It's for you!

Tell me if this has ever happened. You are sitting in a restaurant enjoying a wonderful meal with friends and family. Suddenly, the waitress walks up with a cordless phone in her hand. After asking if “so-and-so” is at the table, you suddenly realize the call is for you. Somehow, someway, whoever was on the other side of the call found you and called you out. At that point you have to make a decision. Am I going to take the call or not? This actually happened last week while we were at dinner with friends. By the way, my friend decided to take the call.

Last Sunday I was fortunate to hear my friend Frank Shelton, Jr. as he spoke at a local church. He was on a whirlwind tour of my state, preaching 5 times – in 5 different churches – in 5 days. It made me tired just reading his itinerary.

Frank is an excellent communicator. He had several good points in his sermon but one quote he said really hit home with me and I wanted to share my thoughts. Frank said “some are called to preach. Some are called to teach. But we are all called to reach.”

Not everyone can get behind a pulpit and “preach” to a crowd of people. Not everyone can “teach” a classroom full of raucous 2^nd graders every Sunday morning.

But we are ALL called to “reach”. Matthew 28:19 tells us that we are to “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,”

• Jesus didn’t tell us to convert them. We cannot save anyone.
• He didn’t tell us to convince them. It’s not an argument or up for debate.
• He simply told us to convey them. Convey means to take, carry, transport, etc. It is our job to take, carry, and transport sinners to Christ. He will take it from there.

How can we ALL do this? In the next verse Jesus gives the secret. "I am with you always, to the end of the age."

So next time you hear a phone ring, or the waitress walks up to your table with the cordless – it might just be for you.  That scenario might never happen in your life.

But their is a more important call given today. Somehow, someway, Jesus has found you. Jesus is calling your number. Are you going to take it?

Stand Up in Your Storm

Do you ever feel like things are a little shaky? Well if you are breathing, the answer is yes! Everyone is looking for stability in their lives. Each of us is trying to balance life, career, kids, finances, church, etc. and sometimes we fail miserably.

In the latter part of Acts, we find the Apostle Paul as a prisoner on a ship headed for Rome. Along the way a storm comes. During the storm, Paul’s ship was anything but stable. It was tossed and beaten by the waves and weather. But scripture tells us that in the midst of that storm – in the middle of Paul’s life being thrown upside down – Paul was able to stand.

Acts 27:21 says that Paul “stood forth in the midst of them...”

He was able to do so because he BELIEVED GOD AND BELIEVED GOD’S PROMISES! God had sent an angel to Paul and promised Paul that he would make it to Rome and Paul believed Him. He was promised that all that sailed with him would make it too.

You can stand in the middle of your storms – and find the stability you need in your life – if you’ll just BELIEVE GOD AND HIS PROMISES!

There are over 3400 promises in the Bible and I’m thankful that I can find one, no matter what my situation might be, and stand on it till the storm passes!!

How's Your Ride?

I love riding my motorcycle. I enjoy the freedom and the relaxation it provides. My only problem is I don’t get to ride as much as I want. I am blessed that my wife loves to ride too. As I write this, we are planning on taking the bike out tomorrow and going for a ride just to get away from it all for a while. I can’t wait. It's been too long.

But before I can enjoy the ride tomorrow I have to clean and polish the bike. You see, it’s been sitting for a while and it has gotten a little dirty. Unfortunately, that has become the norm for my black beauty.

When I purchased her, straight off the showroom floor, she was all sparkly and clean. I rode her home and immediately put her in the garage. I didn’t want anything to tarnish her look. After every ride I would wipe her down, even using a Qtip in the hard to reach places to make sure I got every bit of road grime and dirt off my new found love. When I was finished I would put the cover over her and put her back in the garage.

After a while it got to be too much work to take such good care of her so I just started wiping her down when I could see obvious spots of dirt or road film. I still kept her in the garage but started leaving the cover off. I would do a halfhearted job of cleaning her then when I was riding I would see spots that I missed. Nobody else could see those spots but I knew they were there.

I have since moved from that home into another one that does not have a garage. She now sits under my carport, sometimes covered, but seldom babied and pampered like she should. Now, before I can ride her in public I must get her cleaned up again. It will be hard because I should have been taking care of her all along. Now I have to make up for a lot of laziness on my part.

That is the way it is with our lives as well. When we first get saved we take every precaution to make sure we do not get the dirt and road grime of life on our new found love. When we did, we would immediately jump into action and take the steps necessary to restore it back to the way it should be.

Then, as the years wear on, we get a dose of laziness. We tolerate a little more dirt and grime. We fail to do the preventive measures to ensure that our lives are presentable and worthy of claiming Christ. Romans 12 tells us to present our bodies “as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God” – and here’s the kicker – “which is your spiritual worship.” (ESV)

So, how’s your ride? Do you need to roll up your sleeves and maybe even get a Qtip and get those hard to reach areas of your life cleaned up? Have you been “cleaning your ride” halfheartedly leaving spots that only you know about? If so, use this weekend to provide some TLC to your ride. Then you can have something to be proud of and worthy of showing off…a life worthy of claiming Christ.

Kickstands up – let’s ride!

I'm Tired of Running

On Sunday, February 26, 2012 I stopped running. I had been running for too long; almost 29 years to be exact.

What was I running from? The authorities? An angry customer? A bill collector? The answer would be NO to all of those questions. I had been running from a call. A call that I neither understood or really wanted. The call was to be involved in full-time ministry.

When I was in 10th grade, I participated in the Fine Arts competition at my Christian School. I sang a solo and was invited to preach a sermon. The results were so favorable that I advanced to the State competition. Same results, on to National competition at Bob Jones University in South Carolina. Everyone was telling me that I was a natural and I should be a preacher. I was a little more reserved in my review of the events that had transpired.

I wasn't totally against the idea, I just wanted to make sure I was God called not "them" called. However, I continued to postpone making a decision and in a few years, the desire to preach was gone. Whew! I got jobs, got married, had kids and began singing in gospel groups - thinking I had found my niche.

Life then set in. The jobs came and went. The marriage, which we realized after 16 years was not based on love but convenience, crumbled and now I get to see my kids every other weekend. Then, about 6 months ago, the desire to be doing something started again. I was singing with a quartet that was getting a pretty fast following and thought that was it. I needed to be singing. But I later realized that was not all I was supposed to be doing.

Feb. 26th I stopped running. I surrendered to the call on my life to become involved in full-time ministry. To date, I do not have a clear direction on what He wants me to do but I am patiently waiting for doors to open. It could be preaching, teaching, evangelistical work, etc.

Until then, I'll just keep reading the Word, praying for direction and listening to that still small voice that will guide me and my family into the next phase of our lives.

God is Faithful (to the end)

While here we have had the chance to meet several parents in different stages of grief and suffering. One family I will never forget.

Joseph was burned in a trailer fire while he and his brother were playing with a lighter. He sustained burns and his brain had been deprived of oxygen. His father told me he was brain dead when they arrived but they were waiting on further testing to be sure. The entire time Joseph was here his family bombarded the hospital. Several remarks were made that they were here for the duration. Then late last Tuesday it was determined that he would not survive. The family made the decision to end life support on Joseph.

Joseph was an organ donor so he was kept on life support until all his viable organs could be harvested and sent out to be transplanted into awaiting patients. This type of thing is not uncommon.

What struck us as even more devastating is that when the parents made their decision, they packed up their belongings and went their separate ways leaving Joseph in his room, alone. No one was with Joseph in his final hours. As a parent I could not imagine having to make the first decision nor would I ever think of making the later.

I am so glad that God is not like those parents. When things are at their worst, He is at His best! When my faith is at its lowest, His grace and mercy far excel my comprehension. When I can't carry on, He carries me.

Psalm 100:5 says that "the LORD is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations." God is so much more than I (or even you) deserve. And because He is good, he will never leave us or forsake us.

Joshua 1:9 promises that "the LORD your God is with you wherever you go." I will never find myself in a place where God's mercy and grace didn't get there before me. I will never encounter a problem that He is not there, waiting to help me, if only I will ask.

I said earlier that Joseph died alone. His earthly family had turned their backs and left him. But his Heavenly Father was with him all the time. And when Josephs time was complete, his Father took him home.

WHEW!! Hold my mule......

We Still Need to Pray

Gen. 25:21 "And Isaac intreated the LORD for his wife, because she was barren: and the LORD was intreated of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived."

Isaac was the promised seed of Abraham. God had promised that the coming Messiah would come through his bloodline. Isaac had married Rebekah but she was barren and could not get pregnant.  His brother, Ishmael, was married and had fathered several children by this time.

Get the picture. Isaac was right in the center of the will of God. He was doing what he was supposed to do. He was right where he needed to be. But yet he was troubled. You mean to tell me that a person can be in the perfect will of God and still have troubles? Still have concerns? That everything might not go just right all the time? You mean that someone can be in the will of God but because they cannot see the entire plan they get discouraged?

So what did Isaac do when he got to this point? He prayed.

V21 says Isaac prayed to God on behalf of his wife (something I have been doing daily since before we married). That is a great practice to get into whether things are going great or not.  We have no record of how long Isaac prayed or how many times he approached the throne with his requests. What we do see is that God heard his prayer and answered it.  God's plan was to bring forth the Messiah through Isaac and that was accomplished.

Let me make it personal. Metha and I believe that we are doing what God wants us to do. We are where we need to be and yet we are troubled. So what have we been doing? We've been praying.  We have been praying fervently for Noah, our family and each other during this time.  We fully expect God's plan for Noah's life to be accomplished. We are praying for God's will, whatever that might be, and His grace to help us through it and to accept it.

But we still need to pray.

Just a thought...

This will be difficult. I do not mean for this post to offend anyone or cause you to leave this page. It is something that God has been putting on my heart for a long time (long before we found ourselves in the position we are in now).

First, let me tell you how much Metha and I appreciate everyone who has joined, posted or liked anything on th...is page. Although we are not able to respond to each post, rest assured, we do read each of them and often find ourselves reading them to each other throughout the day.

One comment that we have received over and over is one that I have often shared with others who are going through troubles and rough times in their lives. It is a phrase that often is the only one we can come up with at the time. The comment is this, "God will not put more on you than you can stand." While I understand the sentiment behind the comment, I'm not sure that we need to take it as the gospel truth. I want to share with you what God has been showing me recently.

If we take the comment at face value, then we are saying that God will let us take care of all our problems without His help. We are saying that God knows what our limitations are (and He does) and he will test/try us up to that point and not a bit more. While that gives us a good feeling and boosts out selfish pride I'm not sure it's what we should say.

My reasoning is based on this fact: If God will not put more on us than we can stand - where does faith come into the picture? If I can handle my problems then I don't need God to help me. Faith is totally taken away. If I can handle anything that comes my way - I don't need God. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Let's see what scripture says about it. Don't just take my word.

Psalm 55:22 (NIV) Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.

Psalm 68:19 (NIV)  Praise be to our Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens.

Matt. 11:28-30 (NIV)  Come unto me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls."

I believe that each of you is following the command in Galatians 6:2 by helping to "carry" our burden. I think verse 2 applies to you but I know verse 3 applies to us. "If anyone thinks they are something when they are not, they deceive themselves."  I am here to tell you that there is no way Metha and I can get through this on our own. We are not strong enough, smart enough or tough enough to get through this without God's help. I think the song "Through it All" says it best:

So I thank him for the mountains
And I thank him for the valleys
And I thank him for the times he's brought me through
For if I'd never had a problem
I wouldn't know that He could solve them
I wouldn't know what faith in God can do

So the short and simple thought is this. God will put more on us than we can stand. Why? So that He can receive the honor and glory when we pass through the storm. 1 Peter 1:7 (NIV) says that "These (trials of our faith) have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith - of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire - may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.

In closing, please understand my heart as I write this. Metha and I dearly love each of you and thank God daily for the comments you make. Please continue to pray for our family in the coming days. This will not be a quick or easy road. We will be getting used to a new normal very soon with Noah and it will not be an easy transition. We will not only need your support, love and prayers while here. We will, most definitely, need them when we get home.
  

What can you get for $2 these days?

"Confession: A Roman Catholic App" has won official church approval all the way up to the Vatican. Yet feedback over the past week has given priests cause to hit pause. More than a few Catholics believe their iPhone can now forgive their sins.

The article on the NewsOK website starts like this. "Like God, technology is everywhere. Unlike God, it can't forgive sins." Sadly, many people will fall for this marketing trickery. But isn't that just like us humans? Always seeking what seems to be the easy way out? I mean if an app on my Smartphone can listen to my confession, absolve my sins and make my heart pure and whole again...isn't it worth the $1.99 the download costs?

If you want the easy way out (and remember, who doesn't) well the way has already been put in front of you. You don't need an app on your phone; you don't even need a priest behind a mesh window in a booth. All you need to do is apply the cure for sin TO your sin and all is forgiven.

Ephesians 1:7 tells us that we have rememption through his blood and our sins are forgiven according to the riches of his grace.

Romans 6:23 lets us know that forgiveness of our sins does not come from any other source but Jesus.

Verses on Jesus being the only one who can forgive

So save your $1.99 and go to the original source of forgiveness - Calvary! It's FREE!!