Computer Cowards?

On March 12, 1998, I became a parent! Yes, I am the father of Thomas Ericson Hodge. The most special little boy in my universe(he's not so little anymore). God has given me the responsibility to do my BEST for my son. I am responsible for him...not you. No one else will answer to God for the raising of Thomas except for me and Regina.

The best thing I can do for Thomas is to live my life for Jesus openly in front of Him. And I'm not talking about playing spiritual games. Thomas needs to see a living, breathing, real-life relationship in his father. He needs to see a real faith at home and not just at church in the pulpit. He needs to see a real faith when the clerk at Wal-Mart short-changes me some money and when I'm on the softball field representing God & Mt. Olive Church.

Another 'best' thing I can do for Thomas is to love his mother. When a mother and father love each other, and model that before their children, it does so much for those kids! Hopefully Thomas is already somehow, someway understanding what real love is between a man and a woman....and how he should love his wife one day.

The last thing I need to do for Thomas is protect him; protect him from many things in this world. One area that is as important in protecting Thomas as any other concerns the area of the 'internet'! Maybe you read about this story...
In November 2008, a Los Angeles jury found Lori Drew guilty of three misdemeanor computer crimes and sentenced her a maximum of three years in prison. She is the "MySpace mom" who created a fake MySpace account under the pseudonym "Josh Evans" to lure a thirteen yr. old Missouri girl into an online relationship. This was part of a hoax orchestrated by Drew, her own thirteen yr. old daughter(who was friends with the Missouri girl), and an employer of Drew's. After developing a relationship with the girl through "Josh," Drew wrote in a message to the girl "The world would be a better place without you." Soon after, the Missouri girl committed suicide.
That was a terrible tragedy. But internet sites are being created today to intentionally spread gossip. One site provides a virtual bathroom wall for 500 college campuses. Users anonymously can post gossip, slander, racial slurs, and sexually explicit comments about any person on their campus without any fear of legal recourse. Another site lets a person pinpoint their neighbor on a map and post comments about their barking dogs and alleged domestic violence, or whatever they want. Pictures of the neighbor's house are provided through 'Google maps.'

That stuff and much more is why one of the BEST things I can do for Thomas is protect him from that smut. It's my responsibility. No one else's.
Are you protecting your child on the internet? Statistics tell us this...

34% of teens have seen illicit material online they did not want to see.
71% of teens have reported receiving messages online from people
they do not know.
14% of teens have met someone in person with whom they first
communicated online.
33% of teens say their parents know "very little" or "nothing" about
what they do on the internet.

Well...there are great lessons in all that for us. And the lessons? There are many, but the main lesson is that we have a responsibility to guide, teach, and protect our kids. Period. No excuses. And I don't care what society is doing. We're called by God to be different! Be in the world? Yes. But be of the world? No way.
What can we do to protect our kids from the internet? Here are a few things...

1. Do not allow internet access in the kid's bedroom. Make no
exceptions. It's a foolish choice to allow this.
2. Put internet access on a computer in a common family area
where all can see. Keep the computer screen facing the family.
3. Have you ever tried to limit TV for the kids? Then limit time
spent on the internet(internet surfing is like teens just driving around
town. Often we find trouble even if we're not looking for it – idle time
can be dangerous).
4. By all means, put adult content blockers on your computer. Let
the wife of the house set the PASSWORDS! Regina sets ours. Don't
give the devil a foothold.
5. Delete all e-mail from someone you don't know.
6. And most of all...stop talking that trash about not wanting to
'violate' your child's privacy! The things of this world can
destroy them. Quit being a computer coward(or a coward in general)
and take some stands and remind your child who's in control.
* And yes we want to trust our kids...but temptation is temptation to
all of us. Satan can get anyone if they don't take precautions.

Let's be God's people at all times, in all areas, and especially with our children. We're gonna answer for them, folks. Especially during their early years. Let's do our best with them.
God bless each of you.

Bro. Eric

"LOW...I Am With You!!"

We've all heard, read, and seen the videos and pictures of the plane crash in the Hudson River several days ago.

I guess that's one reason I really don't enjoy "flying the friendly skies" any longer! And it's not really the flying that scares me...it's the crashing into the ground that scares me.

All 155 or so people made it off the plane alive. That's a miracle. That the pilot could land the thing safely is the real miracle. Praise God that this incident ended in such a positive way.

I've had my own few scares while flying...but nothing like having to ditch in the water, etc. I had one spooky experience with turbulence on a flight home from Montana in Summer 2003 after a church mission trip.

Talk about a cheap flight! I was flying from Montana to Arkansas after the mission trip. But come on! The itinerary went something like this; Billings to Denver, Denver to Dallas, Dallas to Miami, Miami to London, London to Milwaukee, Milwaukee to San Fran, San Fran to Tallahassee, and finally into Little Rock. Well, of course, I'm kidding. The truth is, the last leg was from Dallas on into Little Rock. But it did seem about that long, with about that many stops. Boy, was I glad when I finally got home that evening.

There is more to the story though. The flight from Dallas to Little Rock got much more interesting. We were told by the pilot when we left Dallas that there were storms all around Little Rock and that the flight could get a bit bumpy. "Oh, great," I thought to myself. "That's all I need. Turbulence!" Having experienced several other "bumpy" flights in the past, the T-word didn't bring me a great deal of in-flight joy. You see, I 'm not scared of flying, and I'm not scared of heights, I'm just scared of flying into a really large mountain or free-falling from thirty thousand feet. So I reached over and pulled my seatbelt a little tighter, though we all know the only thing a seatbelt does is keep us from bouncing all over the cabin and breaking something before the plane crashes into the ground. I glanced around at the other passengers. Everyone just kept right on doing what they were doing; reading, talking, typing on their laptops, or drinking!! As a Southern Baptist Pastor, I don't drink. I suddenly realized that I was in trouble. How could I get through air turbulence without alcohol? I wasn't sure...but I had no other choice. I was going to have to try.

It was at this time I also noticed that everyone had someone sitting next to them except me. I suddenly felt lonely. But I dismissed that as the chance to be left alone. That way if the plane went down I could die in peace.

Well, sure enough, as promised, about 15 minutes out of Little Rock, our little 40 passenger plane hit the turbulent air, or the turbulent air hit us, I'm not sure which...and I don't think it really matters. The Stewardess had just handed me my complimentary APPLE JUICE at that exact moment. People were yelling and a few were actually screaming(I'm not speaking ministerially here). Several couples around me were even holding hands. I suddenly felt really bad being I had no one next to me to hold hands with!

The stewardess decided that she would try and help us all be calm and relax. She yelled to all of us on the plane, "Folks, just try and remain calm. There's nothing to be worried about. Air turbulence is just like going over a speed bump in your car...except that we're in the air!" I sat for a moment and then thought, "Nope, that's not gonna work for me! " That's not gonna do it for this preacher whose faith just got thrown to the back of the plane. That woman needed to find some better pat answers. All I knew was that after going over a speed bump in my car, I've never fallen 30,000 feet to the ground in a ball of flames.

Now please understand, this was real life turbulence. I mean, that little plane was flopping all over the sky and I was flopping all over the sky with it. I really didn't know what to do. But I wanted to make sure I was in the right position for crashing, at least. So I grabbed the chair in front of me with my left hand, held my tremendously valuable apple juice(I wasn't going down on that plane thirsty!) with my left hand, and since I had no one sitting next to me, I put my right foot against the plane's wall...and rode that puppy out! For a minute there, I felt like I was on the professional bull rider's circuit.

But through the whole ordeal, I think I am most proud of one thing - I never once spilt a drop of my apple juice!!!!!

Well, I average flying about once a year. Gonna do my best to keep it that way. For God didn't say 'HIGH I will be with you'...but 'Lo I will be with you." I'm going to trust His Word!!!

Hang in there!

Bro. Eric

"For I know the plans I have for you..."
Jeremiah 29:11


The New Year is here as we all are well aware of. Maybe 2008 was the BEST you've ever experienced, then maybe not. Do you have HUGE plans for 2009? I've never been much of a 'resolution guy,' but I do have a few goals of my own...

* I would love to be able to train our new lab, 'Musket', to
respond to the command "to come here." (he mostly ignores me)
* I would love to lose about 25 pounds. (I hide the extra well)
* I would love to be in the Bahamas next week to scuba dive.
(maybe I'll get a church position down there as "Director of Scuba Ministries!!")
* I would love to retire next year.

All good goals I guess...but the truth is that I find that my prayers really aren't quite that specific this time of year. The fact is, we really don't know what God has in store for us in 2009. We have our goals and dreams, but what we must accept is the truth that it's ultimately up to God what doors He opens and which ones He leaves closed. I've got to learn to trust Him in that. He's in control of my life. In the end, we have very little control over very few things.
How can we hang on to trust in God this New Year?

1. Remember that God sees the big picture. Yes that new job or promotion with the big salary, company car, and the new DELL laptop seems to be exactly what you need. But God might slam that door shut because He can see so much more and so much farther down the road than we can. Most of all, God created us and therefore He knows our heart and what's best for us. My scope of life and MY life is so limited. He simply knows that at times we don't need THAT job. He's got something else for us that's better. Just remember that it may not always include a company car and DELL laptop.

2. God must plan your plans. Make the commitment now that you want only what God wants for you. And if you don't know what that is at this time, then keep praying, keep listening, and keep waiting on God(be patient). God always answers and He always works, even if we can't see it at every moment. Read Proverbs 19:21. God will show us in time His plans and way for us.

3. Don't listen to the world. The world thinks it's got the plan for you. But believe me it doesn't. God's thoughts, ways, and will have nothing to do with the world, except that we are to go into the world and represent Christ and point the world to Him. I think a huge portion of Christian's struggle is related to who they listen to. Always listen to God and His Word. You will never go wrong there.

4. Don't settle for second best. Anything other than God's plans for us is settling for second best in our lives. Why would we reach out and choose a rock instead of a diamond? That is kind of what we do when we choose anything other than what God wants for us. It's just not worth it. It might sparkle and look really good at first, but in the end there will be regret.

So this year, my basic plan will be to seek God and His plan for my life. And I will try and obey Him...even if my dog won't obey me.

God bless you,

Bro. Eric