Hiding Out?
10/1/2004 6:50:38 AM
I had a very good friend from Virginia express some reservations about stepping out in ministry opportunity because of some perceived failures in her life. I have my own regrets which often cause me trepidation in some areas of service in the Kingdom. She used the words “hiding out” to describe the state of mind that handcuffs her—which I admit hits the nail right on the head about how I feel sometimes in my own circumstance. A sudden boldness overwhelms me this day, however, to fight against that trepidation. Why should we hold back? Why should we be intimidated by the enemy’s penchant for using our emotions, circumstances, and perceptions against us? It isn’t our Kingdom we are building but God’s! Sure, I wish things were different in some aspects of my life that would not be liabilities to the work of the Kingdom, but if I back down every time I fall short then I’ll become the biggest crawfish in the Kingdom of God. Look at the spiritual waters crashing against the shore this day! Why should we be missing out on all the fun? I will take my friend by that hand, and we will run along the beaches of the Kingdom today—forgetting our liabilities and failures. The water is plenty warm and the salt is healing. We will splash around and forget the heat of the day. No use waiting until the waves are kinder and gentler. No use hiding until a more convenient time. The Kingdom of God is always NOW!

Our Whole Hearts
10/4/2004 2:55:23 PM
Here are 4 things we must do with our WHOLE HEART if we are going to "keep our hearts" focused and ready for service and blessing.

1. We must REPENT with our whole hearts. Joel 2:12-14
2. We must SEEK Him with our whole hearts. Psalm 119:2-11
3. We must PRAISE Him with our whole hearts. Psalm 9:1-2
4. We must LOVE Him with our whole hearts. Matthew 12:30

By doing these things, we will find that He will dwell with us and bless us with His whole heart and soul. (Jeremiah 32:38-41)

Slim Pickings From The Tree Of My Life
10/11/2004 1:01:19 PM
Today I purposed in my heart to do something of value in the Kingdom of God. So far, the pickings are slim, but the day is not done. I will leave a mark on the Tree of Life today so that those searching for this Kingdom will find it and know they are headed in the right direction. I will leave some bread crumbs, smiles or tears, whereby the next pilgrim who happens along this trail will rest assured that he is on the right path to the Kingdom. I will love enough today that they will know I am His disciple. Hopefully, someone will be encouraged by my sacrifice to join the battle, start the race, do the right thing. I will fill the tree of my life with so much fruit that the branches will bend to the ground with weight...that all who come may eat of the sweetness...that the birds of the air may rest in my branches. So far, though, the pickings are slim.

Fitted Together
10/15/2004 7:04:14 AM
I am struck from my devotions today that we are called to be One Body. In his book, The Purpose Driven Life, Rick Warren states that we are intended by God to be a part of the family of God together. We have been fitted together, joined together, put together, built together, members together, heirs together, and held together. That's a lot of "together." Why do we so often imagine that we can do just fine on our own? It is simply not in God’s plan for any of us to be isolated...to drift...to just plod along on our own. God never intends for us to separate from the church body to which we’ve been added. Our brothers and sisters are the family God has given us for the exact things we need to survive in this world that hates us. We need to take another look at those strange looking, weird acting folk sitting next to us in the pews. We must begin to tear down the barriers that keep us separated from one another. Remember, when Jesus spits that Eastern sky one day, we are going to also be “caught up together.” You may as well learn to love your brother and sister now. It’s time we overcome our insecurities, our scruples, and our bigotry and get used to being with those God has called to his glorious life.

Midnight Madness
10/16/2004 10:02:12 PM
I can't sleep tonight. Or is it morning. I have no idea what I am going to preach to those anxiously awaiting children of God in service tomorrow...later today. Oh, I have plenty of sermons at hand. In fact, I have written a couple today, hoping God would somehow be convinced that "Yes, that'll preach, son. Go for it." Unfortunately, God doesn't let me operate that way. So I am waiting. I am looking. I found no sermon on my back porch looking at the beauty of nature. I found no sermon in the ball game I watch on TV today...yesterday. I found no sermon in the chicken I ate for supper. I found no sermon in the Youth Party I conducted last evening. I didn't even find a sermon in the reading of my Bible today...yesterday. So I sit here. With plenty of material but nothing to preach. Sometimes, He makes me wait until I step into that pulpit. I do not take for granted the privilege of speaking to His Mighty Warriors...the daughters of Zion. So I wait.

Carrying The Banner
10/18/2004 6:38:38 PM
I've been putting together a booklet for our Homecoming, which is scheduled for next week, and I have been gathering information from various sources concerning the little church in Olla where I presently serve. I know much of its past since my dad re-opened the church in the 80's. I actually pastored the church back then for a year. Gosh, I must have been a handful for those faithful saints. I've discovered that the history of the Assemblies of God work in this town goes back pretty far. A lady from the Arkansas district pioneered a work here for a while in the 30's. After several years as Mount Zion A/G, the church closed. It re-opened in the 60's as Olla A/G. We now call it New Life A/G. Regardless of what we've named this little work, it has seen many pastors come and go over the years. It has never been a church with a membership of a hundred souls. I was looking at the names of these men and women, scanning some old pictures I've collected of some of them, and I am feeling very connected to them all today. What vision did these mighty warriors have? What passion moved them to establish a beach-head for God in this little town of Olla? I placed myself in my dad's shoes. What did he see when he tore down that little white building and built the newer, bigger one? What about me? What was I thinking back then? What was I doing? For that matter, what am I doing now? Everything I feel inside of me that is possible in this town moves me to prayer, to vision, to action. I carry the banner for a couple generations of Soul-seekers. I won't let them, nor my Savior, down.

One Of Those Days
10/23/2004 2:08:35 PM
Don't Ask!!!

Casting Off Restraint And Feeling Good!
10/25/2004 9:23:44 AM
Yesterday we had Homecoming. What a wonderful celebration we experienced! The people were filled with joy, filled with laughter, filled with the spirit of God, and after service, filled with some of the most delicious food you can imagine. If you have never experienced a covered-dish church fellowship in the Deep South you have yet to experience the highest level of “feasting.” Some people call them “Dinner-on-the-Ground,” “Pot Luck,” “Covered-dish,” or “Church Socials.” A true child of the South would recognize the nuances of each that actually make these events all separate experiences. In either case, the piney woods empty as beat-up Chevy’s and rusty pick-ups unload with grinning families, arms filled with roasts, chicken & dumplings, potato salads, baked beans, spaghettis, gumbos, catfish, casseroles, jambalayas, cakes, pies, and gallon after gallon of iced-tea. The procession never seems to end. Man after man after child after child after woman after woman hauls their favorite special recipes to the tables, moving around other dishes to display their own prominently.

These events are the last bastions of unbridled passion and pleasure where Christian folk are allowed, no encouraged, to partake without restraint. We indulge with abandonment with no fear of being judged by our neighbor. In fact, those who peck like a bird at the labor of love these ladies have cooked, packaged, and hauled ten, twenty, or some even fifty miles are eyed with skepticism and discussed with scorn. The ladies whisper to one another in disbelief as they spit out words like “diet,” “vegetarian,” and “allergic.” You are expected to indulge. It’s demanded that you throw off restraint. Full or not, you are compelled to loosen up that belt and try some of Aunt Betty’s peach cobbler since she made it just for you.

We ate till we hurt; we laughed; we prayed. We ate some dessert; we sang; we played. We waltzed with the spirit of communion on the dance-floor of fellowship as we feasted at God’s banqueting table. Until you look into the eye of a seventy year old woman who is begging you to eat one more bite of her Dewberry Delight and, despite the fact that your belly is so full it will take a week to recuperate, take the plunge anyway to make her smile, you have no idea how wonderful it is to celebrate Homecoming and share a covered-dish dinner at a little country church in the Deep South.

Kingdom Puzzles
10/27/2004 11:46:28 AM
How could He possibly look at me and see a King? A Royal Priesthood? A Holy Nation? Paul said that he was not yet what he was going to be. I second that emotion. Sometimes I feel like anything but Christ-like. It is practically impossible to see ourselves as He sees us. We don’t have omni-vision as God does. He sees the beginning from the end. What we are now in light of what we shall become. Daily, we are being changed from glory to glory into the image of His dear son. He is bringing us to maturity, but we have trouble understanding the progression. It’s like pouring the jumbled pieces of a puzzle onto the floor. God instructs us to match the pieces of our heart, mind, and soul to those of Jesus. At first, it seems absolutely impossible. There are pieces all over the place with no rhyme or reason whatsoever. It takes hard work. Long, hard work. Simply, you must begin to put this puzzle together. You look for corner pieces. You find edges to place together so that you can begin to frame the picture God’s put in your soul. You match colors; you shove aside things that don’t belong. You compare similarities and differences with Christ and make life-changing decisions. After a while, the puzzle begins to take shape. You begin to see results in your life of the influence God has in your heart. There is still no finished product, but you understand more each day the wisdom in the changes taking place in your life. The pieces of this puzzle called the Kingdom of God only make sense in Him. When you grasp that, the pieces begin to be easily separated. The end of the puzzle is in sight. What seemed so impossible before appears attainable. What seemed so slow and hard to accomplish at the beginning becomes a joy to pursue in your life. A flood of understanding comes as–Bam! Bam! Bam!—the last few remaining pieces of the puzzle fall right into place. Spiritual growth and maturity occur. Finally! Validation in the Kingdom of God. What’s next? A brand new puzzle.

How Valuable Am I?
10/29/2004 9:14:29 AM
To be humble requires enormous boldness. Those words seem to contradict but the fact remains that unless you trust God with every aspect of your life you will never turn your life over to him. You will never realize the need to humble yourself in His sight until you first are willing to shout from the rooftops that He alone is worthy of your total allegiance. Do not fall into the trap of thinking you either have much or little to offer the Kingdom of God. It is not about your offering; it’s about His mercy and grace. You are more than just the sum of your successes or the accumulation of your mistakes. You are not defined in the Kingdom of God by your past mistakes or conquests. Simply put: You are as valuable in the Kingdom this day as Jesus needs you to be, despite your talents or your faults.