The Prodigal's father

Making sense out of unconditional love

by R. Douglass Mahaffey

      The father of the "Prodigal Son" has always intrigued me. Of course, that father symbolizes our Heavenly Father in the parable, but I also look at him as your every day man that you pass in a grocery store, or in traffic as well. There is something special about him. He doesn't broadcast his accolades all over the streets, you'd never know it if he were a millionaire. He humbles himself. He takes pride in whatever he does, but he doesn't boast with prideful bragging. This is the man that faces the world when he encounters it with his head held high. He finds favor with God.
      He also has had his heart ripped out by a boy that he loves more than all his possessions. He doesn't love him more than his other children, but they all have their lives together. This son has asked for his inheritance early, before his father even came close to passing. You'd almost think that the son only loved his father because he had a lot to leave the little twerp. But reluctantly, the father allows the son to learn his lesson the hard way, so that maybe, just maybe he'll appreciate what he is blessed with later in life. Maybe, he'll learn a lesson that will save him from hell later on.
     Every morning and every night, that father sits on his front porch watching, waiting, hoping that this will be the day that his son picks himself up out of the ashes, realizes the error of his ways. He cries, but his tears aren't where you can see them. His anger is only fueled by the fact that his son is hurting, but he has brought it upon himself. He makes real sure not to take it out on others. They know he's hurting, but they also know why.
      A few of his other children resent the fact that their sibling has caused this hurt upon their father. So they voice their opinion. He rebukes their anger and teaches them through his equal unconditional love for all of his children and makes sure they understand that any of them could have made the same mistake because they all have the same sinful nature. They simply have a better hold on their desires than their brother. But that nature still exists. His love would be the same for all of them. However, one of them still harbors bitterness.
      Finally! The day has come. The father sits in his usual spot on the porch that he sits in every morning and every night. He perhaps has a dog next to him to keep him company. As he talks to his dog, he hears footsteps coming down the road. He looks up. He sees a rag-tagged young man walking down the street. He rubs his eyes and squints to see if it is his son. He stands up. He calls his son's name. His son stops and tears well up in his eyes. He stands motionless, awaiting the wrath of his father, who is now running head-long toward his prodigal son. He stops a few steps shy of him, looks him in the eyes and with a huge embrace, he welcomes his son home.
      His son pulls away from him, and in the middle of the road, falls down to his knees and tells his father that he is no longer worthy to be called his son. He offers himself as a servant instead. His father bends down, dries the tears in his eyes and picks him up. He takes the ring off of his own finger and puts it on his son's hand. He takes his cloak off of his robe and puts it around his son. He calls for his servants to kill a cow to feast on for his son, who was lost, is now found.
      One of his other sons comes to him in indignant anger and tells him that his own brother has no right to be welcomed back in such a fashion. He went off and squandered everything his father had given him and now, his father is having a banquet in his honor. The other son is perplexed at his father's celebration.
      The father tells him, "My son, you have served me well while your brother has gone. All that I have is yours. But my other son who was lost, is now found, and all I can do right now is be grateful that he has seen the error of his ways. Come, celebrate with us and welcome your brother home, who once was lost.
      Every time a child of God strays off the narrow path, God hurts for us. He waits and he longs for reconciliation. Like the father in the parable, God allows us to make our own decisions whether good or bad. We reap the blessings of the good decisions. The bad ones, we learn lessons from when we finally see the error of our ways. Sometimes, it's the lessons we learn from the bad decisions that makes the blessings we receive from the good ones all the more appreciated. Either way, the one thing that can not be denied is God's undying, equal, unconditional love for those who are His children.

I will leave you with another video of Rich Mullins about the "Prodigal Son".

R. Douglass Mahaffey - Founder and Publisher of The Wise Conservative.

Adolescent fits

When teens resort to toddler like tantrums

by R. Douglass Mahaffey

Teenagers are often looked at as young adults who are going through their awkward stage just before maturity sets in. It’s as though they are taking their last ditch effort to keep from becoming their parents, before they realize they are circling the inevitable.

God instructs parents in His Word to hold firm on the teachings that we instill in our children and when they grow up, those teachings will remain apart of who they are. The Bible also instructs parents to be slow to anger and quick to listen. But how do we listen when our children shut us out and ignore us?

Their body language says a lot about the problems they have a hard time voicing. It’s a hard task to accomplish, but it is very important not to lose one’s cool when dealing with a child of teenager. They lose hope very easily when it comes to who they can trust with their hearts at that age. 

When disciplining your teen whenever they childishly act out and seek the wrong kind of attention, be firm and be consistent. Don’t give flimsy, empty threats just to gain their temporary obedience. That will only dig their hills in deeper. If it requires relinquishing them of things  like an iPad, Nook, or cell phone, so be it, but stick to your guns until their behavior improves. 

However, if disciplining them requires a spanking, this article would suggest not threatening a spanking, or warn them of a spanking. To show that you mean business, giving them an unexpected warning swat is acceptable if you want to get their attention and still give them the opportunity to choose to straighten up on their own. 

Now if the situation requires a full on spanking, as is prescribed in Proverbs 22:15 (which changed my life for the better as a child...unbeknownst to me), then separate yourself from the child before the spanking, calm down, approach the child and calmly explain to them why they are being spanked and do so in a non-angry fashion. Leave the child alone to recover and then come back and mend the bridge. 

Make sure that they know the same choice to straighten up will be given in the future when they act up, if the situation ever gets to the point that a spanking is contemplated. Make sure they know you love them. 

You have a choice to make in regards to obedience here too. You could choose to lose your cool and spank out of anger; which is never the right choice to make, or you can administer the spanking with diligence and out of the love and admonition of the Lord as He does when he chastises us. Either way, do it out of love and with the desire to see your child succeed in making the correct, obedient choice in the future. 

Obedience is a learned and taught trait for one to have. It is not a natural tendency that we are born with. Obedience takes conditioning through time to master.

R. Douglass Mahaffey - Founder and Publisher of The Wise Conservative.

Work is rewarding, rest is sweet

The simple things in life can bring joy

by R. Douglass Mahaffey

      The Bible says that in whatsoever you do, you are to do it as unto God. This work week has been the most exhausting one I can remember in a long time. I do my best to stay busy in my little corner of the newspaper, but there are days and sometimes weeks where absolutely nothing happens. You have to get really creative as a reporter in times like this, or you suffer the consequences of only producing four or five stories that had better cover some space in the paper, or you catch it from all directions.
      But when things seem to just keep happening, good, bad or indifferent, a reporter, just like any other profession, has to take it all in stride and accept it as it comes. Life can change on the dime for someone and BAM! A reporter is there covering it. To the reporter (so that his career choice doesn't drive him/her crazy) treats it as just another story. Good news usually gets shuffled into what the newspaper industry calls "fluff". It's the bad news that sells. It's the scandals, the underhanded dealings of crooked businessmen or politicians, the burglary or robbery that happened down the road, the car wreck that has shattered the lives of a loved one left behind; the reporter just tells the story.
      In the life of a first responder, the tragedy that strikes a community through fire, serious injury, illness or death, or a criminal who has been apprehended, the first responder just responds with no thought for himself and with no personal attachment to the incident. They are there to serve and protect; nothing more, nothing less.
      My mother always told me and my brother that if all we ever were was a ditch digger, at least dig a good ditch. There was no excuse to ever do anything half-hearted. She expected excellent effort in just cooking a meal. If it wasn't the best we ever cooked, "learn what you did wrong and improve upon it on the next attempt," she'd tell us. If the grade in school was only a C, "talk to your teacher and find out what it is you're doing wrong and learn to do it right," she'd say. One thing was for sure as far as school went, WE DID NOT WANT MOM GOING AND FINDING OUT FOR HERSELF FROM THE TEACHER! We were expected to take care of the matter and get it resolved ourselves. It was our futures we were building. She was the one that instilled in me to do everything in life as though we were doing it unto God.
      As far as the hard day's work the younger generation today often hears of, but has to rarely experience due to the advancement of technology, I got a crash course in learning how the satisfaction of getting the job done felt. Rich Mullins wrote a song called "The Maker Of Noses" and recorded it on his "The World As Best As I Can Remember It" Volume 2 CD. It tells about the rest we will have in heaven when we are rewarded for the work that we have performed on earth for God. Some will search for that kind of rest their whole lives and unfortunately come up short on ever achieving it. Why don't we seek first the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness? That is where the rest will be found. All those things will be added unto you, according to His riches in glory.
      Today, I leave you with that Rich Mullins song, performed by the worship team of a place of worship called Powell Church. Enjoy.

R. Douglass Mahaffey - Founder and Publisher of The Wise Conservative.

More on the Robertsons

What America is missing in its source of entertainment

by R. Douglass Mahaffey

I felt the need to write yet even more about the Robertson family of A&E’s “Duck Dynasty” fame. I have yet to see a single ensemble of entertainers on television that challenge the fabric of the modern day morals of American Pop Culture world as the Robertson family has. 

Too often, entertainers are more interested in pushing the envelope of blasphemy and self-centered so-called “humor”, and they give no thought to the offense  of their almighty creator that they are condemning themselves with in the name of a cheap laugh, or even giggle. It just goes to show you  what a cheap price people put on their existence, much less their eternal life. 

Now I will admit that the Robertson family has been known to push the common sense envelope a bit, and Phil, the patriarch of the Robertson clan has been known to get a little risque` in his subject material when he is explaining the “birds and bees with his grandson, Cody. But in his case, he isn’t doing it to be vulgar or lewd for a cheap laugh. He speaks matter-of-factly and is being serious in his discussions, as opposed to most sit-coms that air on prime-time television when most teenagers and young kids are watching television. 

An element of life-lesson is being brought forth in its most pure state. Just think, a grandfather getting actual face time with his grandchild to explain the more important aspects of life, and it doesn’t involve a cell phone for text messaging, or a private message on a Facebook account. These days, that kind of interaction  is very rare in a spoiled society such as we live in. 

Where am I going with all of this? I recently read Si Robertson’s autobiography, Si-cology 101, and just last night, Tuesday, January 7, finished watching the entire Season One of their T.V. show. Yeah, I laughed my head off with about 90 percent of it    because they are genuinely funny people. But I also realized that I have missed the pure form of clean, family-friendly programming that the Robertson family brings to the table. 

The interaction that they have with one another reminded me of my family as a child. My mother was home every afternoon from work at 5:00 p.m., and my dad was there not too long after. We engaged one another with events of our day. We sat around the dining room table to eat. We watched television together. We went to Astros baseball games and high school football games together. We enjoyed spending time together in vacations to Mississippi. We had true fellowship. 

We didn’t always see eye to eye with one another and yeah, we had our many differences, but we had fellowship. We had the same kind of fellowship that our Father in heaven desires from us. There’s no telephone or computer required for that kind of communication. Just the Bible and a prayer life. We have 100 percent full access to the throne of God, and more often than not, we do nothing with it. 

As a New Year’s Resolution if you will (I never make these things because there is no real incentive to keep them), I resolve to have an    even greater prayer life than before. I want my relationship with God to be one where when someone gets to know me, I shouldn’t have to tell them that I am a Christian. They should see it in the example I set and the way I live my life. 

R. Douglass Mahaffey - Founder and Publisher of The Wise Conservative.

Our government and its secrets

Why The United States Governmenet is driving us to a doom of Biblical porportions

by R. Douglass Mahaffey

Isaiah wrote that unto us a child was born, unto us a Son was given. The government would be upon His shoulders. His name would be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, The Everlasting Father and The Prince of Peace. 

The Government shall be upon His shoulders. Let’s take a closer look at that statement. Upon Jesus’ shoulders rests the responsibility of all the governments of the world. This particular government that Isaiah is referring to is God’s Kingdom. 

The relevence of the U.S. government today in correllation with this scripture is that where this nation was founded on the principles of the Bible, not many representatives of government rely on the instructions within the Word of God anymore, but whatever popular ebb and flow that people are going with in today’s society. Or so one would think.

One would also think that the idea behind serving in political office would be to do what the majority of the people want as far as the direction of ideals and common goals. Here lately, that hasn’t been the story. There is rumor of an elite group of insiders that are allowed to run for public office. They are hoisted in the public eye by the mainstream media. 

Some call this faction of indiviuals the “Illuminati.” Conspiracy theories run rampant on the internet about the so called “Leaders of tthe Free World.” 

Some also say that talk is cheap when it comes to a candidate for public office making his or her campaign promises in which they build their platform. But still, people seem to keep voting the same politicians into office. Even when a politician has been put in the hot seat over a scandal surrounding their administration, for the most part, they seem to get re-elected again and again. 

In the 1980s, I used to hear a slogan around election time that went something like, “This fall, fire them all. Re-elect nobody.” That idea seemed to spread like a wildfire in a wheatfeild of angry voters. They were supposedly angry because nothing about the politician’s lawmaking ever changed. Yet, when it came time to fire them all and elect new seat holders to the political  office that they sounded interested in changing, the same people are still there in office making the same types of decisions that seem to only help them and their major contributors. 

Now, I realize that when I started this blog, I stated that I would not get political. That is still my policy. But, I do need to mention a meeting that I attended on Thursday, January 2 in Azle, Texas. You may have heard about the town. It has been in the news in North Texas for the past two months due to the earthquakes and siesmic activity that has been keeping residents on edge, including to very good friends of mine that I attend church with. 

The Texas Railroad Commission held the meeting at the high school auditorium, most thought, to give explanation for the seismic activity in the area.

A gentleman named Jim Lasater stepped up to address the panel from the Railroad Commssion and asked them how unbiased their investigation could be since it surrounded the oil and gas industry that puts money into their election campaign funds. 

Lasater was cut off by the railroad commissioner David Porter and was told that the panel seated on the stage was not prepared to answer everyone’s questions about the ongoing investigation because it would take all night and there was only two hours allotted for the meeting. That would have been a good thing to know going into the meeting. Porter’s statement was met with  boo’s and outbursts from the audience that asked why they were there in the first place, if they weren’t going to get any answers or explanations that the commission may have already gathered before calling the meeting in the first place. 

Most people were angry because they felt the meeting was a waste of time if no answers were available. No one was present from the U.S. Geological Survey Organization, or the oil and gas industry. (Many of the theories surrounding the earthquakes are that they are being caused by liquid injections to the wells that are being dug for the hydraulic fracturing (Fracking) process by which oil and gas companies retreive natural gas from the shale layer three to four-thousand feet under ground).

The Railroad Commissioner and his men dodged responsibility for the quakes as they control the oil and gas industry regulations in Texas. All the commission was there to do was hear from the people, the stories of the experiences they had been through. 

They offered no help whatsoever to people like Melanie Williams, who is living in a rent house and paying a mortgage on the house that she owns because that house is in disrepair due to the loud, thunderous booms that the residents in Parker  and Wise  counties  have been witness to. 

When government side-steps issues because they have no solutions of relsolve to the on-going issues, then they shouldn’t hold meetings to discuss people’s grievences unless they are prepared to answer questions Some thought they had a lot to hide. 

The panel seated upon the stage held their poker faces and sweated right through the meeting. Afterwards, the only peopel that talked to the media was the angry citizens. The panel of Railroad commission representitives walked out in silence with no more answers or direction as to where to go from there, than when they had arrived that night. 

That’s not what government should look like. They make our laws. They put things in motion that affect the rest of us. When they side-step issues and questions for the fear that the information that they don’t want leaked, might be, that’s when it is time for informed voting decisions. 

God wants us to take part in that process and He wants us to use sound judgement. It’s hard to do that when all government does is clam up when it is time to be responsible for the direction in which the world they are leading goes.

The government shall be upon His shoulders. I think we give most of the leaders of the day too much benefit of the doubt when it comes to  trusting them to lead us in a country that sings “God Bless America.” I think it’s time America blessed God back.

R. Douglass Mahaffey - Founder and Publisher of The Wise Conservative.

Garbage in, garbage out

Things we often forget to clean in the spring

by R. Douglass Mahaffey

The days leading up to the end of February and the beginning of March are often used to perform annual “spring cleaning.” These days are quickly approaching and people all over the world will be throwing out the old and making way for the new. But rarely do people take a look in their own hearts and remove things in their lives that are holding back the blessings of God.

While cleaning windows that we use to look outside to see things like the weather, if the grass needs mowing or the leaves need raking up, we forget to go outside of the box and pray for our families focus of life throughout the year. While we dust off things like television screens or VCRs and DVD players, we rarely think about considering what we watch with those electronic devices. 

Are our videos that we watch age appropriate for everyone in the house? Do the shows we DVR on television fill our heads with junk instead of positive, thought provoking influences? OUCH! I even have to watch out on that one. 

As we dust off our book shelves, do we notice that most of our books have anything to do with God and His will for our lives, or are they the naughtier romance novels or adult humor books? Don’t get me wrong, I love a good story about romance, and I love comedy, but garbage in, garbage out?

When we clean the screen and keyboard on the computer, are we considering how we spend our time using it? What kind of sites do we look up on the Internet? What kind of posts do we make on Facebook, twitter or Instagram? What kind of e-mails do we forward? 

Okay, everyone check to make sure you all still have toes, as I check mine. These are just thoughts that I was pondering today. I’m getting ready to do some spring cleaning around the house and I feel that cleanliness needs to start within.

Things that we rarely think would make a difference in our thought process, our habits, our speech, our time spent working, our meal times and our family outings will be better spent with a mind for the things of God if we clean out the rubbish that won’t matter tomorrow if we keep or not. 

Colossians 3:8-13 says, “8 But now that you put off all of these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth.  9 Lie not to one another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds.  10 And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of Him that created him. 11 Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all and in all.  12 Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;  13 Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. 

Granted, not everyone struggles with everything mentioned in that passage. We all have our own individual struggles of sin to overcome. Each person’s struggles are different from another’s. But the attitude of the scripture that I shared is that we are new creatures in Christ if we have Him in our hearts. The old is forgotten and all things are made new. We shouldn’t be drawn to the same thankless habits we had when we were sinners. Our desire should be to run headlong into obedience to change ourselves from the things we once did and die to that sinful desire. 

God gives each of us a choice of what we allow into our lives. If we allow things that God sees as a disgrace, it is up to us, when we come to the moment of realization that it is sin, to remove those things from our lives and fill the holes with things that would please God. God desires fellowship with us, but He can not be where sin dwells. Sin can only dwell in us because we allow it to. God can only dwell in us because we allow Him to. 

R. Douglass Mahaffey - Founder and Publisher of The Wise Conservative. 

Spotlight church-House Of Prayer-Newark, Texas Part II

Why the Holy Ghost wants control of your heart

by R. Douglass Mahaffey

      For Christians, the belief of a Holy Trinity is the existence of three distinct holy persona being one Triune God. Even though the New Testament has no formal doctrine of the Trinity and contains no explanation of such, it does speak of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. The New Testament does not become tritheistic; meaning it does not talk of three gods or even two. The Shema (or first two words of a section of the Torah) of the Old Testament belongs to the New Testament.
      There are Christian denominations that do not share this doctrine. They are called "non-Trinitarians." For Pentecostals and other Christians, the Holy Ghost is the third person of the Holy Trinity; Father, Son and Holy Ghost, and is Almighty God. The House of Prayer-Newark, like other Pentecostal churches, see the Holy Ghost as the convictor of sins and the comforter in times of trials and tribulations, such as personal or global tragedies, sickness, hardships, loss of loved ones or catastrophes that try the faith and appear as valleys that the Christian goes through.
      James 1:1-6 says, "1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.
² My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;
³ Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.
⁴ But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.
⁵ If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
⁶ But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed."
      It's those times in the valleys that the Holy Ghost can move in and take over a situation to grow our faith when we seek God's perfect holy will. It isn't necessarily because of anything one may have done to quench the spirit. It is all to often that this is the opinion of those who witness trials that a brother goes through.
      The Apostle John wrote in Chapter 9 about the day that Jesus healed the blind man on the side of the road. His disciples were all to quick to judge the man and asked Jesus if it was his or his parent's sin that caused his blindness. John writes, "¹ As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. ² His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
³ “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. ⁴ As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. ⁵ While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”
      The Holy Ghost was in Jesus as He walked the earth and performed the miracles that He did. The power that He possessed, was the same power that He gave to his disciples at the Day of Pentecost, or 50th day after His Ascension. He left His Holy Ghost as a comforter to act in His stead, even though, it was God Himself in all three persons, because He is Omni-present (meaning that God is everywhere at once).
      At House Of Prayer-Newark, the power of the Holy Ghost is just as present today as it was at the Day of Pentecost, with one miracle after another in 2013 being witnessed. Now that 2013 is coming to a close and we are ringing in the New Year, 2014, on behalf of Pastor Rick Neathery, it is our prayer corporately that the Holy Ghost reveals itself to you and yours in a big, big way. What a blessing it is to come to a point in your life where God proves to you that He will supply all of your needs according to His riches in Glory. Many people from House Of Prayer are walking testimonies that God will do for you what He said He will.

                                                 Pastor Rick and Sister Julie Neathery
                                                      House Of Prayer-Newark.
                                               Photo Courtesy of Rick Neathery.

R. Douglass Mahaffey - Founder and Publisher of The Wise Conservative.