A Fair View of History

Fifty years ago this morning I woke up as a 19 year old young man. By the end of the day, I was the husband of the young lady with whom I had spent the previous two years falling in love. We were very young; many, I'm sure, felt that we were too young. But 50 years ago, marriage of  a couple 18 or 19 years old was commonplace, not unusual at all. We had no idea, or even an inkling of where our journey would take us or how long we would be together. But, we did take our vows seriously, without even a consideration of the possibility that we could, at any time we desired, call the whole thing off. We entered into the union, even at that young age, expecting our lives together to be "till death parts us." As I reflect on our 50 years together, and observe the change in the minds of so many couples as they approach marriage, I perceive that the mindset in our culture today seems to be that nothing is permanent, not even a marriage covenant is binding f...

HERE I AM, I’VE COME TO FIND YOU HERE I AM, TO SEE YOUR GRACE. The lines above are the first two in a song titled, You, You Are God . This was the first song in the worship service we attended this morning.  Today is December 16th. We are approaching the celebration of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ to the world, to seek and to save the lost; and to show us the grace that only God can provide. As these words were sung, my reaction is, "really?" We are in a season when we remember that Christ said, "I have come to seek you out, to offer you salvation."  And we sing, Here I Am, I've come to find you? It just struck me as somewhat backward in light of His coming and His purpose in doing so. Now, the lyrics may be acceptable, but appropriate at this time of celebration? I think not. Now, the remainder of the song sends a positive and worshipful message. To bring to You an offering, I have to ask myself one thing How can I do anything but prais...

Recently, as Sandy and I were driving to Benton, she put in a CD of hymns. As we listened we began to sing along. After several songs had played, and we had sung the hymns, recalling almost all the words, I realized something remarkable. We had learned most of those hymns over 50 years ago. While we rarely hear them today in church, on the radio, or anywhere else, we still were able to sing the hymns, knowing most of the words. The words of those great old songs of the faith were, in most cases, birthed out of life's trials, tribulations, and sometimes the joys of the writers of those long loved and heart felt songs. In contrast, listening to the songs popular today, I can hear them on Sunday morning, and the next day cannot recall a word of the songs. Now, granted, part of that may be attributed to the fact that, as they are being sung, I cannot hear any of the words. And, the reason for that is two-fold. One, the words are drowned out by the excessive volume of the instrument...

by Gary Fair on Friday, June 10, 2011 at 10:22pm I'm in line at a convenience store. The customer in front of me hands the clerk a lottery scratch-off, says,"Put the $5 on the pump #3." Clerk says,"It's only $4. Customer: "ok, put $4 on the pump (gas is $3.85/gal.); oh, here, I've got another ticket." That ticket is a $5 winner. Clerk: What do you want to do now? Customer: "Give me $4 in gas and another lottery ticket for $5." Proof that the lure of something for nothing is stronger than the ability to make wise choices. Sad that this type of situation perpetuates itself generation after generation as a way of survival.

Anyone need some firewood? Got plenty in my yard after Saturday's lightning strike. Tree caught on fire. Fell against the power lines. Pulled all the wires off the house, along with gutter. It's yours (the wood, not the gutter) if you'll cut it and haul it off. Or, if you just need to fire up your chain saw for some exercise, come on over. It's gonna take this old man a while to clean it up. Gotta say a word of praise for the Vectren guys for their prompt work in getting tree trimmers here and power restored, along with a fine electrician, Mark Marshall. Gary

Kassie Fair Sanders posted to GarySandy Fair Happy Birthday, Daddy! I didn’t buy you a present you can unwrap but this week between your birthday and Father's Day I will be posting some lessons I have learned from you. So stay posted to my posts to see that I did listen and learn from you all these years. Thank you for being a godly humble and wise example for all of us. I love and miss you! Dad Lesson #1 My Dad taught me that with God all things are possible! When Karlee was in NICU and I couldn't even go in and see her out of fear of getting too attached it was my Dad who sat by her side and sang "You are my Sunshine" to her for hours and prayed that she would breathe on her on. My Dad never doubted that our God wouldn't "take his sunshine away" Thanks to Dad I have the confidence that with God ALL things are possible. Dad Lesson #2 by Kassie Fair Sanders on Friday, June 10, 2011 at 10:11am Proverbs 10:19 "When words are many, sin is not a...