Trust you enjoyed your day yesterday.  Ian was ill so did not join us – first time it was just Carla and I in quiet celebration.  Always before we had family with us either we went there or they came here. 

Ken was home with his family, Steven was visiting Celinda’s family, Deed had to work and Josh was goose hunting and Teresa was working.  Currently Ken is off his rotations and working straight days with weekends off, now, Deed and Teresa are on those crazy kinds of schedules that you have to check each day to see if they are working and what shift so you don’t interrupt their sleep.  Always something...

We enjoyed a large roast – and the trimmings.  Teresa stopped by after work and we sent her home with meals for both of them.

It was a good day for us.

No snow here or on the hills immediately surrounding us – foggy and cool.  But the Cascades are getting plenty of snow.  Can’t see our mountains today, but did, briefly yesterday and the sky was clear enough to see the full moon.

Deed said they are getting lots of snow at her house, it is bothersome getting on and off the property, but she isn’t complaining.  The kittens are loving it.

Acts 9:27 But Barnabas took him, and brought him to the apostles, and declared unto them how he had seen the Lord in the way, and that he had spoken to him, and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus.

Paul was a pariah and even worse a persecutor as far as the Jews who had turned to Christ were concerned.  They distrusted his conversion and thought that he was trying to deceive them so he could gain entry into their lives so he could bring them before the Sanhedrin to prosecute.

And they had good reason – before his meeting with Jesus on the road to Damascus and his studying under Christians in Damascus – he indeed had gained credentials from the High Priest authorizing him to bind them and take them to Jerusalem for trial.

But he was converted and started preaching that Jesus was indeed the Messiah and the truths of His teachings, sacrifice and resurrection. 

Still people distrusted him – until Barnabas confirmed, to the Apostles, that he had accepted Christ and was now preaching boldly about Him.  They then gave him their blessings.

Paul had received a ‘letter of reference’ from Barnabas which opened the doors allowing him to teach and preach Christ AND allowed him to fellowship with other believers.

Paul, throughout the rest of his life, preached and taught the Gospel of Christ and lived a life solely dedicated to Jesus’ salvation message.  The support of Barnabas proved appropriate.

Today we are often asked to provide a letter of reference for someone who is seeking a position with a business, church or government office.  The person wants to put his best foot forward and comes to us believing that we will support him in his endeavors.

The don’t necessarily want the truth – that is why many businesses and government today just give the dates the person worked for them, and nothing else because so many have been sued because they gave a less that glowing reference.

So what happens if a poor employee gets a free ride to be hired by another company and perhaps cause damage to them.

When people list references they list those that are going to speak well of them – or so they think – sometimes they assume something without asking the person they are using as a reference.

Before we started doing a background check on an applicant we had them sign a waiver that we could show to whomever we were talking to showing that whatever they said would be in strictest confidence and nothing would be held against them – yet, many would balk at being open for various reasons, including fear of a law suit.

When we did background checks on potential employees, we did contact their former places of work – and often got that standard, yes they used to work here.  We talked to supervisors that had been told by their employers to give no more than that answer.

We contacted the references listed on the employment application and using got positive comments.

However, we never stopped there – we always asked of those references, “Who else should we talk to?”  Talked to them and asked them the same question.

By the time we got down to the third or fourth – talk to this person – we had a pretty good idea of the character of the applicant and it wasn’t always as they liked to portray themselves.

We checked with neighbors and many other sources.

When Ken was being checked out by the Coos Bay police department they even talked to me as his father.  I gave the investigator an honest evaluation – among other things I told him I would hire him in a heartbeat and why.

His response, as might be expected, was “you are his father, of course you would say that.”

I assured him that if I felt Ken couldn’t do the job I would tell him – I had experienced too many people getting into law enforcement that shouldn’t be in it, to tell him anything but the truth.

I don’t know what weight he gave my reference – and there lies the brunt of giving references.

How qualified is the person to give the reference, how honest do we think they are (there are ways to tell if someone is hedging – one of the things we learn as officers,) what are the credentials of the person that is being used as a reference, how close were they to the applicant.

The larger the company the farther removed the ‘boss’ is from the employee, it is important to understand who the person is and what that relationship is – usually supervisors were a decent source – but fellow employees gave better information, sometimes it had to be followed up and verified, but we got a better understanding and often a more honest evaluation.

Some people by virtue of their title, personality or ability are given more weight than others when they endorse a person.

Barnabas was well known and his word was accepted as truth when he endorsed Paul.  He was putting his own reputation on the line, if Paul had not been converted, if he had not changed from the persecutor to the persecuted, Barnabas would have lost his status and credibility.

As Christians, it is important that we are open and honest with others.  It doesn’t mean we have to be cruel or hateful in our assessment when asked, but it does mean that we should not lie about our observations – especially when it comes to recommendations of someone for a position.

But it also means talking honestly when someone comes to us and asks our counsel.  All too frequently we don’t want to hurt their feelings or cause them distress so we gloss over our concerns and they go away either convince they are on the right track, or even more confused than when they met with us.

We are not always qualified to make recommendations and it is important we acknowledge that when asked. 

Barnabas had watched the spiritual growth of Paul, had listened to him as he preached the gospel open and forthrightly and believed Paul had changed.  Barnabas had earned the respect of the Apostle and was qualified to give the recommendation he didn’t hesitate to tell others about him.

While I have faltered many times in almost every phase of my life, I want to try and improve and show my dedication to God, to others, so that the Barnabas’ around me will support me and say to those in authority, declared unto them how he had seen the Lord in the way, and that he had spoken to him, and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus.

I want to speak the truth about Christ, and not bow to those that would contaminate His Word.  I want people to be able to read my words, listen to what I ‘preach,’ listen to my testimony and find Christ’s love within it so that when I recommend Christ to them, my witness to them by my life confirms Christ is indeed the Savior.

Later, Art :-)

From the ColumbiaRiverGorgeous
May Our Good Lord Bless and Keep YOU....’til we meet again