How many followers do YOU have?!

A few weeks ago as we were greeting at church, I observed something very interesting. The door at which we stand has access to an escalator. Our church offers many multi-cultural services on any given Sunday. The door we greet at is the primary entrance for one of the Asian services. The folks come in and usually head up the escalator to their service. Being a greeter is really fun and quite easy, all you do is smile and welcome each person as they come into the building. We have a mixture of folks that come through our doors. Some are headed to up the escalator while others are heading to the main auditorium for service in English.

Most of the time, when folks come in they know where they are going and what to expect. This particular evening we greeted a group of international members as they were on the way up the escalator. Right behind them was a group of American guys who were oblivious to the fact they were on an escalator, let alone headed to a service where the language spoken they wouldn't even begin to understand! We tried to get their attention to let them know they were headed the wrong way but they were so distracted with their conversation they didn't hear us.

In the days following, I began to think of specific times I  followed someone but it was to a destination I hadn't intended to go. Like the time I was on the highway behind a dump truck. I never once thought about going around it because I was so focused on the dump truck.

I found myself barreling down the road to another area of town right behind that truck! How may times do we just "go with the flow" when it's not the direction God has planned for us? Sometimes we are distracted like those guys on the escalator, sometimes we are just not thinking about where it is we are really going -  like I was behind that dump truck! 

The truth is, God has a plan / path for each of our lives. We have to stay focused and diligent and follow His plan. In the book of Jeremiah chapter 29:11 God says: "For I know the plans (path) I have for you , Plans (path) for good and not evil to give you a future and a hope." He says to call on Him and He will show great and mighty things! (Jer. 33:3)

Make a decision today to stay alert and focused so you will be a fully devoted follower of Jesus!!

All shook up...

... well not exactly! Those are the lyrics to one of Elvis Presley's hit songs. The song is about being in love and all the emotional and physical things that go along with it. 

                                       

I have a word for you, Elvis didn't come up with the phrase, all shook up! 

If we take a look at Hebrews 12: 26-28 we can see what God says about being "all shook up":

When he spoke before, his voice shook the earth. But now he has promised, “Once again I will shake the earth, but I will also shake heaven.” The words “once again” clearly show us that everything that was created will be destroyed—that is, the things that can be shaken. And only what cannot be shaken will remain. So we should be thankful because we have a kingdom that cannot be shaken...

So what is God saying to us in this passage? He's saying if it can be shaken it will be shaken! And only the things of God will remain after the shaking. 

What shaking are you experiencing today? Divorce, lack, sickness, issues with your kids? So many of us face these things in our lives only to go to another person, or agency or whatever for the answer or help. Guess what? I believe God has all the answers to our problems. I'm saying this because I am convinced He does! I see so many Twitter / Facebook posts of hurting people looking for the answers to life's challenges. There are parents looking for help with their kids, men and women looking for advice and help for a multitude of things getting them down in life. Its really simple to get help from God. All you have to do is ask in faith. Faith simply defined is, believe what God says and act on it:

Take a look at Hebrews 11:6: Without faith no one can please God. Whoever comes to God must believe that he is real and that he rewards those who sincerely try to find him.

You are simply wasting your time looking for answers elsewhere! Facebook, Twitter and even Google cant help you like Jesus can. He wants to help you, He wants to lead you, He wants you to live in victory! 

I want to encourage you to take time to pray and seek His advice, His will, His plan for the challenge you are facing. Also, if you aren't involved in a great Bible preaching, Bible believing church, I want to encourage you to get in one! We need each other in this hour of history.

Look at it this way: If your financial advisor told you to invest in a particular stock and it would double, even triple your investment you'd be all over that right? Well, the King of Kings, Creator of Heaven and Earth has the answers you need to overcome the shaking in your life! Go to Him, remember He's a rewarder of those who sincerely try to find Him! We have a kingdom that can not be shaken.

If you believe that the Bible offers truth about the way to salvation, but you have not made the decision yet to become a Christian, it's as simple as praying this prayer. You can pray by yourself, using your own words. There is no special formula. Just pray from your heart to God, and He willsave you. If you feel lost and just don’t know what to pray, here’s a prayer of salvation that you can pray:

Dear Lord,
I admit that I am a sinner. I have done many things that don’t please you. I have lived my life for myself. I am sorry and I repent. I ask you to forgive me. I believe that you died on the cross for me, to save me. You did what I could not do for myself. I come to you now and ask you to take control of my life, I give it to you. Help me to live every day in a way that pleases you. I love you, Lord, and I thank you that I will spend all eternity with you.

Amen.

What the heck is all that noise?

Today I was thinking about the sounds that surround my life. Certainly one of the most prominent sounds in this season of life is the voice of my daughter Sarah: "Da Da" - "Da Da!!!" I love music but only if it's the music I love, which can and does change frequently. I love the sound of our Harley. You get the idea. I love the early morning, between 5 and 7 am because it's generally pretty peaceful. (Note: Jesus was an early morning kinda guy too!) As I sit out on my front porch this evening (it's 9:22pm) it's very peaceful. Occasionally I can hear a big V-Twin in the distance and the crickets with a few cars passing, along with the crackling of my chiminea fire. 


In the early morning during the warmer months I love to be out on the front porch playing my guitar. One thing I noticed was how as the sun comes up, the noises become louder and louder. The noise of traffic on the near by turnpike, mowers, chain saws dogs and an assortment of other disturbances that make me wish I lived in the middle of 100 acres in the middle of no-where Oklahoma!


It seems I'm always telling my kids to "turn that tv down!" Or "turn that computer or radio down!" Even my Lovely wife of 15 years floods my mind with noises! I have been in situations where I had to get up and leave a room or area just because my mind was overloaded with noise! I remember being in a pizza place once and having to go outside to allow my mind to "reset." It was too noisy in there! 

Take a look at this:

• Noise - noun: a sound, esp. one that is loud or unpleasant or that causes disturbance.

• Sound - noun: sound produced by continuous and regular vibrations, as opposed to noise.

You see, going purely on definition, noise is unpleasant and sound is pleasant! What I've recently (like just tonight) discovered is, if it's noise I like it's NOT noise it's sound! As I walked through my living room and heard my kids enjoying a program on Netflix, it bothered me because it was NOISE. Just as I began to say my usual "turn that tv down!" It hit me, to them it's SOUND to me it's noise. 

One sound that I'm constantly longing to hear clearly is the voice of The Holy Spirit. Like my kids & Lovely wife, He wants my complete attention. The best way I've found to hear His voice, is to shut out all the noises that try to invade my world of sounds. Take time today to shut out the noise in your world of sounds so you can hear His voice. You will be glad you did.

HEY! I am family...

Recently I was attending a family event with my brother, Jeff. Unfortunately it was my Aunt Fern's funeral service. Upon arriving at the funeral home, we were greeted by the funeral director who asked, "are you family or friends of Fern?" Well, Jeff said, "we are family." At that point we broke out in the chorus of that Sister Sledge song: 

We are family 

I got all my sisters with me

 We are family 

Get up ev'rybody and sing...

Ok, so we didn't really but I thought about it! Anyway, the funeral director said, "great, the family is down the hall in the family room, you can join them if you want to." Jeff and I were excited as we haven't seen our cousin Dan for quite some time so I ask, "Dan and the boys are here?" "Well no, it's not Dan." So we decided not to join them. Feeling as though we weren't family enough. As I investigated the guest book, I didn't see any last names I recognized, and thought "I wonder who the "family" is in that room?" So we decided that whoever they are they are NOT more related to my aunt than we are! We made our way to the room to find 2 older couples who seemed just as confused as us as to how exactly we were related. It was kinda comical as I introduced myself and Jeff to the 2 couples. Turns out they were cousins to my aunt on the other side of the family! 

As I continued to ponder that experience I thought of how the devil works so hard to pull us away from our Christian family. Jeff and I were deceived by or own minds into thinking we couldn't go to the family room because we were not related (not family enough) to those 2 couples who were already in there. 

The enemy is constantly is at work trying to convince us we are alone and aren't rightly related to anyone. The Word of God says this in 1 Peter 5:8, Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. (NLT) 

If he can get you or I to believe that we are not family enough, or not rightly related to a local body of believers he can take us down. Just like a Lion seeks to take down a gazelle for dinner! The Holy Spirit brought to my remembrance what The Word of God says about acceptance: Ephesians 1:6  to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. That's right WE ARE ACCEPTED IN THE FAMILY! Now there is a condition to belong in the family of God: If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.For the Scripture says, Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame. For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him.For whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Once you fulfill the condition you are in the Family! So next time you fell dis-connected take heart, God says you ARE in the family!

A SUDDENLY moment given to us by - GOD!

As we go into this season of Christmas, I'm reminded of a "suddenly" moment that God gave us last year around this time frame. As you read this know that we are NOT any different that you. Our faith is not "super faith" in fact we just operated our faith as we had been taught over the years. And now here we are in a very similar situation, and as I re-read this post I'm in tears of praise at how God has everything in His control and timing and all we are to do is keep praising Him and believing we receive what we pray! Thank you Lord!

A SUDDENLY moment given to us by - GOD!

Back in November we had an unfortunate situation happen to us relating to our 2006 Dodge Durango. Let's see, how can I put this? No sugar coating here, it was REPOED by the loan company! Sad day in our world since we had never had anything like that happen before. We never saw it coming as we had been in contact with the finance company and they were "working with us" on it. We discovered why God says "The borrower is servant to the lender." And we don't want to serve anyone other than The King of Kings and Lord of Lords! Over the next few hours we came to the realization that it in fact did happen, and it was OK, and we were not knuckle heads, and God is for us no mater what. Now with all the emotion out of the way we could focus on the next step - PRAYER! "Lord, You know we need transportation to get back and forth to church, go to the store, take the kids to the bus stop and everything else for day to day living. (As if He didn't know. LOL!) We thank You and give You praise for Your provision of a vehicle that will fit our family given to us debt free in Jesus' name." Over a period of a few weeks we were without a family vehicle. Wow I never realized the importance of having a vehicle - I mean maybe I just took for granted the ability to just get in it and go or the independence it provided. We did not immediately let people in on our "secret" because we didn’t want to make anyone feel obligated to give us a ride or feel sorry for us or whatever. There were those who we did tell because they needed to know, since we had made commitments to be certain places etc. There was a family who saw the need and started taking us to and from Wednesday nite church services each week. THANK GOD!!! The same family loaned us their car on several occasions during the day so Marsha could run errands, got to the store and the like. (Funny thing: People who knew we were without transportation would call and ask, "are you guys home we want to come drop something off" LOL! of course we're home, we can’t leave!) We had a couple neighbors who also stepped in and took Marsha to the store and the kids to school on those really cold days and things like that. THANK GOD!! As the weeks went on we continued to thank God for his provision of a family vehicle for us. Sometimes we would look out the window and by faith say to each other, "look at our vehicle isn't it great? Thank You Jesus we have that vehicle given to us debt free Glory to God You are our source!" Over time we become quite accustomed to believing for rides and transportation. I rode the Harley to and from work each day so getting to work was never a problem. I did catch a ride from a co-worker on that 13 degree morning - to cold to ride for me. One of my favorite stories of miraculous provision in the Bible is found in 1Kings 17. Elijah was instructed by God to go to a brook where God said He would command food to be flown in by ravens (Did you catch that? God commanded the ravens to bring in the food!) and the water was from a brook that flowed near by. After that brook dried up because there had been no rain, God instructed Elijah to go to a town called Zarephath and dwell there. It goes on to say "I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain you." There it is again, the word command - God commanded a widow woman to sustain Elijah! If you want to know what ended up happening with Elijah go read the passage. Incredible! What the Lord showed us was, He was in control of our vehicle situation, our food situation our ANY situation! He had in fact, commanded many people to provide various things for us during this time! We had cash gifts, groceries, gift cards, Omaha Steak pkg, rides, provided for us from people we know as well as people we have never met (but hope to). It was also during this time The Lord showed us that constant praise is the key to constant victory. We have always praised God but now it is different because we see how important it is to Him and us! We praise God for every victory because the small ones, like getting favor with a utility company, add up. So here we are thanking God, praising God, believing we receive what we pray, believing we have what we say, when our SUDDENLY hits! I get a call from a friend who tells me he knows of someone who wants to (anonymously) give us a vehicle that will "fit our family." I was taken back for a second because the guy who called had already done so much for us. He told me he and another friend would be over the next morning to deliver the gift. Marsha and I cried as we began to thank & praise God for His provision. I could not sleep that night, I was so excited! I was up early the next day excited to see the gift God had provided. At 9.30am there was a knock at the door Marsha and I opened it to our two friends beaming with love and joy! We invited them in briefly then went right back out to see what they had delivered. It was a vehicle "that would fit our family given to us debt free" just as we had prayed, praised and believed God for!!!! Now that would've been enough right? As they say on tv "Wait, that's not all" it is a 99 Dodge Ram 1500xlt Laramie king cab! It has brand new tires, brand new battery, full tank of gas, all the fluids are new, AND 3 months of insurance is paid too!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank You Jesus! Once all the papers were in order we took it for a maiden voyage - to Wal-Mart! LOL!! We had been unable to attend Sunday Church services as a family but now we can and have been!!! We are so excited about how this all came about and no one can get any of the Glory except God. So to You Lord we continue to give You the glory and praise for your provision of a vehicle that will fit our family given to us debt free!!!!!
I want this testimony to encourage you, to spark your faith to believe God for the impossible. He is no respecter of persons He did it for us He wants to do it for you!!
**I left out the names of those who we know that helped us for privacy reasons. You know who you are, we know who you are, but most importantly God knows who you are and He will not be out-given.**

Let's just go ahead and be what we were made to be!

 Let's just go ahead and be what we were made to be, without enviously or pridefully comparing ourselves with each other, or trying to be something we aren't. If you preach, just preach God's Message, nothing else;if you help, just help, don't take over; if you teach, stick to your teaching;if you give encouraging guidance, be careful that you don't get bossy; if you're put in charge, don't manipulate; if you're called to give aid to people in distress, keep your eyes open and be quick to respond; if you work with the disadvantaged, don't let yourself get irritated with them or depressed by them. Keep a smile on your face.

Love from the center of who you are; don't fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle.

 Don't burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame. Be alert servants of the Master,cheerfully expectant. Don't quit in hard times; pray all the harder.Help needy Christians; be inventive in hospitality.

Bless your enemies; no cursing under your breath.Laugh with your happy friends when they're happy; share tears when they're down.Get along with each other; don't be stuck-up. Make friends with nobodies; don't be the great somebody.

Don't hit back; discover beauty in everyone.If you've got it in you, get along with everybody.Don't insist on getting even; that's not for you to do. "I'll do the judging," says God. "I'll take care of it."

Our Scriptures tell us that if you see your enemy hungry, go buy that person lunch, or if he's thirsty, get him a drink. Your generosity will surprise him with goodness.Don't let evil get the best of you; get the best of evil by doing good. 

Romans 12:6-21 NLT

He put the mud over my eyes, and when I washed it away, I could see!

As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man who had been blind from birth.“Rabbi,” his disciples asked him, “why was this man born blind? Was it because of his own sins or his parents’ sins?”

“It was not because of his sins or his parents’ sins,” Jesus answered. “This happened so the power of God could be seen in him.We must quickly carry out the tasks assigned us by the one who sent us. The night is coming, and then no one can work.But while I am here in the world, I am the light of the world.”

Then he spit on the ground, made mud with the saliva, and spread the mud over the blind man’s eyes.He told him, “Go wash yourself in the pool of Siloam” (Siloam means “sent”). So the man went and washed and came back seeing!

His neighbors and others who knew him as a blind beggar asked each other, “Isn’t this the man who used to sit and beg?”Some said he was, and others said, “No, he just looks like him!”But the beggar kept saying, “Yes, I am the same one!”

They asked, “Who healed you? What happened?”

He told them, “The man they call Jesus made mud and spread it over my eyes and told me, ‘Go to the pool of Siloam and wash yourself.’ So I went and washed, and now I can see!”

 “Where is he now?” they asked.

“I don’t know,” he replied.

Then they took the man who had been blind to the Pharisees, because it was on the Sabbath that Jesus had made the mud and healed him.The Pharisees asked the man all about it. So he told them, “He put the mud over my eyes, and when I washed it away, I could see!”

Some of the Pharisees said, “This man Jesus is not from God, for he is working on the Sabbath.” Others said, “But how could an ordinary sinner do such miraculous signs?” So there was a deep division of opinion among them.

Then the Pharisees again questioned the man who had been blind and demanded, “What’s your opinion about this man who healed you?”

The man replied, “I think he must be a prophet.”

The Jewish leaders still refused to believe the man had been blind and could now see, so they called in his parents.They asked them, “Is this your son? Was he born blind? If so, how can he now see?”

His parents replied, “We know this is our son and that he was born blind,but we don’t know how he can see or who healed him. Ask him. He is old enough to speak for himself.”His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders, who had announced that anyone saying Jesus was the Messiah would be expelled from the synagogue.That’s why they said, “He is old enough. Ask him.”

So for the second time they called in the man who had been blind and told him, “God should get the glory for this, because we know this man Jesus is a sinner.”

“I don’t know whether he is a sinner,” the man replied. “But I know this: I was blind, and now I can see!”

“But what did he do?” they asked. “How did he heal you?”

“Look!” the man exclaimed. “I told you once. Didn’t you listen? Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples, too?”

Then they cursed him and said, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses! We know God spoke to Moses, but we don’t even know where this man comes from.”

 “Why, that’s very strange!” the man replied. “He healed my eyes, and yet you don’t know where he comes from?We know that God doesn’t listen to sinners, but he is ready to hear those who worship him and do his will.Ever since the world began, no one has been able to open the eyes of someone born blind.If this man were not from God, he couldn’t have done it.”

 “You were born a total sinner!” they answered. “Are you trying to teach us?” And they threw him out of the synagogue.


When Jesus heard what had happened, he found the man and asked, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”

The man answered, “Who is he, sir? I want to believe in him.”

“You have seen him,” Jesus said, “and he is speaking to you!
 “Yes, Lord, I believe!” the man said. And he worshiped Jesus.

Then Jesus told him, “I entered this world to render judgment—to give sight to the blind and to show those who think they see that they are blind.”

Some Pharisees who were standing nearby heard him and asked, “Are you saying we’re blind?”

“If you were blind, you wouldn’t be guilty,” Jesus replied. “But you remain guilty because you claim you can see.
John 9: 1-41 NLT


Here is a cool video of this scripture passage