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Lifechanging for all of us at the Davis Family is this little miralce. We have gone wthout sleep watiting for hours on end as my beautiful daughther in law labored to bring her into the world. She is complete and healthy. She weighs 5 lbs and 3 ozs and was 18 inches in length. Beautiful hair and skin. We are rejocing. Thank you for your many words of encouragment and support.
She has been born at 7:44 PM And I still do not know size or a name but she is here. Grand moms are getting ready in the next couple of minutes ot go up and see her.
I will put up more as I know it in the next few minutes.
No, this is not a homeless bunch of vagabonds, (We sort of feel that way and that is Bethany's mom asleep on the left side of the picture) Nor are we a bunch of jet stters in a 5 star resort. (The plants and the fancy carpets might give you that impression.) We are a legitimate family waiting on our little sunshine to get here. This is the Women's Center Lobby at Kennestone Hospital where we are waiting with some patience. I know the Royal wedding is getting started in England, and the world where we normally live is going about their business as usual. But at Kennestone we are waiting on a baby. My little grand baby. Sunshine.
At 5 AM Labor is on going having started about 4 hours ago started and the work of birthing a child is now well underway. Bethany is not yet in much pain but contractions are regular. I will try to update some post all day today as the work of brining a child into the world continues. I know the spritual side of this is to pray for mommy and baby to come through healthy and safe pray for this with me this morning.
The storms of yesterday are gone Praise the Lord Today we have Sunshine. There is so much uncertainty in storms. As I wrote on Tuesday about storms I had no idea of the power or the devastation that would take place in two days to bring such destruction and death across the Southeastern United States in less than 36 hours. Last night was a troubling time for all of Alabama with worst of it coming to Tuscaloosa AL. In total the latest count has it that 77 people have died due to the storms. Our prayers go out to the many who have lost loved ones or who have someone injured due to the storm this morning.The storm is passed in GA but continues up the east coast into North and SouthCarolina today.
The title today is appropriate. We are ready for better weather. Sunshine is warm and welcome in our lives. The coming of Sunshine will make life a litte easier for people who have been through the storm. But there is a second meaning today to the title.
We of course have a granddaughter on the way. She is a joy in our lives that we have yet to meet face to face. We know that she has a name but Brian and Bethany have chosen to wait until she is born to reveal her name so we have dubbed her Sunshine. We are ready for her. And perhaps today if the Lord is willing and the doctors decide it is time and the creeks don't rise we shall see her. Pray for my daughter in law Bethany and my son Brian. (Read Their Blog) Please pray for our family today as decisions are made and uncertainty is cleared by the coming of Sunshine.
I do not know if I have ever played a game on a Playstation. I know for some reading this you may say what planet are you from? But for others, you say "What is a Playstation?" is that something in the nursery at the church? My daughter has one and so do my boys (I think). They are all very good at electronic games and know the different games both old and new that are out there in the cyber world. Out in the cyber world there are also people who are called hackers. These data thieves try to enter the computers of other people through the internet attempting to gain access to their personal information stored on their computers. Some are good at Playstation games and some are good at hacking into Playstation data. Here is an article on the events of last weeks breach of security of the Playstation web site.
This is very serious stuff. The world of games is all about make believe and when you are done you come back to the real world. The real world came to the gaming world as the hackers have made off with personal information of about 70 million people.The game is over now in some ways as the world of Playstation has crossed over into real life.
For most of us the world of computer games, programs, data base information, and access codes are things we know how to use, but do not at all understand. We cannot start to hack because we just plain do not know how to do it.
What is amazing is that it took the Playstation people a full week of calling in experts to realize that they had been hacked and then to realize how much information was compromised. I had a thought about all of this that I wanted to share with you this morning. I am going to see if I can draw in your mind a parallel between the use of a computer game and your theology.
Now do not misunderstand you do have a theology. What is theology? It is the study of God of course. You do have one, well sort of, don't you. What ever belief you have about God from whatever source is your theology. You get your information on God from where? The preacher, sunday school teacher, your grandmother, the talk at the water cooler, the TV preacher, the magazine and of course the Bible. In that order? I hope not, but for some this may be the way. You also live out your life day to day with some interaction with God, but you may or may not be aware of His presence, and His work on your behalf. You may or may not have thankfulness in your heart for the things He has done and continues to do day by day. You just live the game of life not really understanding how it works.
So, for the most part do not understand our theology we just live it. We just live day to day living out the life interacting with God. And for some people in almost a strange manner it is like a different world we have at church or when we think about God and pray and then having done these things we go back to the real world.
People can access a computer game and play in a make believe world. Living in the game vicariously, fighting dragons and flying through space with great ease the loving the power they have in the computer game world. When they are through they go back to real life.
Now some may not see this, but I too often see the shallow lives of Christians who do not understand what they believe and do not have enough faith to live out their faith in God every moment of every day. Some just have a "happy, clappy, feel good experiance when they are at church or with Christian friends but they live in a different world.
Here is the part I think I see. Our theology has been hacked a long time ago. We have been hacked by worldliness, compromise and Satan's lies. It has sure taken a lot longer than a week to see it too. We have been living life with God not understanding the how or why things work the way they do. We have all been happy as long as everything is good but when the tough times comes we are suddenly confused. Do you have a deep seated faith that can draw on the Truth of Scripture and the presence of the Holy Spirit in your life to keep you up going strong to serve our saviour even in the tough moments of life?
I say let the game be over. Stop playing games with God. Do not let your theology be compromised by anything. Go to the souce book the Bible. Learn the life manual and know how to live. We are not playing a game.
When I was a child, I remember being out on the lake with my dad in a small wooden boat when a bad thunderstorm came up. We were driven by the rain and wind, and headed to shore with dad's little green boat motor growling to push the 15 foot open wooden boat through very rough water. There was no place to escape the rain except a very small cubby hole at the front of the boat. Not large enough to get inside, but big enough for a little boy to put his head in. I was scared, but a father with a steady hand faithfully running that little outboard motor got us to shore.
The first time I ever stood at a pulpit and preached the Word of God I opened the booked to Mark 4:35-40. The Title of the message was The Storms of Life. I do not think you can ever be more scared than the first time (except maybe for the second, or third etc) Nonetheless, I was commissioned to preach and preach I did. I do not remember a whole lot about the message except that it did not last near as long as it was supposed to. But the focus was Jesus is with us in the storm. And guess what? He still is. He is also with us in the calm.
As I worked yesterday, twice I was thwarted by storms. An early afternoon storm altered my plans working around the house. An early evening storm delayed Kathy and I delivering baby items to Brian and Bethany. And just for rounding out the day my poor puppies were once again unable to go out at bed time due to a storm with booming thunder.Three storms in one day? In Nicaragua they call that the rainy season.
This morning I have arisen to hear the weather forecast of storms coming today. Just a few today but bad ones tomorrow. No doubt about it the change from cold weather to hot will bring storms in the atmosphere. Storms are a regular part of life this time of year. As we live in this world there are many kinds of storms. Some last longer than others. Some are more severe than others. Sometimes they can be life threatening. They do not come just in the spring but they do come when we do not expect them and they do change our plans. Often the storms are within people. People who struggle with life. People who make mistakes. People who are sinful. All of this is a source of storms.
So it is with people. If you want to be on fire for Jesus, have a hot heart for the things of God you can expect to have some storms come your way. The passion and and heat of serving God introduced into the coldness of the world will cause conflict. The same hot verses cold of the atmosphere causes a series of events that will lead to stormy weather in the lives of those who follow Jesus. It is not easy to serve the Lord. But Jesus said:
These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world." John 16:33 NASB
Peace in the middle of the storm. That is what we can have if we trust him. It is still the same today as it was when I preached it the first time. It was that way when I was a little boy trying to get out of the rain in a boat that had no place to get out of the storm. Jesus is with you. If you know him and trust him you can overcome any storm. Is someone sleeping in the boat of life? Is it you or the Lord?
The tomb is empty HE IS ALIVE! This is the message of Easter Sunday. The Cross is over, the plan of God to redeem all men is finished. This is the message of joy. Proclaim it again - HE IS ALIVE. He has risen from the dead. This message of Easter must be on the lips of every Christian.
I have seen on the BBC news a report about actor Michael Sheen's 72 hour ongoing passion play that is in Wales. The whole community is involved in this mixing of community and actors to create a modern passion play in the town of Port Talbot. This is an amazing event with a huge cast and a schedule to wander the town holding different scenes from the life of Jesus Christ over a three day period. You can read about it with a good many articles on the BBC News.
What I am shocked at is that as I read a good many of the articles I noticed that it has not been mentioned in any articles anything about the Resurrection. In one article in fact it says flatly that the 72 hour play to portray the life of Jesus ends Sunday in the Crucifixion. I read and reread every account of the the passion reporting and the coverage on the BBC and I cannot even find one mention of the most important fact. Jesus is not dead He is alive. This modern portrayal which seems to so many to be a good thing I am concerned over. If we do not focus on the Resurrection of Jesus; we have nothing. If Christ only died, and stays dead, He is just a man, albeit a good man, but just a man. But Jesus is GOD. This must be the message of Easter proclaimed and proven by the Resurrection.
I will continue to watch the BBC and their accounts of the Passion as portrayed by Michael Sheen in this 72 hour community Passion play in Port Talbot. I hope I see the Glory of the Risen Christ. But I am afraid this work of man will end with the death of Christ. And ending there leaves a sense of no hope.
Hope is alive today. Jesus is alive. Easter has become many things with Eggs, Bunnies, family get togethers and community passion plays. But the world is so quick to miss the point sometimes. Remember the focus is three words.....HE IS ALIVE.
Living life means that you must work. Everyone has things that they must do everyday. But the thought I am having this morning is what do you consider work? I sometimes have a some trouble with this thought. That may sound like I am a dummy not to know the difference between work and play but Tom Sawyer talked a whole lot of his friends into thinking that the painting of a fence was pure fun.
Now some things are just plain obvious that they are work. Scrubbing bathrooms, preparing income tax, will easily fit in to the category of work. But in my life I have another category besides work and play, which is ministry. I do a lot of what I would call ministry. Ministry is like work in that it takes some physical effort, (but then so does playing any sport) and ministry is like play that I really want to do it, (but then I want to get work done too.) As I began to think about work and play I realized that I sometimes have a difficult time in which to put something as either work or play. So I ask myself questions about several things. Now this is me not you we will discuss you in a minute or two.
1. Is cutting grass work? - I have a nice riding tractor and I get to ride around on it for an hour when I cut grass and while it does not go as fast as my motorcycle I like the riding around on the lawn. I sort of have to admit it is fun.
2. Is preparing a message to preach work? - Now since I am a preacher this can easily be in the category of work, but I find myself longing to sit down and consider a passage to find truth and then develop an idea of how it can be spoken. I will do this sometimes even if there is not a place to preach the message. So maybe if I have a place I must preach it is work but if I am doing it for me it is play. OH? Wait, this one is ministry.
3. How about cooking or preparing food. is that work? Well, lets think about it. Preparing a plate when I sit down at the table and I say "pass the cornbread" and I build a plate up with food is not actually eating and I would not consider that work. If I grab a box of ceral and pour up a bowl full and slice a banana I really would not consider that work. Now I enjoy grilling things and certainly would not consider that work. This is sort of hard one especially if I am hungry.
You see I can go on and on with this line of thought and it really is difficult to decide if it is work or not sometimes. Let's do one more for me then talk about you.
4. Writing a blog post is that work? HMMM! I am working right now so I cannot answer that.
OK, So what kind of attitude do you have about what you are going to do today? Is it work? Is it play? Is it ministry? When it is done will you have joy? Will you honor God in your life as you do it? That may be the biggest question of all. And the reality is that what is going on in your heart is what determines if it is work or play or ministry.
I hope you have a great day on this Saturday before Easter.
31Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. 1 Corinthians 10:31NASB
