NBA “shooters wrist” or not, is irrelevant.
Those words, and others from him,  hit the ears of a group of eighth graders and lifted all of us to a better place.

Of that group, I know three played major college athletics and one preached successfully for many years.

Speak life.

You can cause an effect to be present in a young life and be manifested in a variety of ways for over 50 years. To the positive or to the negative.

It is your choice.

Coach Whites words still resonated within me.

I still see him looking at me in the eyes and speaking.

I still feel his hands lifting up mine.

 

 

Terry
July 2016

 

 

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I am a biased person.

To say that out loud or to state that phrase on national television would immediately label me as intolerant and whatever type of “phobic” anyone could call me.

Webster has defined “bias” as a strong tendency toward an interest. It can be also a simple, consistent leaning toward something. 

Psychology Today magazine defines it as a tendency.

You have biases as well.

Mine are many.
I think vanilla ice cream is the best flavor of any.
I believe Italian food is the best.
Since I was about 12 years old and began playing basketball, I have loved and followed and pulled for The Los Angeles Lakers.
If you, in any way understand that, then you understand why I chose not to wear kelly green. I will not drink from a cup that is kelly green in color.

To me, Gods favorite color is sky blue.
French Toast is the best breakfast food, especially from DEMETRIS. However, I eat it not everyday because I do not desire to look like Jabba the Hut.

My favorite book in Gods Word is The Gospel of John.
I prefer the beach to any other form of vacation.
The Constitution is not an evolving, changing document.
We do not change the holiday celebrated on July 4 because it might be too hot.
Not to equate the two, but the Words inspired by God in His Document to us are good forever and, in fact, there is a warning not to change them or add to / subtract from them.
The Constitution was written by inspired men and it is to be interpreted from what THEY said… not to make up what their hidden meaning was or what modernity feels they meant to say, or what it should say today.

I prefer sunshine to rain.

Up until I met and then married a brown-haired Scottish girl … I thought dark-haired, dark eyed women were my preference.
No longer.
She surpasses every dark-haired female I have ever known.

A bias is a tendency….a preference.

Recent definitions subject to “political correctness”  have added that bias is a negative and that it is a judgement of intolerance toward another way of thinking. 

Sensitivity overload.

We were not created to all wear grey clothes and walk in lock step.

May God help us.

When we are born we are gifted with taste buds in particular areas of the tongue. The connection between those buds and our unique gift of a brain gives rise to what we foods and flavors we favor.

There are “filters” in our brain and talents and gifts placed within us at Conception which lead us to the biases we have. 

Some we grow into.

Some we have from “the jump”.

I hate no one.
I judge no one because they prefer chocolate over vanilla.
I like chocolate… but choose it seldom.
Why not eat the vanilla?

I judge no one because of my individual bias.

I may not agree.

But I will not discount that person or judge that person or be intolerant of that person choosing chocolate, or that they like the Celtics.

 

At the end of every conversation with Muslim, Hindu or Jewish cab drivers, I say the same thing.

I say that my prayer will be that both us will find Real Truth.

Some people demonize those unlike themselves or because the other person prefers blue and orange more than crimson.

That’s small mindedness.
That’s closed mindedness.

One need not judge others because of their preferences.

Because I enjoy the company of one person means not that I am judging or that I dislike, hate or am intolerant of another.

I love the Italian language.
Try to learn it.
Love to hear it spoken.

But I cannot be AS comfortable with the person who speaks only Italian as I can be with someone who speaks English with a tint of a Southern accent.
Because I cannot understand them

I do not hate Italy.
My favorite movie is MOONSTRUCK.
I would go visit Rome, Lake Cuomo or the Amalfi Coast tomorrow.

However, I prefer here.
I understand the language.

Be proud of the biases you possess.
Understand, they are preferences.

Never condemn one because they disagree with or condemn you. Or because they prefer something different than you.
It’s human nature to do that….yet, its in opposition to those Words given us by The Bibles Author.

Respect the biases of others.

Those are not judgements either.
As you consider them, one of their preferences might become one of yours.

Understand though that purple and gold are actually the colors in my family crest. For those without a positive sports bias…those are also the unifirm colors of my favorite team.

So…..

 

Terry Bethea
October 2017

 

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Are you in the “middle” of something uncomfortable right now?

Is there a behavior you are acting out which know is inconsistent with who you are?

Sometimes when we get involved in
certain things we get trapped in a past behavior or a level of self-defense and we fail to find the proper way out.

In these instances be careful to look for a doorway to exit…rather than burning the house down just to get out.

A dependable doorway is Galatians 5, which tells us about behaviors that get manifested when we walk outside of the leading of Gods Spirit.

It happens.

Aside from the obvious misbehaviors
like murder, adultery, witchcraft and heresies….
there are subtle ones that eat away at our lives and relationships.

Variance, wrath, strife and envy.
These are not immediately visible to the outside world…but an acid that will destroy your insides.

The first step in these subtle subversions is variance.

You at variance with anyone?

With God…?
With a co-worker…?
With your spouse…?

Variance manifested becomes strife.
Wrath can either precede or follow it.

Variance happens because of doubt, fear and lack of communication. Communication is more than you talking or spouting off….
communication requires more than one individual talking …
AND LISTENING.

If you are at variance with another person…there is doubt, fear and maybe misbehavior that causes it.

It could be the problem is not the other person…. that doubt, fear or misbehavior could lie within you.

Most variance issues arise out of SOMEONE  not abiding in the presence of God.

Being there brings those attributes against which there is no law…mentioned in verses 22 and 23 of Galatians 5.

Not being there brings the ones referred to in verses 19-20-21.

Be honest and without an agenda and look in the mirror …..and without accusation or defensiveness allow your self and your Spirit to tell you if you are operating from the presence that brings Peace, Goodness, Temperance, Joy.

Variance with wrong….is Right.

Variance outside of that is not.

Terry
June 2016

Walking down the street in Baltimore one day,
the air was pierced with the sudden, loud and alarming sound of an ambulance siren.

It was soon followed by another, and the comment was made,
” Something bad must have happened.”

When an ambulance rides with its lights pulsating and siren blaring,

It has every right of way it requires.

As a driver you are always instructed to move out of the way and give the emergency vehicle access to the road.

The thought is that the ambulance has someone inside, or a person they are going to rescue,  who requires immediate and emergency attentive care.

It may be a matter of life and death.

The thought came to me as I heard the sirens and watched the vehicles fly down the busy city street I was on….
those vehicles and the people in them were maybe going toward someone in a life/death situation.

Immediately, the thought moved to the Spiritual.

Do you know anyone at this moment whose life or marriage or spiritual condition is in need of an “ambulance” to blast it’s siren, get there quickly and rescue them???

There are 911 calls that go out…
In need of an ambulance …

if you are paying attention.

Read that again

The call may be coming from your teenager, from an adult child hurting quietly because their marriage is struggling,

it may be from a friend doubting their commitment to a marriage and making plans to leave.

The siren may be sounding for you….

to go after your Spouse who has insecurities suffers silently and is dying slowly inside.

It maybe from a friend or associate who you know is falling apart and away from their connections to Christ or at Church.

You may not be the “physician” who renders the help…

you may only need to be the “Andrew” in the situation.

You may simply need to get them TO the one who gives the help.

Andrew did not change anyone…

he simply brought them to Jesus.

Andrew “drove an ambulance”  that took his brother, Peter, to Christ.

Then, the change in Peter began after Jesus did the work.

I know of a marriage that was falling apart. Several people close to the couple paid attention, inserted themselves into the situation without worrying about hurting any feelings, and quietly but with determination, confronted the Spouse looking to leave.

These ambulance drivers saw the emergency, got to and into the situation and after a period of committed involvement….

the couple is on a road to recovering
their marriage.

That’s being an ambulance driver…..seeing an accident happening or getting a call,
sounding a siren to get involved…
going around several obstacles,
and giving life-saving assistance.

There are spiritual conditions which need to be gone after the same way.

There are young lives and marriages and friends who need to be gone after with the immediacy and urgency of an ambulance sirening its way through a crowded city street.

Someone you know has a 911 call going out.

Maybe that it’s YOU who needs to 911
a close friend ….
and get them to ambulance their way to rescue you.

It may not be dialed or spoken aloud.

Pay attention.

You have the capacity and most likely the opportunity to be the “driver of an ambulance” to go rescue someone.

If the driver of an ambulance worried about causing the people on the road ahead of them to be delayed….
he would not sound the siren that his ride had potentially life-saving implications.

When someone you know is in a similar spiritual, marital or physical condition….

let nothing keep you from getting to them.

Or from getting them to the help they need.

Drivers move out of the way of an ambulance because of a matter of precedence.

The emergency takes precedence over all else on the road.

There is an emergency SOMEWHERE

or with SOMEONE…

that you need to siren your way to.

Terry
June 2016

After jumping to catch the pass from Robert Miller, he spun left away from the defenders he felt close by.

Tucking the football under his right arm, he took off down the sidelines toward the goal line.

He saw two defensive backs taking an angle on him.

As he ran and knew the defender to his left would not catch him, he caught a glimpse of his Father across the field on the far sideline.

His father was hopping down that far sideline waving his right arm in a circular motion as a third base coach would do waving a runner home.

The boy looked back at the last defender, sped past him and had another thought.

He glimpsed one more time at his father across the field and said to himself, “when I cross the goal line I am tossing this ball into the air”.

As he crossed the goal,
he took the ball and with both hands tossed it up into the air in celebration.

The  “he”  was me.

This took place in Miami Springs on a Saturday….almost 53 years ago.

The picture is still crystal clear in my mind.

That momentary glimpse across the field, in the middle of the physical exertion of running, over 50 years ago …..
is frozen in my memory.

Call it parental encouragement,
call it living through his son,
call it whatever you prefer….

I remember my father jumping out of the spectator
and into the Coach.
He was not a coach on my team.

But at that moment he was the encouragement that might have sped me up a bit… and he for sure was the impetus to my wanting to toss the ball into the air.

At that moment, he was more into me and my performance than he was into his appearance.

And his action has stuck in my mind since 1963.

This is similar to what Christ did in staying on Earth for the 40 days after His Resurrection.
He encouraged His followers.
He gave them renewed hope and established their lifelong conviction and validated His Message.

That is the definition of having an effect.

The actions we have on people can last over 50 years.

This knowledge should lead us to be conscious to act with positive and
productive actions toward the people around us… especially those we have brought into the world.

I tossed the ball into the air that day in Miami over 50 years ago because I scored….. but more so because in that glimpse of my father across the field… I knew I had something to do with his running and waving at me.

He was FOR me.

And I had pleased him.

Duel celebrations.
Christ’s 40 day walk of Triumphant Encouragement with His followers.

Cheer.
Encourage.
Wave them toward the goal.

Terry
May 2016

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Is there anything in your life you need to memorialize?

An event of monumental weight should be worth memorializing.

You do it now with birthdays and anniversaries.

Our nation does it with dates such as
September 11…November 22….
July 4…..the last Monday in May.

What about the day you came to know Christ?

Maybe the day your child accepted Christ?

A few years ago my wife and I decided to memorialize the return of her son from Iraq.
Twelve stones from our Creek still stand as a memorial together outside our house. One stone for each month he was in that battle.
One stone for each month The One we prayed to protected our young solider.

Be encouraged to consider thanking The One you pray to with a Memorial.

It is a monument of Thanksgiving…
or a monument to answered prayer.

It can be a reminder to be in constant thanksgiving. It might be a help to recall the forthcoming of a victory in yours or a loved ones life.

If you spend effort seeking something……
extend effort in saying “thank you”.

If it’s a big enough occurrence..
build a memorial.

As a nation we have memorialized men such as Washington, Jefferson and Lincoln. We have made monuments to victories and remembrances of war and great struggle. There are holidays in memory of effectual events and great, influential people.

Recall and remember those things in your own life. Lead your children to recall and remember events of great importance in your life…in the lives of your family members.

Build memorials.

Be in constant remembrance of victories, of mercy shown and grace given, of answered prayer, of healing, of great events.

Create memorials in the lives of your children by thinking of the days they took great steps in life…and telling them the story….
such as the day they came to know Christ as Savior. It’s as important as their birthday… for it is the beginning date of an existence far more important and lasting than their time with you or on this earth.

Tell them of struggles and overcomings in your life. Recite for them some of the family history. Develop family traditions which bind your children to you and each other family member.

Memorials help you to have and will create in them and sense of gratitude….of belonging and connection. Our shared national history makes us fellow countrymen. Our shared family history creates a culture, builds appreciation and a type of emotional and spiritual unity.

Memorials call to mind great and lasting events.
Events that form memory,
Events which help build the character of a nation and it’s people.                      Events which build the history of a family and its faith.

What are your “memorials” ????

Build them.

Remember them.

Tell of them.

Terry
May 2016

My Father was a runner.

When he left the business world to pursue The Calling placed on his life, he would take my two brothers and I to the track at Rosemont Junior High School.

He ran, my younger brother ran behind him, my youngest brother chased them and I shot basketball and ran  once in awhile.

From the court I learned a bit about running.

I saw my Father sprint only toward the conclusion of his runs.

The beginning and middle of his runs were at a moderate pace. At first he was slowly warming up, then he would get into a normal stride which he would remain in for most of his run. Only toward the finish he had determined for that day, would he pick it up into a sprint and run with every ounce of effort through the finish.

From the court where I would shoot, I saw this many times.

It’s really the opposite of how many lives are spent.

Most people sprint through the beginning, get tired, slow down and coast into the end.

If you look at the life of Jesus, His Sprint was after thirty years of moderately gaining momentum. Even during his Three Year Ministry, He began slowly by choosing His People, training them, showing them glimpses of His Power.

His real Sprint began by raising Lazarus, going to the Temple and kicking the “money-changers” out before coming into Jerusalem the few days before His Crucifixion.

Run with Patience the Race set before You…..

prepare for all of the Race, and be strong enough for The Sprint.

Jesus did. 

He knew His Task when He taught in the Synagogue, at 12.  Knowing His Eventuality, He remained as a young boy, grew into His Father’s business in two ways…as a carpenter fashioning wood and then as a carpenter building men and a Kingdom.

Knowing His Reason for being here, He ran with patience. He knew the Course set before Him.

You only run a sprint when the finish line is in plain sight. A 100 yard dash is called just that because the finish line is such a short distance away.

Longer races require endurance, pacing, having a gait and pace which is sustainable for the distance….then, as all trained distance runners do, when the end line is in sight…the Sprint begins.

Let us not be slouching and out of energy as we run toward the end line in the race of life.

Being that my Father walked into his Calling at 37 ….and went to Heaven at 55…

his pace picked up and was purposed those last 18 years…and he sprinted toward the finish.

I want to sprint through that end line.

Now, I am in that sustainable gaited, everyday pace.

But I know the race I am in.

There is more distance to cover.

However…I know I am closer to the finish than the beginning.

My goal is to sprint at, toward,

and through the finish.

Train yourself for the race you are in. 

Be prepared for the distance you have left to cover.

Run this race properly.

Get prepared to sprint through the end ….

wherever that may be.

Like my Father was when he took us with him to run those many years ago in Ft. Worth….

The Author and Finisher of The Real Race can and will  be your model, coach, mentor and cheerleader.

Run….and prepare to SPRINT.

Terry                                                                             May 2016