...too small a thing...

Creeping Up on Me

No not an indian. Not a bear. Not a spider or some kind of other deadly creature. But in some ways the most deadly of all. My weight. Two years ago I lost 33 pounds. I went from 233 down to 200. And I have pretty well stayed there for a while but I am almost half way back. It is creeping up on me.

OK! So it is time. I am making it public. Pounds off procedure is going in place today. I have to fight it so I need your encouragement. I am going to cheat however. I leave for Africa in 10 days and while I am there there will not be a lot to eat. We are taking some food with us because the village where we will be is poor and there is no restaurant, and little other than rice to make a meal of and it is poor quality. I do not know if I should call this cheating but I am sure I will not be eating too much in this stretch of time. My goal is to get back under 200 in the next 60 days.

I can pinch too much fat and so I know it its going to take a combination effort. Exercise and Diet.It may be creeping up on me but I have seen it and I am willing to fight.

 

Doing Nothing is Doing Something

Too many times people try to ignore problems or issues of life thinking that the problem or problems will go away by itself. But in reality the act of doing nothing is in itself an act that is a decision with bad consequences. Certainly our health is an area of life where people do nothing too often. Neglect of check ups to monitor our health can lead to problems that might include cancer or heart disease that could have been prevented if action had been taken. Neglect of exercise and proper diet are also two other area where we too often do nothing.

So often people see things that are happening with attitudes and patterns of life in others that are self destructive or might have serious consequences, but do or say nothing.  Doing or saying nothing in this instance too is an action.

We have responsibility to our family or friends to show them the Lord in our lives. We have a duty to lovingly and I do mean with the utmost care and concern help and confront when we see that there are things that are against the teachings of God in people's lives who are close to us.

This is not always easy, comfortable or what we want to do. So too often we do nothing. But here is my point doing nothing is doing something. Most of the time the doing of nothing means to the offender, acceptance. Now that is scary.

Take a stand my friend be the person God has called you to be.

“Be strong, and let us show ourselves courageous for the sake of our people and for the cities of our God; and may the LORD do what is good in His sight.” 2 Samuel 10:12 NASB

Great Builders Meeting - Wyoming Bound

We had a really good meeting Thursday night at Eastland Heights Baptist Church who hosted our Noonday Builders for Christ team for 2012. We gave out the sleeping arrangements discussed the things to bring and of course circled up to pray. The group went all the way around the walls of the worship center at Eastland. Quite an impressive group.

The trip will be July 21 - 28 to Snowy Mountain Lodge near Laramie WY. The team is 87 people strong as of right now. We will be building 3 bridges and performing a multitude of other task. I think they are almost ready to go today.

What has been the greatest suprise you have ever had in your life?

An interesting Friday morning question? Although I am not sure why it would make a difference to ask it on Friday instead of Monday (or any other day) but maybe our Friday morning attitude is a little different.

But nonetheless I have posed a question that would basically say what has been the biggest surprise in your life? Now I immediately think about my 30th birthday when Kathy pulled off the biggest surprise party at Fortified Hills Baptist Church I have ever had. This was prior to ministry days which seems almost like someones else's life I read about in a book. It is a great memory, but I do not think it was my greatest surprise in life.

I can also remember Kathy making me sit on the bed at Oak Forest Drive late one afternoon.  I thought that she had been to the doctor and was having a second miscarriage, but she instead said these words to me, "We are having twins!" It was quite a surprise, but while it was huge, not the biggest surprise of my life.

I also remember like yesterday the call from Columbus GA on March 9, 1994 about 2 pm. I remember the tears running down my face as the Lady on the phone said, "We have a baby girl in route to Columbus...." and I said " Do you mean this baby is for us?" "Yes" was the reply.  A total shock, and again a major turning point in our lives. Certainly near the top of all surprises, but I have one greater.

You see the greatest surprise to me seems to keep happening over and over again. Each day brings a new aspect of it. And it is simply this. God has Chosen me.

What a surprise to me. I know who I am and what I am. A Holy God has called my name. He has called me out to serve Him. What a shock, but what an honor and a blessing. Not only did He call me, but He continues to sustain and empower me. What an awesome God.

While I am surprised I realize that He calls all of us to different task? Do you realize He has called you too? Does that surprise you? One of the greatest joys of my life has been to help people realize the calling of God into missions. And when they get there it changes them. Just like it has changed me. What a surprise!

God of the Instantaneous

The Lord God is truly a God of the instantaneous. When the Bible begins this is very obvious. When God speaks it is so. He is a Creator who does not have to have a committee to study things nor to consider how they may be affected by His actions. He does not need a time of planning or preparation. God does not need ever develop alternate plans in case His first actions do not work. He is perfect and Holy in every action or thing He does.

I do not know about you but sometimes I get tired of having to wait. We do a lot of waiting on things. Wait in line. Wait for a response to email or even worse, waiting on the US mail to deliver. I do not like to wait even at a red light.  I am somewhat impatient. I am so glad that I know the Lord is a God of the now. He hears me now. I do not have to wait for Him ever.

The Lord God is all powerful and when He speaks it is so. When He  wills it to happen whatever it is it will be so. But He is also a God who is so powerful He gives. He gives to us so much. I am so thankful because the first thing He gives is love. And because He loves us, He has made us in His image and given to us the ability to choose. We call it free will. And although He is a God of the instantaneous He is patient with us. He bears with us even though He knows we reject HIs Love and guidance. So we have a God who is willing to forgive us the instant we ask Him to do so, but is ever patient with us waiting for us to do so.

He hears our prayers instantly. The forgiveness is there for us even as we are confessing. He loves us unconditionaly. He forgives us constantly. He is a God of the instantaneous. May His name be praised forever.

I taught through the books of 1 and 2 Thessalonians Tuesday night and of course we talked a lot about the coming of the Lord. The Scripture is very plain about how this will happen so instantaneously. In his letter to the Thessalonians, Paul speaks about His coming as a thief would sneak in or labor pains would suddenly come when no one is expecting it. And then in his letter to the Church at Corinth He said it this way:

Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, 52in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 1 Cor 15:51-52

He will be coming for us the instant He is ready to do so. I want to be ready. I know He is coming. I know when He does come He is not wating any longer on anything. He will be Lord of All.

How about you? Is the Lord waiting on you right now? Waiting on you to get serious about serving Him? Waiting for you to confess sin? Waiting on you to do His work? He is ready to forgive, empower, bless, and do for you more than you could ever imagine. And it all starts instantly  with your commitment to Him. No Waiting.

Feeder Down - Squirrel Stew Anyone?

Kathy enjoyed the bird feeder we HAD on the deck outside our kitchen window. She enjoyed it for a few weeks this spring until the Gray family found out there was free food up at the Davis house. We tried shooing them away but they came back. The little critters are sort of cute so she would not let me use weapons.  Kathy tried given them crackers instead but they would eat them up quickly and be back at the feeder. We tried a longer pole so they would not be able to reach the feeder from the post, but they were determined and jumping onto the feeder they finally broke the small pole and the feeder itself. Now, NO food for anyone. It was a good thing while it lasted for them, but now it is back to work for them finding food the old fashion way, looking for it.

Now we have more folks on food stamps in this country than ever before. I must be careful to acknowledge that some need it. I would not want anyone to be starving, as I have seen this in other counties and it is not pretty. But, we also can get a squirrel mentality as a nation that as long as it is there many people will do whatever they have to do in order to get free food. When you are the one paying for the food you realized some of the squirrels are capable of finding there own food and they are hogging in on a system designed for others. What they do not realize is that when they take down the feeder, they might be the stew. Think about it a little.

But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. 1 Tim 5:8 NASB

Gold Stars

When I was a kid we used to get a gold star in Sunday School if we read the Bible every day. It was an incentive to try to help children to do their daily Bible reading. It may suprise some of you, but It usually made me feel bad because I seldom got a star. I wanted one every week but I would do good for a few days by reading the scripture and then I would forget to do it one day and then my chance for a gold star for the week was down the drain.

I am so glad God does not measure us by the week. I am glad I do not have to be good for a whole week to get his favor. He loves me every moment of every day. There is never a time no matter what when He does not love me. But the Bible also speaks of the Favor of the Lord. In the Proverbs Wisdom personified speaks:

“For he who finds me finds life, And obtains favor from the LORD. Proverbs 8:35 NASB

What exactly would this mean to find the Favor of the Lord? Mary found it, the angel told her so.

The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God. Luke 1:30 NASB

Job realized he had it even in some of his darkest moments.

You have granted me life and favour, and your care has preserved my spirit. Job 10:12 NKJV

Psalm 5 speaks of this favor of the Lord in its final two verses. Here we see how we come by having the favor of the Lord.

But let all who take refuge in You be glad,
         Let them ever sing for joy;
         And may You shelter them,
         That those who love Your name may exult in You.

For it is You who blesses the righteous man, O LORD,
         You surround him with favor as with a shield.

      Psalm 5:11-12 NASB

My righteousness has nothing to do with me but everything to do with Jesus. His righteousness is given to me. Wow! I have it when I realize what His death on the cross has done for me and seek Him. I am glad it is Jesus not me who had to make things right. Now remember what I said about wanting to get the gold star and trying. The Spirit of the Lord in me has not ever let that desire fade. I desire to serve God. I want to do His work. Not for a gold star, but because I realize what He has done for me and that He loves me and provides for me. In other words I have found favor with the Lord. That is a very humbling thought.

 

Something in Common With Joe Biden

Well now that thought occurred to me after I read the article on Air Force Two's problem with the birds this week. The VP was on board and was I am sure aware of what happend when they were having to land because of birds being sucked into the jet engine. READ ARTICLE

Now it was a long time ago but I remember it well. We were on a KLM flight leaving Amsterdam bound for Moscow in 1992. I was on a mission team headed by Alan Roper and Robin Sosbee. We took off and about a minute into the flight the airplane shook violently. Seemed to stop shaking and then shook violently once again. Almost immediately the pilot came on the intercom and said something like this, "folks we are experiencing a problem and are going to have to turn around and go back into the Amsterdam airport." "We are sorry for this inconvenience and hope to work out the problem and have you on your way in just a few minutes." That was it. But we realized something pretty serious was wrong. Now that is a feeling that Joe Biden and I share. I am sure that there are many others out there too.

I wonder what he did at that moment? I know what me, and Robing and several others did. We all kind of looked at each other and kind of said something like this, "Well I guess if it is our time then it is our time." "I guess being on a mission trip is not so bad of a time to go." We said this but strangely I really was not scared. The plane seemed to be flying fine and we were not falling out of the sky. We were in a 747 which has 4 engines and some of them were working fine it seemed. But we all decided that prayer was in order so we began to pray. I do not remember the words in the prayer, but I know that they were real. Danger has a way of making prayer more intense somehow if that is possible. (At least I remember it well.) We landed and taxied only a short way where we were met by buses on the tarmac and carried back to the terminal. Three hours later we took off for Moscow again this time without incident.

Well I have something in common with the VP as I survived an attack by birds. I really do wonder how much prayer went up off of the Air Force 2 last week during this crisis?

I think about this sometimes when I board an airplane. I know that the Lord God guides my steps and my airspace. I do trust Him, and me staying at home would have far more serious consequences that taking a chance on a few old random crows flying by.

There was another one of these bird incidents last week on a Delta Flight and a guy caught on video the birds as they went by his first class window on the plane. SEE HIS INTERVIEW His description was similar to mine and his account sounds so much like my experiance. So I guess He and I and Joe should get together sometime. Interestingly however He did not mention prayer. We all have common experiances but our responses sometimes show who we really are.

No, the photo is not from the Russia trip. I had hair in those days. The photo is from a Bible Institute teaching trip in 2009 with Jim Kilpatrick and Brian Foster and Loyd Miguel. The plane is in Nicaragua. My next trip will be with Jim to teach Bible to pastors in Ethiopia. And the one after that will be with Loyd Miguel to teach pastors in Nicaragua. Praying for those trips now, is very important. All aspects of the trips and remeber to pray for "safe' flights.

 

Today is Unique

Today is the Lord's Day a day of purpose.

I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go to the house of the LORD.”  Psalm 122:1 NASB

This was the beginning of a Song of Ascent. A song that would be sung by people going up to the Temple to worship. What song are you singing today. Is a song that is focusing on Worshiping the Lord Jesus Christ what seems to come to mind or is there another or idol or god that seems to be trying to lure you away from the focus of the first day of the week. Acts 20:7 tells us the the early church came together on the "first day of the week." It is the day the Lord rose from the dead. It is now the Lord's DAY.

Wherever you go and whatever you do today will be a unique day. It will be a day different than any other you have ever lived. It may be similar with many of the same people, same food, similar patterns of conversation, so many things that seem to have been a part of you life in the past but today is unique. This is a day  of purpose.

The purpose today is for you to worship God. To give to Him your heart and soul. Is this the priority of your heart at this moment? If not will you put it off until when? Assembly to worship with others is a normal part of the Lord's day for many. It should be as it stirs within up a passion for God with music to sing and preaching to challenge our hearts.

Today is Unique. What will you do with today.

I will be preaching a message on. Love Lavished on Us, from Ephesians chapter 1 this morning at 11am if you do not have a place you are normally going to worship. I want to give you a personal invitation to join us at Piney Grove at 1605 Mars Hill Road, Acworth GA, 30101. Today is unique.

Passages

Last Saturday Kathy and I took a few hours in the afternoon to visit the exhibit that is out off of Hammond Drive in Dunwoody called Passages. What is it? Passages is actually several things. It is an exhibit of ancient biblical manuscripts, Bibles, letters and other things set up in an interactive display which will allow you to walk through the displays and get a sense of the sacredness and work that has led to the development of the Bible you have now. There are some fragments of scripture from as old as the 2nd century.

The dsplay is the work of Steve Green the founder of Hobby Lobby. He has obviously put together a collection of the materials tha have cost considerable time and money to develop.

I felt it was well worth the not inexpensive admission price of $ 16 plus you will want a headset which cost another $3 to hear the descriptions of so many of the Bible Fragments and other items in the exhibit. You can run through and get a very quick overview or summary of the items in a couple of hours but if you wanted to you could spend 4 to 6 hours listening to the many details of the hundereds of items there on display and viewing several short films on the development of the scriptures. The display is only here through June.

The exhibit is very strong on how we got the Bible in English with several of the rooms dedicated to the process and struggle of the translation of the Bible into English language.

I am not really giving you much information the website of the passages will give you much more detail.

http://www.explorepassages.com/about

This is just in case you do not have anything to do today. But I do reccomend a visit for those who would love to know more about how we got the beautiful passages of Scripture we have that guide our lives.