Stepping Stones of Investment

 

Let me preface by saying that this is not investment advice, but this is my plan for investing in stocks.

In the simplest terms, investing is buying part of a company as shares, and then selling at a profit.  The goal is to buy at a low price and sell at a high price in the shortest amount of time to maximize your return on investment.  These are my stock investing principles for trading within an IRA.  Time for some definitions and formulas.

Return-on-Investment (ROI) is: (Share Sell Price / Share Purchase Price) – 1 = ROI %

ROI Example:  If you buy 100 shares of WINT at $1.71 and sell them at $1.82, your ROI for that trade is (1.82/1.71) – 1 = 6.43%.

Profit is:  (Shares Sold x Sell Price) – (Shares Bought x Purchase Price) = Profit ($)

Profit Example:  If you buy 100 shares of WINT at $1.71 and sell them at $1.82, your Profit for that trade is (100 x 1.82) – (100 x 1.71) = $11.00.

Now time for a little strategy via the Stepping-Stone Principle.  Let’s say the spring rains have been relentless and your yard is saturated.  You need to fetch some tools from the shed, but you do not want to get your feet wet in the standing water in the yard.  Your goal is the shed, which is 30 feet from the back door.  If there was only one stepping-stone 15 feet from the back door, you would have be a Olympic long-jumper to reach it, only to find yourself stuck on an island with no runway for your next jump.  In investing, this would be like saying you were only going to wait for large ROI’s, like 50% or up.  You will spend most of your investment career feeling like you are stuck with a stock that mostly disappoints and you seldom make money. 

If you have 3 stepping-stones spaced 7.5 feet apart, you will still be jumping pretty far from stone to stone.  This would be equivalent to 25% ROI.  You’re probably going to get your feet wet again even with three!

However, if you have 11 stepping-stones spaced 2.5 feet apart, that is a comfortable walk to the shed. 

The Investment Stepping-Stone Principle:  Long-term investment goals are more easily achieved with more frequent yet smaller ROI goals. 

If I want to double my investment, I could buy a stock and sit on it for a long time and wait for it to grow in value and then double.  That is an option, although it may take a year or two, or more.  But if I calculate that a specific stock’s average daily low is 3-5% less than its opening price, AND that the average range from previous day low to next day high is 5-7% or greater, then I have laid out the plan for my stepping-stones.  If my target stock opens at 1.73, I will create a limit purchase bid at 1.68.  If the bid is not picked up, then I try again the next day based off the next day’s opening price.  If the purchase goes through at my target price, then it is expected because that falls within the average.  Then the next day, I will set my sell price for something comfortable that falls on the low-side of the next day high average range.  I will target a 4% ROI, so I set my limit sell price at 1.75.  This is a likely outcome since it falls on the low-side of the calculated previous day low to next day high average.  When my stock sells, there is always a little regret that I did not set my sights higher, because I have seen it go up another 5% after I sold sometimes, but I have also seen it go the opposite direct, so be careful to not play at the edge of the average.  All investments have risks.  Even this strategy might fail me since averages always contain some anomalies.  When you are looking at your average ranges, you might want to throw out the anomalies and set your target price after excluding those data points.

 

In the long run, this will give me a 40% ROI per month, but really 48% compound ROI since I will also be reinvesting my profits with each subsequent purchase.  By targeting a 4% ROI with each purchase, and planning to sell the next day, it creates a path of stepping-stones that yields more than double the investment in 2 months (119.1% ROI).  Small achievable stepping-stones will empower the investor with more control and a better performance than a wait-and-see or moon-shot approach.

Overcoming Investment Fear

 

Overcoming Investment Fear

 

It’s not hard to say why I never really got into the stock market before last year.  I was afraid.  Every penny went to raising our four kids.  I saw it as success if we did not have a negative bank balance at the end of the week.  I remember the garage sales and the trips to the pawn shop just to get us back in the green.  Back in Georgia I did take $500 from a tax return and opened an account with TD Ameritrade.  That was back when you still had to pay commissions.  So I opened the account, but 2 weeks later I needed the money, so I just withdrew it all and closed the account without ever trading.

 

We were never really about the money either.  We were living paycheck to paycheck and pretty happy, but never wealthy financially.  I still find it hard to believe that for the 4.5 years when we lived in Georgia, we only had ONE vehicle between us!  Waiting outside PCC for my wife to pick me up was just a thing we had to do sometimes.  However, there was a slight fear of materialism that made me villainize the financial market and those who were better off.  In a way I had a fear of success and a fear of investing.  So what changed?

 

Last summer, when I was filing taxes, there was a deduction I could take if I contributed to an IRA.  It was the first time I felt like I had a few bucks to spend on it, so I opened my IRA and then I forgot about it.  Friends at work were telling me about their investments, and I started getting curious.  A close friend shared a link with me so that if I opened a Robinhood account, then both he and I could get a free stock.  I got 1 share of WPX.  That started me on my journey of overcoming my investment fear. 

 

Investing involves picking the right stock at the right time at the right price, and then selling said stock at the right time for the right price.  There are a lot of similarities between investing and gambling that are worth considering before investing.  Can you deal with the stress of seeing your stock price go down?  The first week I bought HGEN, I saw it lose about 25% in value!  I’m glad I did not set a stop loss or I probably would have just been discouraged so much that I would want to quit.  Instead I rode it out.  I added more money to the account and bought down my average.  In the end I saw it bottom out near a 50% loss.  So in a 3 month period, I rode out a full investment of HGEN seeing a 50% loss and then a 95% gain on my investment.  As a side note, I don’t know if I will ever use a stop-loss, just because I know they are often manipulated on low volume days.  Most people that use stop-losses, set them to trip and sell at 10-20% loss.  Some stocks hit a 10% day loss a couple times a month, so setting a stop-loss would be throwing money away in my opinion.  So my failures have been good teachers. 

 

 Picking the stock:  Predictability breeds confidence.  If I am looking for a stock to trade, I want to find one that is trading near it’s low price and with a large enough range to support a 3-5% 1-day growth rate.  I am looking for something that also has a large enough trading volume, say 500K and up.  By studying the individual stock historical data downloaded from the Wallstreet Journal, I can check the range.  By using TD Ameritrades free software, ThinkorSwim, I can find stocks that are near their all-time lows and that have traded large daily ranges.

 

Picking the right entry price:  Trade within the historical data range.  So I have picked a stock (WINT), near its low.  Now I want to set my entry point.  In the last week, the low from open (LFO) has averaged 3%, so whatever the open is, that is what I will set my limit price for.  If it opens at 1.75, I will set it for 1.70.  If it is increasing in value, then I will have to adjust to a 2.5%, so if it opens at 1.74 and it has had an increasing range of LFO at 2.6%, then I will set my limit buy price to 1.70.  I always target below the open.  If it doesn’t take, that’s okay.  When it does trade, then I have to wait a day to sell. 

 

Setting the right exit price:  So the next day I set my limit sell order for 5% above what I paid, unless the range does not support it.  The average range for WINT in the last month has been 8% from previous day low to next day high, so 4-5% is a good target. So I bought at 1.68 and sold at 1.75 this last time.  If I had set my sell price higher, I could have made 10%, but the odds of it selling the next day go down with each percent that I increase the sell price.  If I want to make 20%, it will take a long time to hit that price.  I am aiming to sell the next day, so I will trust the data and get my 4-5%.  I have done that 5 times in the last 2 weeks!

 

Conclusion:  Predictability breeds confidence and understanding how the market moves is the first step to overcoming the fear of investment.  If you trade, do your research, trust your data, and start off small.  Please do not take this as investment advice, but as me sharing my investment journey.  The market is a tool so that I can reach my financial goals.  Plain and simple.  Happy trading!

Investing the Bits and Pieces

 Investing the Bits and Pieces

 

As always, let me preface by saying that this is not investment advice, but this is my plan for investing in stocks.  Here we go.

A big part of my investment plan hinges on two things:

1.            1.  Weekly small wins of 3-5% growth

2.            2.  Exponential growth from reinvesting earnings

I would like to give a real-world example of trades I made this week that illustrate both of these hinge-points.  Since most of my investment is currently tied up in Humanigen  (HGEN), that leaves me with few investment options.  However, most accounts will end up with some cash on-hand available for trading just because it is hard to invest 100%.  I would like to show how investing the bits and pieces can grow that uninvested portion of an account.  It may not be much, but it does make a difference.

 

So I looked for a stock that was at or near its low and selling around $2-3.  I decided on Windtree Therapeutics (WINT) which I have previously traded.  The stock has been in decline since last summer when it hit around $10/share.  But it met my criteria for trading since it hit a 52-week low and would support my growth plan of 5%.  The growth support is derived by averaging the range of previous day lows to next day highs.  If that range supports a 3-5% gain, then I go ahead with the trade even if the stock is in decline. 

WINT stock recent average range will support 3-5% growth since the previous day low to next day high average is greater than 5%.  It is important to target a good leverage entry point, so if my Low-from-Open (LFO) is 5% average, I want to target an entry point that is 4-5% lower than the daily open.  So on 5/12 I entered at $1.80.  It took a big drop on 5/10 and had a low of $1.77 on 5/11, so I thought it was set up to increase.  It is like pulling on a rubber band.  There was tension in the stock price leveraging upward, so I did not want to put a bid in that would likely not be picked up.  It felt like the bottom, so I went in at $1.80 and it was right in the middle from the open.  It bottomed out at $1.78, then it took off, but since I am trading in an IRA, I couldn’t sell the same day as I bought.  But the next day I targeted my 5%.  Good thing I was not greedy!  It sold on 5/13 at $1.89 (exactly 5% growth), then the stock tanked again.  The trade cleared sooner than I thought it would, so I was able to buy again the next day at $1.67.  It closed 5/14 at $1.76, right at my next 5% growth sell price.  No point in being greedy, so I follow the plan.  This stock has some history of not gaining in a day, so I have set my sell price at $1.76 for Monday, and I have confidence I will hit it. 

 

This technique is what I will exclusively use after I sell my HGEN stock.  Waiting around for a parabolic seems to me a waste of time.  I’ve made good money doing it, but I think the low-growth strategy seems more certain and risk adverse.  I was able to make 2 trades in a week, which is twice as fast as my stock growth strategy plan.  That’s ok, but I am not a fan of rushing into things, so one positive trading cycle a week is still success.  Two is the max.  Besides, there isn’t a CD or a savings account out there that can give a 5-10% return a week.  So I’m pretty happy with this strategy. 

 

Regarding the exponential growth, since I only had enough money for 6 shares on the first trade, I then had enough for 7 shares on the 2^nd trade, thus investing a greater portion of my stagnant account.  So in 2 trades targeting 5%, I actually end up making 10.8% off of the original investment.  I am always amazed at the power of exponential growth in trading stock.

 

Thanks for taking the time to read this and, if you trade, I hope you found this encouraging. 

 

-Johnie

My Stock Investment Strategy

 

My Stock Investment Strategy

 

Let me preface by saying that this is not investment advice, but this is my plan for investing in stocks.  Follow this plan at your own risk.

 

After searching the internet I have not been able to find a stock investment strategy like the one I am using, so I am sharing it with the world since, so far, it has worked out pretty well.

 

I started by opening a traditional IRA with $426.  I didn’t even have any plans to open one, but I could get an additional credit on my tax return by opening one, so I did.  Then I forgot about it for 3 months.  I just didn’t even log in to the account.  Then when I had some time off, I thought maybe now is a good time to learn about stocks.  I had never bought or sold stocks before this, so I didn’t know what I was doing or how to go about it.  I was afraid I would mess the whole thing up and lose all my money.  I started by subscribing to the Wall Street Journal.  I thought it would be good to look at the stocks that hit 52-week lows and target them.  Lucky for me I wasn’t aiming very high.  I found a stock to target, AKUS, and then I targeted a 2% return.  I bought one day and sold the next.  Easy peasy.  I was still afraid I would lose my shirt on stocks, so I had even retargeted so that I only made 1.5%.  But I now knew how to buy and sell stocks.  Over the last 6 months, I have started with a plan, then broken away, failed, won, and now I am settling in on a new plan. 

 

My plan is simple:  Grow the $2700 I have already invested and not add any more.  Grow it 3.75% per week, and in 5 years I can make my first withdrawal of $1,000,000 and pay off all my debt.  Sure, I’ll pay 42% in tax on the million, but it will be worth it because I will still have more remaining in my account for retirement.  I also started a Roth IRA, so it will be tax free when I turn 59 ½.  That is my investment plan in a nutshell.  It involves having to pay the piper when I decide to take out the first withdrawal.  Until then, it will grow tax free, and I do not have to deal with it when filing taxes.  It’s not day trading, but a form of low growth swing trading. 

 

So how’s it working so far?  In these 6 months of learning to trade I have made 62% ROI, which is far better than I would have done in a mutual fund.  I am invested in Humanigen (HGEN) right now, which should take me over the 100% ROI very soon, since it is expecting a large increase in stock price for the EUA (Emergency Use Authorization) of it’s covid drug Lenzilumab.  Otherwise, my plan is to search for $3-5 stocks that are under-valued and near their all-time lows, and make my 4-5% growth in buying when they are down.  Then sell in the next few days when they are up.  I pick a stock based on the average range from the previous day's low to the next day's high and take into consideration the company news, and if it is near the tested low.  This I repeat once, maybe twice a week.  Since I have an IRA, I cannot buy and sell in the same day, but I can sell the very next day.  I just have to wait 2-3 days for the trade to clear before I can trade again.  Once I start dealing with larger money, I will either have to split it between stocks, or start investing in more expensive stocks.  That will be a good problem to have.  We’ll see how it goes.  

Wrapped in the Righteousness of Christ

Wrapped in the Righteousness of Christ
I find I am not sufficient.
I feel sin in my DNA;
With my head I know He is enough and all I need.
My pride makes excuses for times that I lied.
My hatred has killed, my eyes have cheated-
My doubts daily I have repeated.
On that scale I don't measure up,
But I am wrapped in the Righteousness of Christ.

In secret moments, what are my inward intentions?
Is cancer growing?
Are foundations crumbling?
Are my intentions holy?
Wrap me in the Righteousness of Christ.

So my bipolar faith is like the tide, rolling out and coming.
I take up my cross to follow Him,
Then I start nailing Him on it every time I want to sin.
Pour me out.
Help me surrender.
Douse out my proud embers.
Increase my faith.
Kill my pride.
Overturn the tables of greed inside.
I have nothing of substance that can pay the price.
I rest wrapped in the Righteousness of Christ.

- Johnie
02/02/2020

Hand Held Out

Hand Held Out
By Johnie W. Levell
October 28th, 2018

"RIGHT NOW" is the razor's edge -
The tangent between future and past
The clarity of my vision
The clarity of my mission
The investment of time 
Grab hold of the hand held out
Hope is the hand held out

The STEP is the movement that matters
Invest the step, Invest the step you take

The WALK is a razor's edge -
The horizon's center and the ledge
The plan and the past are hollow currency
Fill your lungs to the brim
Feel your lungs breathing in
Grab hold of the hand held out
Hope is the hand held out

The STEP is the movement that matters
Invest the step, Invest the step you take

Reach out beyond yourself
Reach out from the inside
Reaching for the hand 
Reaching for the Hand that made me

The BLINK is the reset switch -
The line between regret and hope
The rivers from our eyes and the soul's tides
More than chance, make it happen
More than circumstance, the door is open
Grab hold of the hand held out
Hope is the hand held out

The STEP is the movement that matters
Invest the step, Invest the step you take

Reach out beyond yourself
Reach out from the inside
Reaching for the hand 
Reaching for the Hand that made me

On the Walk

LORD, God Almighty, 

I praise you for Your love that is bigger than my wandering heart.  
Please draw me onto Your paths, to walk with You like Enoch walked with You.  
Draw me close to Your side and Your Heart.
When circumstances weigh down on my soul, LORD, please shield me and lift me out of the raging sea.  
Guard my heart from falling from You.
Transform my heart - mold it and shape it into the image of Christ.  
Give me a heart after Your own heart.
Lead me deeper into Your Word, past the ankle deep tide pools, and into the deep waters of Your grace.
Help me forgive like You have forgiven me.
Never let me go.
Thank You for Jesus, my Savior who made me, saved me, and sanctified me.
I praise You forever for Your glorious grace!

Missing What Really Matters

Our world is crazy.  Let me just say that to start with.  The "news" from last night is old news now.  Our steady buffet of streaming news is a confusing maze of mostly meaningless information that gets us nowhere.  It tells us EVERYTHING we never needed to know about EVERYONE we never knew existed in a way that seems important, but in the end we are right back where we started.  Thanks to the internet (and affordable digital cameras that make everyone a journalist), what was a once-a-day paper unrolled at your leisure is now a fast dripping I.V. bag we wouldn't leave home without.  A conveyor belt of North Korea, Donald Trump, deadlocked Congress, terrorists, fashion, cooking, home repair, stocks, cars, blah bla-blah bla-blah.....as far as the eye can see.

Come on.  Is that really how it is?  I would say, "take a look around you," but maybe I should say, "Stop taking a look around you.  Close your eyes.  Worship the Creator who is above the chaos."  Listen:  God has set His date.  It is fixed and will not change.  Things may be changing exponentially, but all that change is only pointing to His return - His judgment day.

If you are His adopted child, then rest in His peace.  Put down the phone.  Turn off the tv and the noise.  Turn your heart to Jesus.  The forgiveness cleanses and washes over the heart to bring peace and joy.  Are you worried?  Jesus knows all that has and will ever happen, and He is the one who owns your destiny.  He who laid down His life for you is trustworthy and kind.  

This world is not and never will be kind, but Jesus has overcome the world.  I encourage you, just as writing this has encouraged me:  Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.  It will give you focus on the goodness of God's perfect will.  And the peace of God which passes all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Jesus Christ.  (Taken from Romans 12:2 and Philippians 4:7)

Jesus said, "Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things.  Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."  Are you missing what really matters?  Right now take the time to shut off the barrage that is aiming at you, and focus on the One who is the King of kings and Lord of lords.

-  Johnie 

The Grace We Can Accept

I think we are like a bunch of people at the beach.  Some of us like to watch the lapping waves from our towel havens or lawn chairs.  Some of us like to play near the foam.  Some of us like to get our feet wet.  But usually, we see a couple of people way out in the water.  Maybe they're on surf boards.  Sometimes they get lost between high waves.  Sometimes water-shy beach bums like me get really nervous seeing people bobbing around far from shore.  I don't like it.  It makes me uneasy.

God's grace is like the ocean.  We've seen it from the beach and we think we know what it's like.  We touch our feet to it, and think we've experienced it.  We get in waist deep, and think we know all about it.  We love it, and are drawn to it, but we are sometimes just so afraid of God's full-force grace. 

Sometimes we want to control it.  We stick to the tide pools because they seem safe.  We sometimes even take shovels and dig them deeper, and when we play there we imagine the real deal.  We love grace, and we are drawn to it, but we have not ever experienced the whole of it. 

Sometimes we treat God's grace like the ocean.  We develop property along it's edges.  We build piers over the waves.  We build boats to travel the surface, and drop our hooks in its depths.  But it is more than we can ever fully take in.  It is more than we can understand.

In 1862, Frederick Faber penned the following hymn of grace: 

 

There’s a wideness in God’s mercy, like the wideness of the sea;
There’s a kindness in His justice, which is more than liberty.

There is welcome for the sinner, and more graces for the good;
There is mercy with the Savior; there is healing in His blood.

 

Was there e'r a kinder shepherd half so gentle, half so sweet,
As the Savior who would have us come and gather at His feet? 

It is God: His love looks mighty, but is mightier than it seems;
’Tis our Father: and His fondness goes far out beyond our dreams.

 

But we make His love too narrow by false limits of our own;
And we magnify His strictness with a zeal He will not own.

For the love of God is broader than the measure of our mind;
And the heart of the Eternal is most wonderfully kind.

 

 

Let us take the time to praise our adoptive Father for His great love and grace, larger than the ocean and beyond our understanding!

Receive the Free Gift Freely

Just imagine you give a friend a box all wrapped up with a ribbon bow.  He asks what the special occasion is, but you just say you wanted him to have something special.  He opens it and finds a highly valuable rare coin that he has only seen in magazines.  Amazed he asks if you are sure it is for him?  You tell him it is a gift. 

But he asks if you want any money for it because he knows how much it is worth.  You say, "No money.  Just enjoy it.  It's a gift."

But he tells you he wants to give you his signed football you were admiring a couple years ago.  You tell him again, "Thanks, but no thanks.  When I saw it I knew you would like it and I wanted to give it to you free and clear.  It's a gift." 

Persisting he begins to wear on your nerves, and asks, "Well, can I wash your car?"  You finally say, "I guess so, if you really want to wash my car."  He thoroughly washes your car with the best of attitudes and goes home singing into the sunset. 

You see him a few days later at a party and he is showing off the coin, and someone asks where he got it.  To your amazement you sadly hear him proclaim he earned it washing a car.

It is so hard for some people to accept the free gift - God's grace! 

You can't earn it. 

You can't trade a commitment for it. 

You can't promise enough promises for it.

It is totally undeserved by the receiver at the most cost to the giver - beautiful, free grace!

In Romans 3:22-24, Paul writes through the Spirit that the righteousness of God "is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus." 

In other words, no degree of law keeping, striving in good works, or anguish over your good work that you are going to do for Jesus will ever bring you into right standing with God according to His requirements.  Praise God for sending Jesus to be that payment once and for all to atone for the sins of the world.  The real question is, "Do you know this grace?  Do you have the free gift of redemption that only comes through Jesus?"

Is It That Big a Deal?

I have heard it said that when we come to the point of decision, where we know that we need salvation, that it is like our arms are completely full, and that we cannot accept salvation until we release the things we are carrying.  This puts the emphasis of obtaining salvation on the seeker, not on Christ. 

I think a Biblical perspective of the human condition at this point is more like someone coming to Jesus, and they are completely bound in spiritual chains.  (Jesus said in John 8:34, "Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.")  The chains cover them from head to foot with many locks binding them.  Shall we tell that soul to drop his chains if he wants salvation?  What a frustrating dilemma for a seeker!  Will Jesus say, "I will freely give you eternal life if you ask for it.  Just drop your chains first."  That is not what he said to the woman at the well. 

In John 4:10, Jesus says, ""If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, 'Give Me a drink,' you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water." The woman He was talking to was a Samaritan, and all Samaritans were despised by the Jews.  So by talking to her, Jesus was making a statement that He didn't think she was a dog.  But even among the Samaritans, this woman was an outcast because she was living with a man to whom she wasn't married.  That is why she was found alone by Jesus at high noon (around the sixth hour).  Everyone else got there earlier when it was cool.  It is true Jesus addressed her most urgent sin condition.  He asked her to go get her husband and bring him to Jesus.  She rightly said she didn't have one, and in her words Jesus told her all that she ever did.  But He never put a requirement for her to change in order to receive salvation. 

The Elephant in the Room

Lately, I have been fighting an internal theological battle, but I am keeping it inside no more.  This mental wrangling revolves around a debate about what is required to be saved.  Are we saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ or is it by totally surrendering to Christ's lordship?  Yesterday I read a Facebook post that assumed a girl was a Christian because she wore a cross necklace.  Then they went on to condemn the girl for wearing tempting clothing!  Then they said, "there is no such thing as a carnal Christian!"  (1 Corinthians 3 and Gal 6:1 describe carnal Christians)  This self righteousness is invading our churches and it is destructive. 

If you are in a church that teaches that you are saved by keeping certain requirements or by totally surrendering, listen to the message carefully.  Either we are saved by believing in God's unmerited favor given through Jesus, or as they say, all that plus "total surrender".  It reminds me of a verse out of the Book of Mormon.  In 2 Nephi 25:23, it says, "For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do."  That phrase, "after all we can do" is resonating now from protestant pulpits all over our nation.  It is developing self righteous condemnation of those who don't look saved enough to be called brothers or sisters.  In Ephesians 2:8-9, it clearly states that it is "by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast."  Yet this message is being heard less and less as something called Lordship Salvation is taking hold. 

In 2 Corinthians 5:21, we clearly see that God made Jesus "who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him."  It is by Him that we are able to meet God's righteous standard.  It is not by what we can do for Him to be good enough to deserve His grace! 

What Happened Under the Fig Tree?

In the Gospel of John (1:47-50) when Jesus was selecting the disciples, Jesus recognized Nathanael, but Nathanael asked how He knew him?  All Jesus said was that He saw him under the fig tree.  Nathanael replied in amazement, "Rabbi, You are the Son of God!  You are the King of Israel!"  

Jesus minimized it, and asked him if he believed just because He said that He saw him under the fig tree.  Jesus told him that  he would see much greater things.

But what happened under the fig tree?  

The Bible doesn't tell us, but we can surmise from the conversation some of it.  

1.  Nathanael was looking for the Messiah.  Philip came directly to him and told him that they found him, so obviously they were looking for the Savior of Israel.

2.  While under the fig tree, Nathanael prayed or thought something that no one else would have known.  It doesn't say that Philip found Nathanael under the fig tree, so it could have been his special prayer place that no one else knew about except God.  So if Jesus saw him there it could only mean one thing!  I have two fig trees in my yard here in Georgia, and believe me, a person could easily hide under its branches and feel perfectly protected.

3.  It was a turning point in Nathanael's pursuit of God.  This time under the fig tree had been different than other times.  I think Nathanael always held that time under the fig tree as one of the most important and special times in God working in His life.  Sometimes we have an urge to go pray in a different place, but I think that the Holy Spirit will lead us to different places to help us remember God's intervention and movement in our lives.  

It excites me to know that God cares about the still quiet moments in our lives when no one else sees us.  We can talk to God about deeper things without letting others know our thoughts.  Share our secrets with God.  I know it sounds silly because He already knows everything, but He wants relationship above all things.  He even gave His Son to have relationship with us.  So He wants us to talk to him about our thoughts, fears, plans, doubts, worries, and all the things we think about.  Find your fig tree, and expect God will find you.

--Johnie

Remembering Keith Green: 10-21-1953 to 7-28-1982

On July 28th, 2012, it will be 30 years since Keith Green died in a plane crash.  He influenced me greatly growing up, even though I was very young.  

My brothers listened to his music in high school and I inherited many of their Keith Green albums and eight-tracks.  I memorized them and wanted to be a musician and play the piano like Keith.  I was a radical zealot, although it would be when I was 12 that I actually became a follower of Jesus.  Until then, I was soaking in good music and being entertained.  I wanted the glory of being a powerful influence and I saw music as that avenue.  It was about 1986 when I found out that Keith had died.  I remember that I was very sad that I never got to go to one of his concerts.  But I also got to thinking about the mortality of someone that I had great respect for.  I never thought about him dying, but he did, and I could too.

Keith wanted to be radical because Jesus was radical.  He hated how Christianity had become an industry where it was something you could get if you had the money.  He wanted what he did to be a ministry, not entertainment.  He hated the idea of selling tickets to his ministry events (concerts).  I remember a story where he was giving away his albums, only to be brokenhearted to hear that people were turning right around and selling them unopened.


I respected his zeal and how he took it to action.  Maybe most Christians start off their journey as Keith did, full of ways to fulfill the debt of love owed to a God that saved us.  There were many times I would sin, and then I would think that I'm not a Christian because how could I sin and still be changed, a new creation?  I would rededicate my life at the steps in front of the podium many times a year because I felt like I was a disappointment to God.  He saved me, and then I let Him down.  Fearing that I was on the brink of losing my salvation I would study the Bible even harder, and try to pray a little bit longer.  I was a tortured soul, thinking I was the worst Christian ever.  I hate to say it, but it was all about me.
 
I was a Christian, but I didn't understand who saved me or why.  I knew it was God that saved me, but I didn't understand Him or His great love for me.  I still don't understand much, but I learned it was He who called me, He who chose me in His eclectic way, and it was He who loved me while I was still a sinner.

Through Keith I heard a song that would influence me so much, I even named one of my sons Josiah.  I learned God wants us, not just a donation.  I learned that Christians are on a journey, and even Keith struggled with legalism and acceptance.  I never met him, but I see him as an early spiritual mentor and teacher.

I want everyone to remember that out of all of Keith's songs, it was the praise songs in "Songs for the Shepherd" that he loved the most.  He was growing closer to the Lord, Abba Father when he was taken.  Now many Christians do not even know who Keith was or the huge impact his legacy is still having today, but I think Keith would want it that way.  It's not about Keith, but about Jesus and the Father and the family of adoptees like Keith and me.  When I get to heaven I know we will finally meet, but I am confident that we will both be consumed with praising the One who saved us.  It will be family.



-Johnie

17 Years is Not That Long - Happy Anniversary

To My Dear Wife,


It has been 17 years since that day in June when two giddy kids pledged their lives together before a full room of friends and family in Walters, Oklahoma.  Harry performed the ceremony.  Anthony sang "I Will Be Here".  Friends came from far away to see our special moment.  The night before was filled with tornadoes and some couldn't make it that morning because of floods.  Linda wrote stuff all over our windshield with red, waterproof lipstick because nobody brought shoe polish.   Then when it rained, it smeared and we had to stop at a gas station and clean it for 30 minutes.  I remember it like it was yesterday.  And I don't regret it ever.  


You are the best thing that has ever happened to me.  God truly brought us together, and for good reason.  We were made for each other.  Back at the beginning we celebrated all the ways we were alike.  We would finish each others sentences or say the same thing at the exact same time.  Then we would smile from ear to ear at each other because we were so alike!  But over the years we have learned, and are still learning, to celebrate our differences.  


I love you, Honey, and I am proud and happy to be married to you.


Love Always,


Your Husband,


Johnie

Unto the Least of These

I heard someone this week railing that most of America's problems were the result of illegal immigrants.  He said that when Alabama passed their law targeting illegal immigration, that their unemployment rate went down and most of the illegals left their state.  

He said that illegal immigrants don't respect the laws of the land and they never will.  They don't pay income taxes.  They bring drugs to the U.S. from Mexico.  They bring their whole family and send back for more.  

He said they use our schools, our social services, and they don't even bother learning the language.

I wonder if he thinks he is better than illegal immigrants:  

I never swam the Rio Grande to get into Mexico, so that makes me better.

I've never been an illegal immigrant, so that makes me better.

I've never smuggled drugs, so that makes me better.

I've always been an American, so that makes me better.

No.  It may not be right, but that doesn't make you better.  God does not favor Americans over Mexicans!  Most of those who come here illegally do so because their country has become a hopeless land of drug gangs on one side and low-wage corporations on the other.  Many of those corporations are based in America.  

And before you say anything else, look at the labels on all of your clothes, nick-knacks, and appliances, and see where they were made.  Then do a little research on the labor standards for those countries.  Some of them "employ" children as young as six.  They make about a dollar a day (or less), and work over eight hours a day.  And where does the money come from?  They are exploited by big foreign money in their own countries, so they leave their homelands looking for a better start.

Please stop talking trash against illegal immigrants, and start acting against exploitation, in the third world and here at home.  Jesus said, "Whatever you do unto the least of these, you do unto me."  I am not in favor of illegal immigration, but I believe that a person would have to be at a pretty desperate place in their life to pack up and cross out of the country of their birth.  If Americans didn't use cheap illegal labor here in the U.S., then there would be no draw.  But while they are here, we should look at them like the mission field which has come to us.  How many Christians will spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars each years, just to spend a week in a foreign land to help those less fortunate?  And how many wish they had the money to go on a foreign mission trip?  There is nothing wrong with mission trips, and they do cost money.  But don't you see the irony?  Those same people that would be visited on a mission trip are jumping our borders in desperation, because they just couldn't take the poverty any more. 

Christian, it boils down to this:  Do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God.

American, be careful how you treat the foreigner who walk between your shores.  Someday it may be you who is wishing for understanding at your desperate attempt to escape hardship and struggle. 

--Johnie

Memories from S.H. Rider A-Cappella Choir

First for God.  Second for the Composer.  Third for yourself.  Then for anyone else who wants to hear.  These were our instructions for singing in the S.H. Rider A-Cappella Choir directed by Donald Cowan.  It may have been a high school choir, but Mr. C, as we called him, pushed us well beyond what we thought we could do.  Singing the words and pitches were only a small part of being in A-CAP.  For over 30 years our teacher taught how to aspire to excellence and how in giving one becomes truly satisfied.  

It didn't matter if a concert had five or five-hundred in the audience, we were taught that they were merely observers, who gleaned and benefited from an experience that we had on the risers.  We held hands for all concerts, not only as tradition, but because we benefited from knowing that we were one in mind, in heart, and in voice.  Mr. Cowan didn't just lead a choir - he led an army of young people who were looking for purpose.  

No one stood out at a concert.  Girls wore black dresses with black dress shoes.  Boys wore black slacks, white shirts, and black ties.  But I loved putting on my black robe and golden stole most of all, in anticipation of filing out onto the risers.  As we passed from the dim halls and curtains, identities fell into distant oblivion, and we became "The Choir".  Voices of the past, some of which were silent for years, were heard in perfect pitch and timber.  Countless hours of training were shared with one voice from youth who truly did not know what a special thing they had, even though it meant the world to us even then.  

Mr. C set up many concerts, but one in particular will never be forgotten by the choir of '93.  The place did not look very exciting and even seemed a little strange.  Not many were in attendance at the School for the Mentally Retarded in Austin, TX, as we stood in our places looking into the hap-hazard crowd.  As we sang a familiar song, one particular young man from the school stood behind Mr. Cowan just to where he couldn't be seen.  As Mr. Cowan's arms and hands rolled in direction, and his body swayed, he spotted the shadow of this aspiring director and they made eye contact.  Mr. C, knowing that this was a once in a life-time moment for this special man, bowed to him, stepping away to let him finish directing us.  I don't know how we sang with all the tears that rolled down our cheeks, but we sang like we never sang before.  And the life and joy that beamed from the face of our "new director" will forever be etched in my mind.  He waved his arms with passion and staccato.  It was one of those heaven moments, where you know that something big is happening, even though you're not quite sure how.

I thank my God for what I learned in that choir.  I thank Mr. Cowan, for the positive influence he had on me when I needed it the most.  Thirdly, I thank the composers who had the gift of putting passion and energy into the songs we sang.  And last of all, I thank the people that shared with us by listening.  

To God be glory.  

--Johnie

Catch a Falling Star

Tonight I can't sleep, so I'm up blogging.  I'm troubled by a 20/20 report I watched about children in foster care that are over-medicated in place of helping them deal with their problems.  It really broke my heart to hear these kids talk about their ordeals.  I mean, where are these kids?  Well, I hate to say it, but they are out of sight and out of mind for me most of the time.  

We aren't foster parents, and I've only known a a handful of families that have been foster parents, and sometimes it doesn't turn out well.  My sister Penny and her husband Floyd have been foster parents to some children from the toughest circumstances I've ever heard of.  How tough it must be for a child to be passed around like a burden, and seen by some foster families as nothing more than supplemental income.  Maybe that's why foster kids are placed in so many homes - so they'll eventually get one of the families that care.  

What would I do?  How would I act?  What would I believe about myself if I was one of those children?  This hurts to even deal with because I know they're out there, hurting.  Many of them feel like they weren't kept because they are defective.  Well, to tell you the truth, we are all defective.  Whoever is reading this, please know that you are "defective".  We are born into this body of sin, and it is the permeating defect that haunts us until the day we die.  If you don't believe it just read Romans 7.  Understanding Romans 7 is one of the most important spiritual growth moments for the human soul.  But my point is that it is NOT their fault that they are in foster care!

We are no different from these children in the fact that we have little to no choice in the way we grew up, good or bad.  Sometimes their parents die young and no extended family will take them.  Most of the time, they are removed from bad family circumstances for their own safety.  Sometimes it's because of illegal activities by the parents, and mom or dad are in jail (or both).  But they are "in the system" because of things that happened to them that were not in their control.

The sad part is that they don't know how to deal with it.  One 15 year old girl has taken to cutting herself, and I just want her to know that when she was abandoned at 3 yrs old, it wasn't her fault!  One girl had been taking medication that incited weight gain, and she weighed 300 lbs.  When Diane Sawyer was talking to her, the girl asked her if she was a foster child, and what I was hearing from her in her question is, "Can I be successful like you since I've got so much baggage being a foster child?" 

One little boy, 7 yrs old, hung himself after being prescribed medication that was known to cause suicidal tendencies, and the hanging was ruled an accident.  But he had a laundry list of medicines he was taking anyway, and the doctors just seemed to add med on top of med instead of even trying to deal with the root cause problem.  Where is the oversight?!!  Where is the accountability?!!  The folks from 20/20 couldn't even get an interview from the Department of Health and Human Services because the agency couldn't figure out which branch department should be in charge of handling their questions!!  My sister Penny had to fight tooth and nail with the government just so she could adopt one of her foster kids because the abusive father in prison wouldn't give up his parental rights.  She finally won, but it took years and that is just wrong!  

For the last couple of days I've had this song in my mind that I just can't shake, so lucky you, I am sharing it for a purpose:  "Catch a falling star and put it in your pocket/ Save it for a rainy day/Oh, save it for a rainy day/Oh, save it for a rainy day."  Then it repeats in it's cheesy unforgettable pattern.  Well, tonight at the Coffee County Christmas Parade, a friend of mine, Keith Lott, was talking and then stopped short and said, "Look at that!"  I turned and looked where he pointed and saw a meteor falling northeast of town.  As it fell it broke in two pieces before it disappeared.  I have seen quite a few falling stars, but never that big or one that had broken in two pieces.  It will probably be the only time in my life that I see such a thing, but I honestly think I will remember that on the night my eyes were opened to the pain of foster children, I saw a double falling star.

How appropriate is that!  How do we catch these falling stars - these children?  I'm just asking God what He wants me to do.  I'm scared at the thought of taking a foster child and not being able to dedicate the time or attention needed to them, or to my four children.  What if I failed them?  What if I loved my own children with preference or treated them differently as to not show any preference?  I'm not really sure what is my part nor what is His plan for me and my family.  But I do want you, whoever is reading this, to ask yourself, "What does God want me to do to help foster children?"  Cleaning up the system is one thing.  Being a foster parent is another.  There is also encouraging parents to get counselling, and promoting counselling to people that need it.  In this regard, Hillary was right - it does take a village.  When we see someone heading down the wrong path, warning them and guiding them is what we should do, instead of just talking about how messed up they are.  The Bible is clear that a watchman who sees danger approaching and says nothing will be judged harshly for that.  Warning people because you care about them is one of the ways to keep kids out of foster care all together.  No reason for foster care, then no foster care.

Please watch that segment of the Dec 2, 2011 20/20 episode on the web if you haven't seen it.  Then you will know what I'm talking about.

--Johnie

You are of More Value

Pulling out of the driveway tonight I saw something very strange.  I hadn't seen anything like it before, but it looked like a mouse or a tiny gremlin just sitting in the middle of the driveway.  Many leaves have been falling, so I tried to think of it as a leaf, but I couldn't.  So Lora Beth and I got out to examine it, and stooping down to investigate, to my shock I found a sparrow stuck head down in a small hole chipped a couple inches deep in the asphalt.  Better yet, we could see that its little body was heaving and that it was still alive!

I gave its tail feathers a gentle tug pulling it out of the hole, and rested its body on the ground.  A small worm was hanging out of its mouth, but it seemed unscathed and unbroken.  I attempted to pick it up, but it flew a few feet into the grass, and quicker than I expected, the sparrow took flight into the woods behind the house.  Within a minute's time, the whole incident had started and ended.  Lora Beth looked up at me with wonder in her face, and I knew I couldn't waste the moment.

Back in the van I asked the kids what the Bible said about sparrows.  One of them shouted out, "That we're more important than sparrows!"  And oh, how right that is! 

In Matthew 6:26, Jesus is quoted saying, "Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?" 

And again He says in Luke 12:6-7, "Are not five sparrows sold for two copper coins?  And not one of them is forgotten before God.  But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows." 

I told the kids that if God looks after the sparrows, and this one in particular and sent us to help it, how much more does He think of us.  He loves us and values us more than that "many sparrows", and yet we had compassion on just one.  Praise the Creator who cares about people, giving hope and shining light where we might not have thought it was possible.  Yes, He cared about that one little bird, but He cares about us more.

My Salvation

When I was four, I thought you had to memorize John 3:16 before you could be saved.  I also thought that being baptized meant “being saved.”  I thought it was an impossible task, and I just feared death.  That’s what I really thought at 4 years old.

I used to fall asleep in church during sermons.  The way it would work is we would find a seat, the organ would play, the choir would come in and sing, everyone would sing and then greet each other, more singing, take up money, THEN as the preacher would start talking, I would lay down in the pew, put my head in my father’s lap, and not wake up until the music started again.  That was church for me as a kid, and for some people it still is. 

I was baptized in the 3^rd grade after walking the aisle during a revival at Faith Baptist Church.  My niece and brother left our pew and started down to the front during the closing invitation.  I didn’t want to be alone, so I went, too.  I was asked if I understood everything and if I took Jesus to be my Lord and Savior.  I wasn’t about to say why I really came down, so I ended up as one of many white robed baptizees a week or two later.

I regularly went to church until sometime during the 4^th grade.  My dad had stopped going for the most part, and so I started playing sick on Sunday mornings.  Mom would come in and tell me to get out of bed.  I would say I didn’t feel good.  She’d tell me to get up and dressed.  Dad would defend me and say I could stay home with him.  Then as soon as mom would go, I would feel so much better.  I would watch westerns and wrestling and sometimes dad and I would just work out in the garage fixing cars.  Okay, I would play and dad would work on cars. 

People from the church would send me little postcards saying they missed me.  Even though I wanted to, I was afraid to go back.  In Sunday School they kept an attendance chart that was covered in stars for those “faithful” children.  I was afraid of what that chart would look like after a couple years, so that fear kept me from going with mom.

I remember sometime in the 6^th grade playing war hero in the backyard.  I was unhappy with my life and I wanted God to fix it.  I remember looking up in the sky over the house and praying out loud, “God, if you’re really there, then give me a million dollars right now and make me the most powerful man in the world.”  (I know.  It hurts.)  Well, I gave God a whopping 10 seconds, and I remember praying, “I didn’t think you could do it.”  Then I did something that really hurt the whole “age of accountability” thing.  I prayed, “Satan, if you’re really there, then you give me a million dollars and make me the most powerful man in the world. " At that moment, I knew I had crossed a line.  I got this uneasy feeling in my gut, and I knew right then that if I died I would go to Hell.

For a while I struggled with my fear of going to church, but eventually we all went.  It might have been Easter.  I don’t remember the day, just that it was spring-time.  I don’t remember anything about Sunday School, the music or the sermon.  During the invitation the pastor Sandy Sandlin said, “Now draw an imaginary circle around yourself, and it’s just you and God in that circle.  Now tell God why He should let you into His Heaven.”  I didn’t have an answer.  I knew I was a sinner.  I knew I was going to Hell.  He led anyone that wanted to become a Christian in a prayer, and I prayed it with all my heart.  On that day, I was changed.  God bought me, cleansed me, and adopted me. 

I didn’t go back to church until the 7^th grade started and fortunately they didn’t still have those attendance charts up.  I looked.  The youth group was one of the best things that ever happened to me.  Craig Lile made sure that there was some kind of Bible lesson at every activity.  I learned so much.

I didn’t get baptized until after Joyce and I had started going to Scotland Baptist Church 7 or 8 years later.  Today, I know who owns me and is still transforming me into the image of His Son Jesus.  This is my story.  This is my salvation, and I am so thankful for a God that never gave up on me. 

--Johnie