Tea

ByHal Hammons

Tea freezes at a temperature higher than 32 degrees Fahrenheit. At least, it seems to. I left a bottle of Snapple in my office refrigerator over the break. It was beneath the weird little “freezer compartment” but certainly not in it. It was at least an inch away from anything icy. And when I opened up the fridge, it was totally frozen. The lid had somehow detached itself to make room for the ice that had formed. (I wish I had video of that. Was it slow? Was it explosive? I digress.)
Most things shrink when they freeze, but water (including the water in tea) is an exception. It expands, and it will not be contained. A bottle filled with water will open when the water freezes. Chemistry will find a way. A weak spot will be found and exploited. Fortunately for me, the weakness was in the lid instead of the bottle; otherwise I likely would have had no tea to drink and a big mess to clean up.
Stress is like that in the spirit realm as well. A lifestyle that is full of sin and tries to accommodate Jesus as well (or vice versa) will become very frustrated very quickly. They cannot both be contained in a single human heart. There will come a day when we will find out which commitment is stronger.
With God’s help, we can use that stress to expel “all that remains of wickedness” (James 1:21). But we know how the devil is capable of expelling Jesus from our hearts in the same way; he has done it to some of our brethren.
So test yourselves (2 Corinthians 13:5). Determine whether your faith or your carnality is the stronger force — before Satan determines it for you.

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We tried a new restaurant the other evening.  We all disliked pretty much everything.  The place looked like your grandmother’s house — that is, if you are in your 80s and your grandmother was a sharecropper.  The paneling on the walls was ugly.  The décor (if you would even call it that) was worse.  The location was inconvenient.  The menus were cheap.  (Ironically, the prices were expensive.)

The food, however, was outstanding.  Interesting.  Attractive.  Tasty.  The worst thing I could say about it was that there was too much of it.  We will be back.

Let my people grow

ByHal Hammons

One of the first things you notice at Walt Disney World is the preponderance of “Mickey-shaped” items.  From pencil tops to fireworks, everything seems to consist of two small circles sitting atop a larger circle.  Sometimes, as with shrubbery, the shape is forced upon the item; those in charge simply alter it until it achieves the proper proportions.  Sometimes, as with ice cream, the item is formed inside a mold.  The latter of these can get downright creepy at times.  Forcing a pumpkin to grow in a “Mickey” shape by placing it in a mold in its infancy is … weird.  The desired effect is achieved, yes.  But at some point a living organism has to be allowed to grow in its own direction.  I don’t know.  Maybe I’ve just seen one too many Mickeys over the last seven years.

Anyway, striking a balance between fostering growth and channeling that growth has been a bit of an obsession with me over the last 23 years. 

 

Abstaining from Sin: 100 percent effective 100 percent of the time

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After watching the neighborhood kids playing basketball for a while, it occurs to me that the fate of the country will be in good hands if counting backward from five to zero turns out to be a vital skill.  If hitting shots is what’s important, well, maybe it’s time to look into bomb shelters.

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A flock of what appeared to be black-capped chickadees descended on the church property this week.  (Forgive me, Mom, if I’m ornithologically incorrect here.)  Tiny little things, just hopping all over the place looking for seeds.  Peck.  Hop.  Peck.  Hop.  Peck.

The Rules for Mercy

ByHal Hammons

Those who follow women’s professional golf (and there’s bound to be one of you out there somewhere) are no doubt already acquainted with events regarding Lexi Thompson earlier this month.  She was two strokes up on the 12th hole of the final round at the ANA Inspiration tournament, which is a “major” for the ladies.  A rules official approached her and said she had incorrectly replaced her ball on the 17th hole the day before.  She placed her marker.  She picked up the ball.  She placed it about an inch away from its previous location.  That’s a two stroke penalty.  And it meant she signed an incorrect scorecard.  That’s another two strokes.  Suddenly she was two strokes behind, not two ahead.