Friday Night Preaching
September 14th, 2007 by Northern FarmerWell, Praise the Lord tonight, we finally had a day here where we weren’t overwhelmed and far behind in the jobs here. Oh, there’s plenty to do, but to start the day out and not be rushing for once is a tad bit different than the norm. Even had a little time to invent today. Was working on a grain elevator, a thirty footer, a $120 jobby that we got at a local junkyard. Pretty good shape to for that price. Almost got that thing totally rebuilt today too. A hydraulic motor was bolted on and some new hoses were put on that, (no more pto shaft), the end boot was taken off the top, a steel hopper was bolted on the bottom. What for some will ask, well, I’ll tell you. Firewood! I forget if I ever kept up writing about our buzz saw here, memory slips me all the time, but this elevator will replace the man that has to stand on the side of the whirling 32†blade and toss the cut wood away from the rig. Plus that replaced man won’t have to stand in all that blowing sawdust. I don’t know if this makes me an industrialist or something, replacing manpower at that position, but I think any man that was in that dangerous position will be pretty happy being replaced by an old farm implement. Kinda reminds me of them old Road Warrior movies where they where modifying all societies old junk. And to top it all off, the same tractor that’s running the buzz saw will be pumping the hydraulic oil for the elevator. I just love it when a person can basically take scrap metal and make a work of art out of it!
I don’t know how this will go over with folks that figure I got to do things simple, using totally manpower. But then again those same folks never did a days work in their life anyhow so who cares! (Oh I could preach on this!) There’s a test here on the farm where I can tell a person’s personality, really, it one hundred percent accurate! Have em pick rocks all day in spring! Of coarse this only works on kids and teens nowadays because it’s pretty hard to find an adult that would stoop so low, (pardon the pun), to bend over and pick rocks all day in a field. I’ve seen em all, from flat out lazy, to sneaky…spending more time figuring out how not to pick the rocks than actually doing anything, to kids and teens that I can see are going to make it in life. And those kids tell a person a lot about their parents without saying a word about them! In all honesty, this past year I had some kids from church helping here, along with our own, picking rocks and I must say I stand amazed to this day at the quality work ethic they all had. But I don’t have to go to far into the past, (BC, before church), and there were some really bad stories to be told.
In this super scientific study that I did I’ve come to the conclusion that there must be a lot of lazy people out there. Thank the Lord I don’t hardly ever hire people and have to be stuck with the average worker today. I heard some good preaching lately on the spirit of laziness in this society today. Others can call it what they want, but the reality of the situation is, it’s a spirit! And a bad one too! I’ve noticed these past couple of years on this blog with some of the comments too. In the past when a comment would come really challenging, no that’s the wrong word, when a comment would come that was totally off base or plain out didn’t make sense I’d think about it and come to the conclusion that more than likely the person is just flat out lazy. Oh boy, huh! Tom’s going into dangerous territory on this one! Yee Haw!
Well, it’s no different in church’s either. You always have those folks that’ll give 110% of themselves and then you have those that’ll sit there every week and complain about this and that. Didn’t do this right or didn’t do that right. Then you have the religious folks, they’re the laziest of all! Cause they don’t want to do what God tells them to do. Just what man can come up with to act like they’re doing something. But back to farming and all of that before I get sidetracked too much. I’ve read about every kinda moaning and groaning these past few years from folks that just can’t seem to get started with they’re dream of farming. It’s to expensive most will say. I hate to burst anyone’s bubble, but it ain’t too expensive! If folks would prioritize a little bit and sacrifice they’d have something. In 1963 when the first part of this farm was bought, 80 acres, it was in reality more expensive than farms today considering the wages were just over a dollar an hour around here. In the seventies when this farm expanded somewhat, land had doubled but wages were a little behind as far as inflation at the time from 63. People look back and say, oh farms were so cheap then, you’re so lucky. That’s a pile of bull! You know the difference? Looking back, the folks worked to attain the farming dream! They didn’t acquire toys. They didn’t worry about the life they “deservedâ€! And in reality this was a very short time ago.
It’s different now, I know some might disagree and say it was like that for a long time, but I’m telling you, just take a simple PG movie and if a person could go back in time and show it to people in 63 they’d be shocked. I’m talking about some supposedly family movie of today, the kind folks are sitting around watching figuring they’re such good Christians, that same movie the whole family of slugs is sitting around watching would of shocked folks from 45 or 50 years ago! Plus back then the same folks that were trying to start a farm weren’t sitting around with a DVD player watching movies, they were building a farm. They weren’t worrying about the next vacation, or the next speed boat to buy, or the next half a dozen snowmobiles! No, they were building a farm!
The spirit of laziness will always convince folks that they deserve everything. But as with any spirit that’s not from God, it’ll deceive and gradually destroy any good dream a person has. A person has to look honestly at oneself if farming is a dream, even if a person is farming now, one must honestly examine how much we feel we deserve something. Because in all reality, we deserve nothing! The good in life we get by sacrifice, our own sacrifice and many times it’s multi generational. The most important thing ever in everyone’s life was obtained by sacrifice, and not our own, but by the Blood of Jesus. And we didn’t deserve that either.
September 15th, 2007 at 6:35 pm
Preach it brother! As someone who is in full time ministry and someone who would like to farm I think you have hit it right on the head! Another thing that I deal with daily in my ministry opportunities is this idea of deserving everything that you talk about. In fact, I just had a long conversation with a soon to be married couple about just that. The thing I like to remind myself is that you have as much money for whatever you want to have enough money for. I have counseled people that had enough money for junk food, cable tv, and more, but they “didn’t” have enough money for the water bill. I guess it’s just easier to go to a church to ask for help paying a water bill rather than a cable bill. Thanks for the nice post.
September 15th, 2007 at 7:40 pm
Ethan,
As one who doesn’t watch TV or hardly even listen to radio, when I do see TV at someone elses home it just blows me away how society is getting “conditioned” into believing that they “deserve” anything their heart desires. Even those ads on the internet weather stations and all that are for nothing but easy loans and you deserve everything type of stuff. It’s getting so much into the “normal” way of thinking in this society that a post like I wrote will probably be considered nuts! But that’s OK with me! I’m not politically correct, I’m culturally incorrect! But I really don’t care what people think of it all, I’ll just walk the walk and I know that the Lord has many other faithful walkin the walk too! A strange and peculiar folk! Thanks for the great comment. got me thinking that this blog sure does have it’s share of Preacher/Farmers! Praise the Lord! Who’da ever thought when it started over two years ago!
September 15th, 2007 at 9:52 pm
when a comment would come that was totally off base or plain out didn’t make sense I’d think about it and come to the conclusion that more than likely the person is just flat out lazy
So if someone doesn’t agree with you they”re lazy?
Gotta run ..get dem cookies out of da oven
September 15th, 2007 at 10:07 pm
I always take the position that if a kid has figured out by age 10, that life is NOT fair, all the time, he’s likely to turn out all right. Speaking of farming, i think one of the things that went wrong, is the idea that farmers get to live like suburbanites. Instead of farming for it’s own sake, lots of people want a big new house, 2, $25,000 Lexus in the driveway, swimming pool, new bass boat, etc. etc. You can’t make a living at farming with all that debt, unless you get subsidized by the goverment……don’t get me started….One thing our society has a terrible problem with, is knowing the difference between real wealth, and having riches like money. A traditional farmer may not have a lot of cash on hand, but with his own land, crops and livestock for sustenence, food from nature by hunting or fishing, etc. he is actually very wealthy. He ain’t going to starve. But he has to work for it. I always wonder about all these high paid people who work in offices, and are ” paid to think”. Then what about all those people that actually work with thier hands and grow things, make things, or repair them. The whole world depends on such people doing thier jobs. All those people in offices “paid to think” would starve, thier plumbing quit working, auto wouldn’t run, trees and shrubs not get properly trimmed, roof fixed etc. I am a groundskeeper for a large property, and I assure you, I have to “think” a lot to do my job. But you wouldn’t think so according to what the “marketplace” value is. But I like caring for plants, and being outdoors. I even pick up rocks from time to time. Somebodys got to do it!
September 16th, 2007 at 7:12 pm
Pastor/Farmer Patti or just Patti,
I’ll stand by that statement, the comments that come in only to disrupt aren’t worth considering here. Their only purpose is to disprupt and I really don’t care about them. As far as comments disagreeing with me or pointing out something that I stated wrong, in the past I always aknowledged when I was wrong about something and would have a good laugh and thank the commenter. Only attacks are being addressed here, and they are from Lazy people!
Hey Mark!
I couldn’t agree more! I could go through the decades and bring up case after case around here of crash and burns and by far most were self induced. Remember, I said most. Once in a while I like to bring that up around here, it’s not a popular subject, it sure isn’t politically correct, but it’s nice to clean house every once in a while. Will I back off just to please folks that want it both ways, will I comprimise? No…
Folks that come here are going to get it the way I live, the way I think, and if I step on feet, to bad! I ain’t looking to start anything with anyone but won’t back down from our beliefs here.
Pick rocks eh! Glory to God!!
September 18th, 2007 at 6:55 am
Hello Tom
I couldn’t agree with you more. I believe the source of the problem goes back to the garden. The same reason people are lazy is the same reason they reject the bearing of children. It is a rejection of God and his commands. We men were told to till the ground and eat bread by the sweat of our brows. I don’t know how it is In Minnesota but here in Kentucky that’s work even with farm equipment. Now if we look close in the bible the line of Adam that rejected God (Cain’s) was the same ones who built the cities and started living that sort of life. Ill leave that alone for now.
All I know is my grandparents raised me on a farm. I picked up so many rocks I would swear that my grandfather must have seed they were like Johnson-grass couldn’t get rid of them. But in all he did he taught me how to work. I spent the first 20 years of my marriage working anywhere form 2 to 4 am till after dark. And only because of the blessings of Gods rewarding my sweat, am I able to own a farm with another one given to me (By God!) this next year. Yes folks I said given both were given I am A poor Kentucky boy. God is choosing to pour out blessing pressed down!! Ain’t He wonderful!! So Tom I say the lazy are those are rejecting god he called them sluggards. “Pro 13:4 The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing: but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat. “ This fat boy has got to get finishing up hay Praise the Lord.
P.S. Don’t let the sluggards slime bother you.
September 18th, 2007 at 7:08 pm
Hey Allen!
That’s what I love about blogging, the additional input that comes in on any given subject and the input sure has been good on this one! I’ll always remember that verse in Prov 13:4!
For a poor Kentucky boy you sure do have God’s blessing! And the most important thing is that you realize it! If only, if only more folks would realize how much they are blessed instead of just looking for others to blame or confront.
Thanks so much for the comment because it made my day!