God Stole My Car!!

 

God Stole my Car!!

(R.I.P. my Legacy!)

By Gary L. Clendenon

Original Post: April 8, 2020

I’ve been waiting for 3 weeks to share this story with you!

Three weeks ago yesterday, I discovered my car was stolen—my 1998 Subaru Legacy. Because this car was a gift from my father before he passed away, it had a special connection for me to remember my father. In the back part of the car, there was a deep dent which my dad strongly apologized to me for—something about a tool and he not getting along, which ironically turned out to be my cool reminder of him.

Then there’s the story of the car’s custom wheels. When he bought them, he was worried that I might think poorly of him for frivolously spending money that could have gone to the poor. I was a pretty zealous missionary when I was younger, I guess!

Ironically, I loved the wheels—a lot—and was really glad that he got them. After my dad passed, every time I saw those wheels or that dent, I smiled and was glad that they were there—a small reminder of the man I loved and called Dad.

Lately, though, I’ve been, well I guess if I’m being honest, I’ve been worrying because the Legacy was starting to come apart and break down and not work well. I was really worried because I didn’t have any money to make the so many needed repairs on this vehicle. And I needed repairs on this vehicle. And I certainly didn’t have enough money to buy a newer car! I had even begun to worry out loud to my Heavenly Father—not seeing “a way out” for me on this topic! Not to mention that I needed the car for my job which involves taking gentlemen places in my car!

Because of the Covid-19 virus, it was decided the 1st week of March it would be best for me not to work with the gentlemen I worked with until it was safe again. My car was stolen ten days later after I had just made a very important trip to my eye doctor. So, turns out I didn’t need a car anymore to work! First two weeks of March for me equaled: No Job and No Car!

When my car was stolen, I asked for prayers from my Facebook Family for my situation, not going into details and not sure how it would all turn out. Lately I’ve been intentioning to see things differently and not immediately judge everything as good or bad. I’ve been attempting to understand and believe that if my life is in GOD’s hand and everything is going to “work out for the best”, then whatever is happening or has happened to me has been “GOD-approved”. So, with that in mind, I hypothesized that this was GOD’s unique way of answering my prayers: By stealing my car!!

It just so happens that someone saw my post regarding my stolen car and they just happened to have an older car they were trying to get rid of. They were impressed several times that I might need a car, and when they saw my post on Facebook, that was their confirmation. Today, I picked up their old car and my new car! What a blessing!

Because I have car insurance, during this time, I was given a very nice, new, fun little rental car to use at my disposal, and after three weeks, my insurance said, per their policy, “your car that was stolen is now ours and we are going to send you money of equal value to purchase the same car you lost.” I had looked up the value of my Subaru Legacy on Kelly Blue Book, and based on that did not have very high expectations for what I would receive. Boy howdy, was I very nicely surprised when my insurance company told me they had valued the Legacy at about twice the amount that I had seen and they would be sending that amount of money to my bank account! Wow! I am blessed!

I share this story with you to bring you hope. Three weeks ago I felt hopeless and now my prayers have been answered in the best possible ways—ways that I did not even imagine could be! Nothing is too small for our GOD! You may not see any light at the end of your tunnel, but hang in there and trust that your Heavenly Father’s plans are “for your good” and will work out “for the best”!

So, ya, GOD STOLE MY CAR, and I’m praising Him—with a mischievous grin—for doing it!

“Leader of the Band” (A Song I Re-wrote)

 “Leader of the Band” (A Song I Re-wrote)

Leader of the Band

Original Words and Music by Dan Fogelberg

Adapted by Gary Clendenon © 2002

Here is a video you can listen to while you read or sing these words!

He came a child alone and wild, a cabinet maker's son

His hands were meant for different work

And His heart was known to none.

He left his home and went His lone and solitary way

And He gave to me a gift I know I never can repay.

Quite a man of wisdom, denied a simpler fate

He tried to be a carpenter but His calling wouldn't wait.

He earned his love through discipling, a thund'ring velvet hand

His gentle means of sculpting souls took me years to understand.

Chorus:

The Leader of the Band inspires though His eyes are growing old

But His blood runs through my instrument and His song is in my soul.

My life has been a poor attempt to imitate the Man

I'm just a living legacy to the Leader of the Band

Others' lives are different for they hear another call

Some runnin’ to and fro, others don’t care at all.

I'm followin’ the Leader—He told me to “Go tell” so

I’m living out this life I chose and come to know so well.

Musical Interlude:

I thank You for the music and your stories on the road.

I thank you for the freedom when it came your time to go.

I thank you for your kindness and the times when you get tough

And Jesus I don't think I’ve said "I love you" near enough.

Chorus:

The Leader of the Band inspires though His eyes are growing old

But His blood runs through my instrument and His song is in my soul.

My life has been a poor attempt to imitate the Man

I'm just a living legacy to the Leader of the Band

I am a living legacy to the Leader of the Band

"Surrounded" (A Poem)

“Surrounded”

By Gary L. Clendenon

(c) 1995

If “every spire of springing grass” says,

“GOD IS LOVE.” (1)

Then, surrounded by a million zillion

Divine Valentines

WOW!!!

Why would we ever worry?

Or doubt?

Or fear?

Or be

Unhappy?

1. Ellen G. White, Steps to Christ, p. 10.

"Close to You!" (Grace Note #78)

 

"Close to You!" (Grace Note #78)

Jeremiah 13, adapted by Gary L. Clendenon, December 12, 2019

GOD came to me and said, “Go and buy a new pair of underwear. Put it on, next to your body beneath your clothes, then wear it for a while without washing it.” So, I bought a new pair of underwear and put it on.

Then GOD spoke to me again: “Take off the underwear you bought and have been wearing and take it straight to the Euphrates river. Then, hide the underwear in a crack between some large rocks.” So I did what GOD said.

After some time had passed, GOD said to me: “Go back to the Euphrates and get the underwear I asked you to hide there.” When I went back and dug out the underwear from the place where I’d hidden it, I found it had begun to rot. This garment that was once new and clean was now completely worthless.

Then the word of GOD came to me to drive home His point: “In the same way I will ruin the stubborn pride of Judah and Jerusalem. Instead of listening to me, they do whatever they want—even worshiping other gods! They will end up like this rotten underwear in your hands—completely worthless!”

“Just as underwear clings to a person’s waist, so did I, the Eternal One, make Israel and Judah to cling tightly to Me. They were to be My people, known by all, bringing honor and glory to My name. That was My plan for them, but they did not listen.”

MORAL OF THE STORY: The Infinite, All-powerful GOD wants to be “Close to You”*. In fact, so close that GOD gave Jeremiah this very intimate, personal parable to visually illustrate just how close! There is nothing closer to us than our underwear, and this story is proof that GOD wants us to remember every morning when we put on our underwear—and snap them snug—that that’s just how close GOD wants to be with us!

*I’m pretty sure that that’s GOD singing to us through Karen Carpenter.  (Click Here for the Carpenters "Close to You")

Why Personality Matters!

 

“Why Personality Matters!”

By Gary L. Clendenon

January 8, 2019

“What we've got here is failure to communicate!” ~ Cool Hand Luke

Yesterday, I was involved in a Facebook discussion which revolved around the saying: People’s reactions say more about them than about the people to whom they’re reacting. This idea got stuck in my mind and I thought about it all night long, then awoke early in the morning with the following realization. This statement is not just a way to dismiss someone who is responding in a way we don’t understand or find offensive or inappropriate, but this statement is so literally true that a whole field of psychology is based exclusively on this one statement!!

We know this branch of psychology by the name “Personality Theory”. And, it is completely based on studying the unique and completely different way that individuals respond to the same stimulus! The more thorough of the tests that quantify the unique way we each individually respond have divided the respondents into 16 different different categories based on their observations of how specifically people respond differently! (One of the tests is even called 16PF (PF standing for “Personality Factors”)).

What this means is that psychologists have learned and determined over the years of studying and quantifying what “Personality” means that each of us responds uniquely and differently than 94% of the rest of the population. Also, that means that there are ONLY 16% of the population that will respond in a somewhat similar fashion to how we uniquely respond! Is it any wonder that we people have so many miscommunications and misunderstandings? Naturally, given the commonality of these challenges, psychologists have created a name for these consistent occurrences: “personality conflicts”.

I am an INFP personality, according to the famous “Meyers-Briggs Type Indicator” (MBTI) personality test. This means that I am uniquely wired to ponder deeply these ideas and try to make sense of them. All my life I have operated out of this perspective, but I wasn’t able to understand myself very well until I discovered and studied psychology and personality. And when I did, I was able to find acceptance of my unique self—before then I thought maybe I was crazy! (Personal Note: I was so driven to understand myself and others that I ended up with a minor in Psychology.)

This understanding of Personality Theory completely revolutionized and changed my life. It gave me the answers I was constantly looking for in striving to understand myself and others. Besides, the obvious primacy of the Spirit of Love in our hearts, I believe this understanding is critical for us as humans to understand and get along with the huge challenges that our unique and different personalities create! I believe the complete lack of the understanding of personality in our society today is one of the main factors explaining why we have so much confusion, misunderstanding, and completely lack of tolerance and empathy!

Having said all that, and realizing that I only represent 16% of the population’s perspective, I am aware that my perspective may not be the “be-all end-all” and I acknowledge that there are other perspectives and tools out there to understand and utilize in our journeys and attempts to understand ourselves and others. (Here is one example: https://hbr.org/2014/05/most-work-conflicts-arent-due-to-personality)

I guess my main point, then, would be for all of us to take the time to make our best efforts in the Spirit of Love to do whatever it takes to learn to understand ourselves and others better so that we can communicate better and get along better, thus making the world a better, less-caustic place. That is my objective and strong desire for myself and my world. I hope it is yours as well.

Jesus is Born Christmas!

JESUS IS BORN CHRISTMAS

By Gary Clendenon © 2003

An adaptation of TENNESSEE CHRISTMAS By Amy Grant & Gary Chapman © 1983

Some say, weatherman, Give us a Xmas snowy white

Can't you hear the prayers Of every childlike heart tonight

Rockies are callin', Denver snow fallin'

Somebody said it's four feet deep

But it doesn't matter, amidst all the clatter

I'm gonna choose to keep...

Another Jesus is born Christmas

The only Christmas for me

Where His love circles around us

Like the gifts around our tree

Well, I know there's more snow up in Colorado

And it’s beautiful to see

But a Jesus is born Christmas

Is the only Christmas for me.

Make your plans for Xmas break; they urge me to see

Maybe California, maybe Tinsel Town's for me

There's a parade there, we'd have it made there

Bring home a tan for New Year's Eve

Sure sounds inviting, awfully exciting

Still I think I'm gonna keep...

Another Jesus is born Christmas

The only Christmas for me

Where His love circles around us

Like the gifts around our tree

Well, they say in LA it's a great holiday

It's the only place to be

But a Jesus is born Christmas

Is the only Christmas for me.

Ya, a Jesus is born Christmas

Is the only Christmas for me.

Distilled Christmas

 

“Distilled Christmas!”

By Gary L. Clendenon

(c) 12-22-2011

Have you noticed?

There is something magical about

this whole Christmas experience!

What is it?

Do you know??

I desperately want to distill it and bottle it so that I can drink

 daily of its irresistible enchantment all the otherwise often 

dreary year!

Can you help me?

Will you help me??

I really want this!

Like, somehow my life depends on it!

The 23rd Psalm, GC Version

 

THE 23rd PSALM, GC VERSION

© 2006 by GARY L. CLENDENON

Inspired by the book: A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23

by Phillip Keller

I am proud to say that God is my manager,

And I am completely satisfied with His management of my life.

My manager’s constant care frees me to focus on resting in quiet contentment.

In the morning, my manager gives me purpose and direction. He leads me through a perfect daily schedule—His timing never failing to meet my needs.

When I stray from my manager’s guidance and end up flat on my back—arms and legs flailing, He finds me, frees me, and then holds me ‘til I’m back on my feet again.

Knowing my tendency to get stuck in unproductive ruts, my manager leads me on the right path for me. As I follow, I learn that His reputation as “Best Manager” is well deserved.

Yes, even when led through the deepest, darkest, most difficult days, I know no fear. For You—Knower of the Best Way—are with me.

Your weapon—the power and authority of your word—protects me, disciplines me, and lays bare the secrets of my soul; while, at the same time, your gentle Spirit reassures me with the constant comfort of your presence.

You go before me and beat back my enemies as you prepare for me the BEST place. I flourish there in the confidence that you’ve got me covered!

You continuously anoint my mind with your Spirit, freeing me from the distracting buzz of life’s ever-present and annoying irritations. I am overwhelmed with gratitude!

I am sure that whatever happens in my life will, thanks to my manager’s mercy, turn out…“good”.

I plan to stay with my manager for the rest of my life!

“A World War Two Miracle”

 

“A World War 2 Miracle”

From A Thousand Shall Fall by Susi Hasel Mundy

pgs. 50-52

The following story is one of many amazing stories found in the book A Thousand Shall Fall by Susi Hasel Mundy, a story that takes place during World War II from the perspective of a Seventh-day Adventist family whose father, Franz, has been drafted and sent into the war.

With Friday approaching, something else began to weigh heavily on Franz's mind.

“Dear Lord,” he whispered fearfully through dry lips, “You know I treasure your Sabbath. It's important to You, and because it's important to You, it's important to me. Up to now, its been pretty easy for me to keep Your day by trading work. But now we're at the front, and the rules have changed. Please help me.

And week by week, help came.

“The troops are exhausted,” the Hauptmann [German term for “Captain”] suddenly announced that first Friday. “We'll have a rest day tomorrow.”

The next Friday heavy downpours bogged the Army down in mud. . . . As the weeks went by, Franz noticed that God arranged events so that his Sabbath hours were protected. All the way to the very end of the war—except for one period of final hectic retreat when he lost track of time—Franz kept every Sabbath.

Farther and farther east the Pioneers [Franz's Company] pushed. ...the men were on foot. Yet carrying their guns and field packs, they often covered 30 miles a day. . . .

The Pioneers weren't used to prolonged marching, and the exertion finally began to take its toll. As men fell by the wayside suffering from heat stroke [and blistered feet, they would be left to their fate]. The company had to move on.

Some men developed such blisters on their feet that they could not tolerate boots any longer. They'd tug them off and limp along barefoot for a few miles til their bleeding feet could carry them no longer. … The lucky ones became prisoners of war. But most of them were killed outright by the vengeful Russians.

Franz, too, was exhausted. After a few days his socks were in shreds, and huge blisters soon covered his feet. ... Finally, he took one of his dirty undershirts, tore it into strips and wrapped them around his feet before pulling his boots back on. It was no help. The blisters burst open and became infected. Franz was barely able to drag himself along until [they] made camp for the night. He was running a fever and lay moaning on his mat. . . .

...Willi [stopped by and] removed his friend's boots. When he saw the fist-sized festering wounds, he groaned.

“Franz, there is a little stream not to far from here. Lean on me, and I will help you get there. It will give you some relief if you can cool your feet.”

With his arm around Willi's shoulder, Franz hobbled the few yards to the water. By the time he reached the creek, his feet had swollen to twice their size. When he stuck his tortured limbs into the murky, polluted water, he did feel relief.

“I can't move,” he groaned. “I'm too exhausted.”

“OK”, said Willi. “Just stay here for a while. I'll bring your things. All you need is a good rest.”

I need more than that, Franz thought. My body is worn out and burning with fever. My feet are throbbing with infection. I need days, Willi. Days of rest. But it's not possible. There's nothing more I can do. Tomorrow I'll be left behind like the others. I knew life in the army would be dangerous, but I never thought I would succumb to infection.

He removed his feet from the water, gingerly dried them. Too worn out to follow his regular routine of Bible reading, he took out his Bible to read just a text before prayer. It fell open to Psalms 118:17: “I will not die but live, and proclaim what the Lord has done” (NIV).

Stunned, he wrapped himself up in his gray army blanket. Then, lying there on the damp, foreign soil, his body shaking with fever, Franz prayed.

“Dear Lord, you know that my life is committed to You. When I left home, I felt assured that You would bring me back safely to my family. Now You have given me another promise. But here I am, sick and unable to continue. Unless You help me, I am lost. I know that You are a promise-keeping God. I commit myself into Your hands.”

Finally, Franz dropped off.

Wake up call at 3:15 a.m. Groggy, Franz rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. His headache and the shaking were gone. Well, I've had a good rest. If I can get my feet into my boots, maybe I can give it another try.

He sat up, pulled his feet from under the gray blanket and looked at them. In the dim light they shone whitely.

“Wait a minute,” he muttered, blinking and squinting at them. “That can't be.”

He reached out his hand and gingerly felt them with his fingers. Then he brushed at them harder and harder.

They're healed. The hair tingled on his scalp. My feet are completely healed. Not just covered with thick fresh scabs, but with completely new, unbroken skin.

Shaking his head in wonder, he pulled on his bloody socks, stepped into his boots, and marched stoutly over to wish an astonished Willi a good morning. For the remaining years of the war, Franz never again had any trouble with his feet.

CLICK HERE FOR A 2nd WORLD WAR TWO MIRACLE

“Hallowed Eve?” (Grace Note #6)

 

“Hallowed Eve?” (Grace Note #6)

By Gary L. Clendenon, October 28, 2014

Halloween is a holiday that is hard to miss—pumpkins everywhere turning into glowing ghoulish faces, front yards becoming cluttered cemeteries, houses becoming haunted, and candy-craving children clambering at your door for treats. Some Christians find this holiday to be offensive or even evil, and it can also be somewhat challenging for those of us who are Adventists given our fairly unique belief about “The state of the dead”. This Grace Note is not about all that, for I believe that is between you and GOD, but I would like to share with you another Halloween story that, in my opinion, too often gets overlooked.

The year was 1517—three years shy of 500 years ago (1). The location: Papacy controlled Europe (538-1798 AD). It was on Halloween, then called “All Hallows' Eve” in the city of Wittenberg, Germany, that a Catholic Priest and University Professor named Martin Luther approached the door of The Castle Church and nailed a document to it. The document was called “95 Theses” and was an open letter to the Catholic Archbishop regarding the misuse of indulgences and other non-biblical practices. Indulgences were a tool used by the church to raise money while allowing the rich to buy their own eternal forgiveness and guaranteed ticket to Heaven, and Martin Luther had 95 reasons why indulgences and other church practices did not match what the Bible taught.

You see, three years earlier Martin Luther had discovered the book of Romans and had had a life-changing conversion. Throughout his days as a monk and into his days as a priest and teacher, Martin Luther had been completely terrified by the thought of the wrath of GOD, until he discovered Romans 1:17: “For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: 'The righteous will live by faith.'” Here are Luther’s words describing his discovery of GOD's gift of grace: “...by the mercy of God, I...began to understand that the righteousness of God is that through which the righteous live by a gift of God, namely by faith… Here I felt as if I were entirely born again and had entered paradise itself through the gates that had been flung open.” (2)

Luther's intent was NOT to start a new church, but merely to reform the Catholic Church that he loved, but thanks to the recent invention of the printing press, his words went viral! “Within 2 weeks, copies of the Theses had spread throughout Germany; within two months throughout Europe.” (3) Luther had started something bigger than he ever imagined that Halloween evening, and for him there was no going back on his putting the Bible first in his religion. Eventually, these courageous acts led to his dismissal from the Catholic Church and, with those who followed him, the beginning of a new denomination. Looking back now, we can see that October 31, 1517 was clearly the beginning of “The Protestant Reformation” and now is called by some “Reformation's Eve”, an eve worth celebrating! (4)

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Ephesians 2:8,9 NIV)

FOOTNOTES:

1. It's now been 506 years!

2. http://www.christianitytoday.com/ch/131christians/theologians/luther.html?start=1

3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TheNinety-FiveTheses

4. If you like this idea, please “Like” my Facebook page “Reformation's Eve” October 31