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BROADHEAD: Strive to be a person of integrity

Written by archive on August 20, 2015. Posted in columns, Opinion, your-voice.

Jesus says to “be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.” But perfection — as the world understands it — is an impossible goal for anyone. Rather, we are to strive for God’s perfection.

God is completely consistent. He does not waver in what he says is right or wrong. He does not waver in his love for every individual in creation. He knows what he stands for. He does good in all things.

Jesus calls us to know God’s teachings and expectations, and integrate them into every fiber of who we are. We are called to be persons of integrity. We don’t behave one way when with one group of people, and then behave in a different fashion when with another group of people. Who we are, as Christ's disciples, is constant and consistent.

It is challenging — we may want to join in a bit of gossip; we might want to spread a malicious rumor; or we may laugh at a raunchy, sexist or insensitive joke. But these things disappoint God, and those who know we are Christ's disciples. We lose some integrity in their eyes.

During these times, sincerely apologize to those around you, confess to God and move forward. Strive to be a person of integrity, fully integrated in the knowledge, teachings and ways of God in Jesus Christ.

The Rev. Mark Broadhead is pastor at Laurel Hill Presbyterian Church and First Presbyterian Church of Crestview.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: BROADHEAD: Strive to be a person of integrity

SHANKLIN: What happens to my IRA after I'm gone?

Written by archive on August 19, 2015. Posted in columns, lifestyle.

Contributing to an IRA can help you build some of the resources you will need to enjoy a comfortable retirement.

But what happens to your IRA if you don’t use it up in your lifetime?

You can still put the IRA’s assets to good use — as long as you’ve made the right moves and communicated your wishes clearly to your family.

When you opened your IRA, you should have named a beneficiary — someone who will receive the IRA assets when you die. You could also name a contingent beneficiary if the first beneficiary dies before you. These beneficiary designations are important because they can supersede the instructions left in your will.

If you name your spouse as beneficiary of your IRA, he or she has options unavailable to other beneficiaries.

Here are two possibilities:

• Roll over assets into a new or an existing IRA — Your surviving spouse can roll over your IRA’s assets into his or her IRA or use the money to create a new IRA.

And, as long as your spouse is eligible, he or she can then add new contributions to the IRA. This could be a good choice if your spouse won’t need the money right away and would like to keep it in a tax-advantaged account for as long as possible.

Upon reaching age 70½, though, your spouse will likely need to start taking withdrawals (“required minimum distributions”), unless the inherited IRA was a Roth IRA.

• Convert the assets to a Roth IRA — If you are leaving a traditional IRA to your spouse, he or she could roll over the assets into a new or an existing IRA and then convert the assets into a Roth IRA.

This move gives your spouse at least two potential advantages.

First, if certain requirements are met, no taxes are due on the withdrawals.

Second, as mentioned above, no withdrawals are even required — your spouse can leave the money intact for as long as desired.

However, taxes will be due on the amount converted to a Roth, so this conversion may only make sense if your spouse has enough assets available in a nonretirement account to pay the tax bill.

Thus far, we’ve just talked about your spouse as the beneficiary. But what might happen if you’ve named someone else — perhaps a child or grandchild — as the primary beneficiary of your IRA?

In this case, the beneficiary won’t have the option of rolling over the IRA. Instead, he or she can either take the money as a lump sum or take distributions over time.

If you die before age 70½, and you hadn’t started taking the required minimum distributions, your beneficiary must start taking withdrawals by Dec. 31 in the year following the year in which you die.

These withdrawals can be stretched out over your beneficiary’s lifetime, though, spreading out the tax obligations.

As an alternative, your beneficiary can delay taking distributions, but he or she would need to withdraw all the money within five years of your death.

When dealing with any aspect of your estate plans, including naming beneficiaries for your IRA, you’ll want to consult with your tax and legal professionals.

You put a lot of time and effort into building the assets in your IRA — so you’ll also want to take care in how you pass these assets along.

This article was written by Edward Jones for use by your local Edward Jones financial adviser.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: SHANKLIN: What happens to my IRA after I'm gone?

HELMS: Eliminate apathy; change today's generation

Written by archive on August 19, 2015. Posted in columns, Opinion, your-voice.

As a child of the 1970s, we are labeled the apathetic generation.

The generation before us was remembered for protests and riots.

Protests against the Vietnam War were large, loud and vocal; even at times violent. The civil rights movement had massive numbers of people, including women, uniting under one banner of equality.

This generation stood for things they believed in.

Then came the '70s. The war was over, oppression became less noticeable, and our generation discovered the phrase "whatever."

Many of us did not care.

Nothing so single-handedly caught our attention, and was our biggest passion at that time — which thankfully was very short-lived — as disco.

Now, we are well into our 50s, and wonder why this country is in such turmoil.

The apathetic generation tuned out. "Whatever" became the rule.

Now is the time to change all of that.

In the Bible, Joshua showed us the way to capture our purpose and redirect our lives. He issued a challenge: Would they choose God and follow Him — or would they go another way?

He then directed a statement that should resonate off our hearts and minds and knock away the apathy from our lives: "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." Serve Him, stand for Him — loud, long and in numbers too numerous to ignore.

I am not talking about church as usual, but a personal relationship with our Creator. By recognizing our flaws and placing them under Him, we can have an immediate effect on our corner of the world.

I, for one, do not intend to leave my part of the world without making a bold statement for serving Him.

In our churches today, we talk about many things, but do we teach and act upon — even hold one another accountable — for our actions outside of those walls?

Today's events have many proclaiming Christ's quick return, but why are we, as a body, not going full out to win as many as we can?

Crowns await us for being overcomers, not bench sitters. These crowns are for soul winners, not those sitting in the pews shouting "Amen" and doing nothing.

If we acted as though we truly believed in His return, would we not seek His face continually and be praying for all those that do not know Christ and His redeeming grace?

We should be able to see large numbers added daily to our churches, opportunities for others to win their families; friends becoming closer.

Yet a generation is dying and headed for hell, for we will not stand up and live according to His Word and serve Him fully.

Apathy is indeed a killer, but it is merely one symptom of a lack of love.

Maybe we each should heed Joshua's challenge, and ask the Father to eliminate apathy in our lives, and act to change today's generation.

The Rev. Richard Helms serves at Miracle Acres Ministries, 3187 E. James Lee Blvd., Crestview.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: HELMS: Eliminate apathy; change today's generation

BEARDEN: Cotton is important to Okaloosa County, our country and our world

Written by archive on August 19, 2015. Posted in columns, lifestyle.

You probably can’t go a day without touching cotton or a cotton by-product.

Especially here in Okaloosa County.

In 2012, according to the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service, 5,960 bales of cotton were produced in Okaloosa.

Each bale weighs about 480 pounds — that’s enough cotton to make over 1.28 million pairs of jeans or over 7.25 million T-shirts.

An added benefit of cotton is the beautiful flowers it produces. These flowers attract native pollinators and honey bees. Cotton honey is said to have a buttery flavor with a definite tang.

Here are more facts about cotton:

●Cotton is produced in 17 states called the Cotton Belt, which stretches across the Southern U.S. from Virginia to California.

●About 30 percent of our cotton is exported

●Each cotton plant produces lint and seed

●The lint is used to make fabrics, fishnets, coffee filters and tents, among other things

●Cottonseed is separated into oil, meal and hulls. The oil is used in cooking and the meal and hulls are used as livestock, poultry and fish feed.

●Cotton's total economic value in the U.S. exceeds $120 billion.

Cotton will be harvested in the early fall in Okaloosa County. You can see the big bales of cotton sitting in the fields in North Okaloosa County.

Just remember: Each bale can make 215 pairs of jeans or 1,217 T-shirts, or even 313,600 $100 bills.

Cotton is important to our county, our country and our world!

Jennifer Bearden is an agent at the University of Florida's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Extension office in Crestview.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: BEARDEN: Cotton is important to Okaloosa County, our country and our world

DICKSON: A trip down memory lane

Written by archive on August 19, 2015. Posted in columns, Sports.

Friday night, I’ll take the trip west on Highway 4 to cover Baker School’s Kickoff Classic at Jay.

It won't be my first time covering a football game between the visiting Gators and the home standing Royals; I’ve covered three or four games between these small schools that share rural roots and country values.

And long before I became familiar with the Baker-Jay rivalry, I was acquainted with both schools for different reasons.

As a Gulf Breeze High School athlete, my teams competed against both Baker and Jay.

A TALENTED RUNNING BACK TANDEM

In 1971, I was an eighth-grader in Jay's stands when the Dolphins, in the school’s second year, beat the Royals for their first football win in school history.

Three years later, I was a member of Gulf Breeze's team that beat Jay in the second game of the season on the way to the first winning football season in Gulf Breeze history.

My memories of Baker's football team have more to do with watching game films when the Gators played Gulf Breeze’s upcoming opponent. Watching brothers George and Houston McTear, I was glad we didn’t have to try to stop the talented running back tandem.

George, a 220-pound fullback, could run 100 yards in 9.7 seconds. Houston was the fastest high school sprinter in United States history.

My Gulf Breeze teammates and I would marvel as the Gators ran Houston on a sweep, with George serving as the lead blocker. If George did his job of blocking the defensive end or outside linebacker, Houston would turn the corner, kick it into high gear and wave at the helpless defenders unable to match his world-class speed.

On those rare occasions when George missed his block, Houston was still too fast for most defenses.

SHARED FOOTBALL MEMORIES

Several years ago, while working at the Northwest Florida Daily News, I wrote a story involving Baker quarterback Warren Griffith.

Warren’s father, Donald, was one of Baker's original football players. Warren’s sons, Drew and Ben, were Gator standouts in the early- to mid-2000s. Baker’s Doug Griffith Memorial Stadium is named after Donald Griffith’s brother, a former Baker School principal.

In my conversations with Warren — who, like me, graduated in 1976 — I found we shared similar, if not common memories of football played 40 years ago here in Northwest Florida.

Time marches on and, Friday night, as I head to Jay, I’ll return to a place that is home to some of my football roots.

If I listen closely, I might be lucky enough to hear a whisper from the past as I pay homage to my football career and look to the start of the 2015 season.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: DICKSON: A trip down memory lane

HUBBUB: Don't listen to the P.C. hype; Confederate flag shouldn't be an issue

Written by archive on August 18, 2015. Posted in columns, more-voices, Opinion.

North Okaloosa County and surrounding residents remain concerned about a Confederate battle flag fluttering above Confederate Park on East First Avenue in Crestview.

The City Council will continue discussion on the flag's fate during its regular meeting, 6 p.m. Sept. 14 at city hall.

In the meantime, here's what our Facebook fans have to say about the issue.

Don't listen to P.C. hype

As a member of this community for over 50 years, and friends with all colors, not once have I heard anyone in the community bring up the flag issue until the NAACP brings it up.

Do we, as Americans, bow down to just a few special-interest groups? It's our religion, our guns, our flags — our way of life.

What's next, people? We all need to wake up as Americans and not listen to all this politically correct (stuff).

Wade Hutto

Flag needn't be an issue

Very disappointed that they took it down in the first place, but why put the American flag above it?

I love the U.S., being a combat vet, but they're taking away from Uncle Bill (Lundy) and other Confederate vets by making this a modern country issue.

Bryan Outdoors

NAACP should eye Planned Parenthood

If the NAACP really cared about their race-related issues, they would be closing Planned Parenthoods everywhere.

Take on a real, current issue … If black lives matter, why aren't they going after PP?

Dea Hayes

Black lives do matter

Where is Al Sharpton? Has anyone seen Jesse Jackson around town? How about a "Black Lives Matter" protest?

No, they use a blind eye on black-on-black crime, which is out of control.

Black lives do matter, and that's why this kind of activity has to stop.

Jeffrey Smith

Flag supporters won't face the negative

Sure, you would like to look back and "view the positive," but would not want to digress and see the negative.

The flag, currently used by the KKK in a derogatory way, symbolizes states' rights to own slaves as property. Our people were lynched, murdered and raped on Saturday, while the white Christians went to church on Sundays as if nothing happened.

… The South "lost the war." This flag sits on a monument of a questionable Confederate soldier. Who knows if he really fought, or forged lies.

Mary Smith-Garner

Act for, not against, the city

The hysteria since that knucklehead (Dylann Roof) killed those good people (in Charleston, S.C.) is out of control.

Those who are following the lead about tearing down the flag need to ask their leaders this question: what are you doing for us, instead of asking what they can do against someone else

Jeffrey Smith

A4 HUBBUB DOG.JPG————————————————

More than 1,200 people have shared our Facebook post about Angel B, a 16-year-old Pomeranian that disappeared July 28 from the Burnells' back yard in nearby Paxton.

A neighbor's child told the owners that she'd seen a woman stop and pick up a small dog around the time Angel went missing.

Owner Lee Burnell — whom friends call "heartbroken" over the alleged theft — said his mother gave him the dog three years before she was murdered.

Here's what readers are saying about the incident.

Praying for alleged dog snatcher

Asking Jesus to prick this person's heart to the point where they will not only return your baby asap, but apologize wholeheartedly and never do this to anyone else again.

Gail Burlison Tate

Angel B needs her owner, too

I hope and pray she is returned to you because, wherever she is, she misses you just as much. A dog at that age needs to be in familiar surroundings with the only person she has ever known.

Betty Hinote

Suggestion for Angel B's owner

To the owner of Angel B: Start a Facebook page in her honor and we will spread it like wildfire!

Patricia Kendrick

Lawmen need to step up involvement

What exactly is being done about this? The past month, I have seen so many posts of dogs being stolen in our area and surrounding cities. One of my teenager's friends had all of her dogs taken over the weekend.

This is obviously an organized ring.

Please tell me the police are treating this seriously. This is so heart-breaking for owners to lose their dogs, especially like this!

Kristi Harms

Keep watch for cutie

If anyone visits someone's home and sees this Angel in their house, report it. Or if you see it in someone's car, report it. The person will be caught for sure if we all keep an eye out for this cutie.

Arvis Jones Cail

To the dog snatcher:

Please bring her back home. Do the right thing.

Susan Rozanski

From black bears discovered at Rolling Pines Townhomes, to reckless driving on Airport Road, and from prayer at Okaloosa County School Board meetings to Crestview area littering, here are other issues our readers are passionate about.

Don't kill black bears

Please, Florida Fish and Wildlife, don't kill these bears; humanly trap and relocate them onto the reservation or somewhere safe.

It's not their fault we are encroaching on their territory.

Jamie Mcmillan

Airport Road traffic needs attention

Something needs to be done about the reckless driving on Airport Road. I do think more cops need to sit in various spots, especially from 5:30-6 p.m.

In a 3-mile radius, I had two separate instances of cars passing me … they crossed the double lines with cars incoming.

It is not acceptable on that road, with the curves and traffic flow. To the drivers who do this, shame on you for endangering us all!

Hollis Smith

Keep prayer before school board meetings

What is wrong with opening your meeting with prayer and closing your meeting with prayer?

Are you ashamed of Christ?

Can you not stand up for the person that created you?

Really?

Maybe, just maybe your schools would run a little bit better if Christ was put back in control. Why can't you say praise to him for gathering you all together? And pray for safe travels after the meeting, and for everyone to come together and work for the good of the community.

I vote yes. Bring our Lord and Savior back into our schools.

Vicki Lynn Halifax

People shouldn't be so careless

Litter is not only a problem on our beautiful beaches but also all around town.

I can't even drive out of my neighborhood or down the street without seeing someone's discarded trash.

It's disgusting and shameful when people are so careless.

Kaye Beck

Questioning sports editor's SEC claim

If you only look at the SEC teams playing each other, you can convince yourself that the SEC is a super conference.

However, if you check scores over the past 30 to 35 years, you'll find that there are only three or four consistently good teams, and the rest are mediocre at best.

Know how many times Florida has beaten Kentucky in the last 30 years? Vanderbilt? How about Alabama and Mississippi State? Mississippi? South Carolina?

Now check the scores of FSU vs. the SEC teams over the same period. Once you've done that, tell me one more time about the great SEC.

Daniel Bowers

Join the conversation on our Facebook page>>

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: HUBBUB: Don't listen to the P.C. hype; Confederate flag shouldn't be an issue

CROSE: Goals apply to households, businesses and government

Written by archive on August 17, 2015. Posted in columns, lifestyle.

We have goals in every aspect of our lives, whether we recognize it or not. But not everybody effectively plans to make those dreams a reality.

Benjamin Franklin is credited with saying, "If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail!" This is certainly true today.

Several of my friends have been talking about retiring, and they're taking deliberate steps to do so successfully. Their goal is to be financially stable, and they are meeting with financial planners to ensure they maintain a comfortable lifestyle.

That's a good idea for more than potential retirees.

After all, families have a range of goals; sometimes, those may be as simple as sleeping through the night after a new baby's birth. Other times, goals and budgets go hand in hand.

For instance, sending children to college, paying off home loans, replacing vehicles, taking vacations and planning for retirement all require some investment, and you won't achieve those milestones overnight.

Our church, First United Methodist, has a timeline posted on the wall so the congregation can track their goals. A great idea!

Similarly, businesses and governments need to set short- and long-term goals. Cities, towns, counties and states need to state their goals to residents and then implement them.

Here are a few considerations:

●How large do we want to grow our community?

●How will we maintain our infrastructure?

●How will we fund our emergency services?

●Where do we want to be in three, five and 10 years?

●What services will we need to add as the municipality grows?

●How will we fund needed services, roads and traffic lights?

●What about traffic flow?

●How will we, as a city, county or country, attract new businesses to our area, which will increase the tax revenue base and bring jobs?

All these questions must be asked.

The Specific, Measureable, Attainable, Relevant and Time Bound, or SMART, goal-setting standard, can help, whether in households, businesses or government.

We all need to be intelligent about setting goals and following through on them.

We don't want to be in crisis mode because we failed to plan. So let's get to work — set goals and implement them.

Janice Lynn Crose lives in Crestview with her husband, Jim; her two rescue collies, Shane and Jasmine; and two cats, Kathryn and Prince Valiant.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: CROSE: Goals apply to households, businesses and government

HUBBUB: Crestview's Confederate flag debate a 'dog and pony show, prayer time should include all faiths

Written by archive on August 12, 2015. Posted in columns, more-voices, Opinion.

The Confederate battle flag remains an intensely debated topic in Crestview.

Here's what readers said about the flag fluttering above Confederate Park on East First Avenue, and what they thought of the City Council's Aug. 6 special meeting on the issue.

Flag debate a 'dog and pony show'

We all agree that Crestview has 99 problems and this flag should not be one of them.

Unfortunately, the NAACP is pushing this issue instead of going into the community and figuring out why our kids are being bombarded with drugs, why gangs are appealing to our children and why a 7th Special Forces sergeant is (allegedly) involved in a gang-related shooting of one of our community children.

That flag hasn't taken away anyone's right to an education, nor has it taken away a single job from anyone that wanted/needed one

…It's all a dog and pony show to divert attention away from the real issues that deserve attention.

Martha F. Lundy

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See how it all started

The past is over, but should not be forgotten. We should be able to look back and see ( in a positive way) where we are today.

It should make everyone feel great to be able to look back and see where and how it all started, and see now where we are and be happy that we all have learned from mistakes.

If we can't see what happened before, then how can we see that we have learned from our mistakes?

Carol Baker Hughes

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No racist vibe at all

As a black man and newer resident of Crestview, I loved the community talking about an issue that concerns us. As I mingled with all the people, I felt the passion in their voices and didn't get a racist vibe at all.

Roger Perry

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A meeting highlight

It was awesome to hear (an anti-Confederate flag) history professor with two degrees in history be yelled at that he needed to "learn his history."

Patrick J OMalley

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Why does this even matter?

Okay, so I have to admit, I've lived in Crestview for almost 30 years and didn't even know there was a Confederate flag until everyone started throwing a fit over it.

My problem with this whole scenario is that the past is in the past! Learn from it and move on. This applies to both sides. Instead of division here about something that happened 150 years ago, why are we not working together to teach our children to respect each other and work together?

I was raised to love my neighbor, no matter their race, sex, religion, etc. I have worked really hard to pass that on to my children, too.

So much time and energy spent on a symbol that means different things to different people. I wish I understood why this even matters.

Sara La Roche

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Everyone's a historian

Everyone thinks they are an activist and historian when it comes to the flag. I guess they skipped economics and civics class.

Elizabeth Andrews

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About the Confederate flag…

It is no different than a monument honoring MLK, George (Washington) Carver or Rosa Parks.

Jeff Williams

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Examples of white privilege

When a white lady walks into Wal-Mart to buy hair supplies, everything she needs is right there in the aisle marked hair products.

A black lady has to go to an ethnic hair place because Wal-Mart doesn't carry her type, and things like (bandages) come in a color mostly toned to white skin.

History in school is mostly about what white people did, with very little about blacks even though we accomplished much more than written in history.

These are some examples of white privilege.

Anthony Evans

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Tired of being called racist

White people struggle just as much as anybody else in any race. More so now that the likes of the NAACP and (similar) groups make it a point to push that down people's throat.

Now, automatically, if we are white and disagree with another race, we are racist… I am so beyond being called a racist by people in groups that are for the advancement of colored people.

Have you ever taken a moment to realize this group's name is the epitome of racist?

Dorrian Vance

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Some residents are concerned about invocations, or public prayers, before Okaloosa County School Board meetings. Here's some feedback we received on that issue.

Prayer time should include all faiths

I would hope that, just as the school district serves all its students, those wishing to keep prayer would work to include all people of faith.

Raymonda Schwartz

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Try moments of silence

Sounds like a good idea to me: take away all religion in school or accept them all.

Why can't there be generic moments of silence instead of Christians harping about how they are being stomped on and should have only their religion in school?

Stephanie Wahner

Join the conversation on our Facebook page>>

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: HUBBUB: Crestview's Confederate flag debate a 'dog and pony show, prayer time should include all faiths

DICKSON: Saying goodbye to a friend

Written by archive on August 4, 2015. Posted in columns, Sports.

Thursday night, I learned that I lost one of my best friends and an old Gulf Breeze High School teammate, Mort Deer.

Mort died from cancer, two years to the day after my dad passed away. July 30 will never be the same again.

While I'm sad about Mort's passing, my heart is filled with joy in the friendship we shared and so many wonderful memories of youth.

Mort was a 120-pound wide receiver for Gulf Breeze's football team and a sprinter and long jumper on the Dolphin track team. He had his share of races and long-jump battles against Baker legend Houston McTear.

Mort, who graduated in 1975, also ran track and played football at Crestview High School's Jack Foster Stadium.

When Mort graduated, he held the Gulf Breeze record in the long jump and was on a couple of record-setting Dolphin relay teams.

His 90-yard interception return for a touchdown at Port St. Joe might still be a Dolphin record.

Back in the day, when the dangers of tobacco use were often overlooked or ignored, Mort was known as “Redman” because that was his favorite brand of chewing tobacco. Mort even kept a pouch of tobacco in the top of his football helmet, and was known to chew during practice and games.

Mort was from Pineapple, Ala., and his parents had roots in Stockton, Ala., in north Baldwin County.

He enjoyed Baldwin County's great outdoors and abundant hunting and fishing opportunities.

He was that rare person who made everybody feel like his best friend. And I'm blessed to say our friendship went beyond those he had with many of his other bests.

Mort was a great teammate on the field and in the locker room. He could pick his teammates up with a quick word of encouragement or his easy smile.

He ran the 40-yard dash 4.5 seconds when a 4.5 was considered to be really moving. Mort once had a scout from Auburn University tell him he had the hands and speed to play wide receiver in the Southeastern Conference if he had weighed 150 pounds.

Mort is at peace now because he had a relationship with Jesus Christ. I believe he has a new body that is whole and strong once again.

If I know Mort like I think I do, I’m sure he’s challenging some of the angels in Heaven to a race in the 100-yard dash. And I can see Mort giving those celestial beings a quick wink as he runs past them in his heavenly body.

I will miss Mort Deer and the relationship we shared, but I'm blessed to have been his teammate and even more so to have called him friend.

Email randyd@crestviewbulletin.com, tweet @cnb_sports or call 682-6524 to contact Randy Dickson.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: DICKSON: Saying goodbye to a friend

HELMS: Make yourself available for salvation

Written by archive on August 4, 2015. Posted in columns, Opinion, your-voice.

Summer storms can pop up seemingly out of nowhere.

You see a few clouds gather; you suddenly hear thunder; and the rain begins — hard.

A pop-up storm may catch you while you're working in the yard. It may surprise you when you are on the river fishing. You may take a much needed "over 50" nap (they will get to you one day — after you turn 50, when you least expect them) and the crash of thunder suddenly awakes you.

Our Lord's disciples were in a boat upon the sea when a pop-up storm caught them. Lightning broke forth from the clouds; thunder rolled and the storm grew closer.

On the opposite bank stood Jesus, looking at the storm, worrying for His children. There is only one way to reach them, so He begins walking on the sea.

The boat is tossed around like a piece of driftwood, for that is what it has become to this storm. Facing their demise, the disciples cry out to God and continue fighting angry seas.

Looking out, they see a figure of a man walking toward them on the water. At first they are frightened, but soon realize this is not just any man; it is their master, Jesus.

Peter calls out and the Savior answers, bidding him to come walk with Him. Peter does, but his faith is still weak, and he stumbles and sinks. Reaching down, Jesus pulls him out of the sea; together they climb into the boat and the waters calm. All are safe once more.

Are you a traditionalist who easily sees Jesus walking on the sea with no problem, unbothered by the storm? Do you picture Him being "gnarly," hanging ten without a board, falling off that big wave "just to save His bros, dude?"

I do not have a problem with either scenario. But may I share with you the vision of Jesus that I see and need?

I see the man, with eyes fixed and locked on me, knowing the storm is coming long before I saw it developing.

Stepping on to the water, He has single-mindedly purposed to be my protector.

He feels the waves crashing around and on Him; the sting of rain pelting on His face, and fierce winds howling in His precious ears. Picture Him fighting the elements, knowing He too has faced all that I am about to face; He presses on.

Amid my battle, He appears.

Battle worn, touched by all that has touched me, he steps in to my life and causes the storm to cease to rage.

I need a fighting savior; one who has been touched by disappointment and heartache, loss, and anything else life has to throw at me.

I need Jesus, the Christ; Son of the living God.

Perhaps you do, too.

The Bible says He came to seek and save; why don't you help Him by making yourself available?

He can calm the storms, and will go against hell itself for your benefit, given the chance.

May God bless you. Seek Him today.

The Rev. Richard Helms serves at Miracle Acres Ministries, 3187 E. James Lee Blvd., Crestview.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: HELMS: Make yourself available for salvation

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