David Leo Doran was said to be one of the greatest preachers to ever walk in shoe leather. I have said it myself and have heard many others say the same thing. He was an old time fiery preacher. He would quote more scripture in one sermon than most preachers use in a year’s worth of sermons. He could tell a story like you have never heard it told anywhere else. Most important of all, when he came to the pulpit, you knew that he had been in touch with God.

David did not have very much formal education. He had to leave school in the tenth grade to work and help support his family. Yet he always had a hunger to learn and continued to study and educate himself. He would talk to well-educated men that he admired and ask them what books they recommended. He would then buy the book and read it from cover to cover. He was much disciplined about this. I remember someone recommended Clyde Narrimore’s book, “The Encyclopedia of Psychological Problems.” They said it was a good book to have to help when you had to counsel with people. David bought the book and read it from cover to cover, word for word.

He was a preacher who studied. He would eat lunch on Sunday afternoon and then go to his study and prepare for the message that night. When he was finished, he started on his Bible lesson for Tuesday night. Tuesday nights, when he got off work, he would eat, bathe and change clothes, and then he would head for the church to finish up for Bible Study that night. He never walked to the pulpit without spending hours in study and prayer.

He took his responsibility so seriously that I recall a time or two when he would actually tell us that he didn’t have a message, although he had spent time in study and prayer, he didn’t have a message. He refused just to go through the motions or just be redundant in what he had to say. He was honest and up front and said he had nothing. Generally he would share a scripture with the Church and then call us to prayer.

I saw and heard him preach at a Fellowship Meeting which is a service with several churches gathered together. He was preaching on Jehu telling different men to come see his zeal for the Lord. David began preaching about being zealous for the Lord. He got to preaching about being like Jehu, who they said drove his chariot ferociously. David grabbed the hand of a young man sitting in the front of the church and he began to run around the building. The whole time he was pulling this young man behind him and preaching with all his might about having zeal for God.

Mind you, at this time David was about 47 or 48 years of age at this time. The young man had just returned from Marine boot camp. David ran him around that building until the young man’s tongue hung out, while David never missed a word or slowed down. The man could preach!

A Bible Study, which David taught, might last an hour or more. A sermon that he preached would be thirty minutes or so. That was his average. A Pastor once called him to preach for them for several nights and the night of the main event the Pastor requested David preach on a certain subject and asked that he preach for three hours. David did just that, he preached for three hours and although I was not able to be there, those that I spoke too later told me it seemed just like minutes.

When David was 59 years old, he found out that he had Parkinson’s disease. You might not be familiar with Parkinson’s disease so let me briefly explain its effect on a body. Parkinson’s disease is the result of a chemical deficiency between the brain and the nerve center that sends signals to the muscles. As a result of this, many of the things we do reflexively have to be thought out, step by step, in order for the person to be able to do them. For example swallowing is something done as a reflex, we don’t think about it at all. Yet with Parkinson’s you have to think through the whole swallowing process. Many people with Parkinson’s have problems swallowing food or even saliva.

Parkinson’s affects walking, talking, and standing. I won’t go into detail, but because of the lack of the signal from the brain to the nerve center it was soon evident that after twenty-five years, David’s time as pastor had come to an end. It was also obvious that he would no longer be able to preach the way that he once had preached.

David was a champion; he squared his shoulders and faced the problems before him. I must say that the most difficult thing for him to face as a result of this disease, which so disabled him, was not being able to preach the way he loved to preach. At the time of his being diagnosed with Parkinson’s I was David’s associate pastor. When he could no longer carry on the work as pastor, in the church where he had pastored for twenty-five years, He and the church asked me to step in and carry on his work. Being his son and his student, I knew how he wanted to stay involved so I encouraged him to seek other ways to minister. One of those ways was discipling young Christians.

When I became Pastor, the people in the church began to call David “The Elder” as a way of honoring him for his life time of service to that church. When we started working together with David teaching young Christians, I called it, “Sitting at the feet of the Elder.”

David dealt with Parkinson’s and all the effects it had on his life and his body for ten years. In 1999 the doctors told him and the family that Parkinson’s had taken its toll and David didn’t have much longer to live. I spent many nights, along with my brothers and oldest son, sitting in David’s living room, sometimes holding his hand. Most of those nights were spent sitting together, talking quietly and listening to him talk to us. I don’t remember a lot of the details of those conversations, I think it was more of his spirit strengthening ours than it was of words and dialog. I just remember being there with him. As the days went by, David became weaker. He became so weak that they brought a hospital bed in and set it up in his living room.

I remember on a Saturday afternoon I was sitting with him. Faye, his wife and my mother, had laid down to rest. David was a sleep and I was sitting on the couch in the living room thinking. It was very quiet and still. I watched David as he slept and seemed to labor a bit in breathing. In the still time my mind went back over the years and I began to remember the different times that I had listen to my Dad preach. I began to relive those moments and those sermons which we called “Messages.” My how he could preach!

I walked through the years. I remembered the times and the places. There were one-room school houses. There were school gymnasiums. There were Camp Meeting Tabernacles and Brush Arbors. There were nice Church buildings and other buildings that had been converted from a former life into a church building. There were big crowds, medium size crowds and there were small crowds. David had preached in them all and to them all.

I remembered sermon titles like, “Are You Asking for Trouble?” “You Know Too Much!” “Check Points on the Road to Heaven.” “Five Things I Would Like on My Tombstone.” “A Three and Two Count!”

It was a very overwhelming experience. In my heart I knew that David didn’t have many days left to live. Along with that knowledge and the memories I felt just a little overwhelmed. Then I remember a thought that came to me. Maybe it was more of a wish or even a prayer than a thought, actually. Whatever it was, I said to myself, “I wish I could hear Dad preach one more ‘Message’. I wish I could just hear him do it one more time.”

My eyes had actually been closed and when I opened them Dad was looking at me. I asked him if he had gotten some rest and he answered back appropriately. Then we both sat there somewhat lost in our thoughts. A few moments later, Faye came into the room to check on David. They spoke to each other in low tones and then Faye left the room. I didn’t think any more about what had been going through my mind because within just a few moments’ people started coming into the house to visit. There was Slim and Rose Daniel. Jean Daniel and the Petranoff family showed up. Marc and Valerie Anderson came walking in and the house was soon filled with family and friends from the church. One of the last people to come in that evening was Joe Silva. Joe and his wife Sheryl were newer saints in the Church that David and Faye had been teaching and Joe looked to David as a son does to a father.

After Joe came in, David began to talk. Suddenly he was once again the Pastor. He looked at my wife, Melinda, and asked her if she would get out the old accordion. He looked at me and asked me to get out my guitar. Then he looked at us all and said that he had asked Faye to call everyone in so that we could have a time of worship and fellowship. It was about this time that I realized the people he had Faye call in, were those people that he had pastored for so many years. These were “his people or his saints.” He had loved them, led them to Christ, discipled them and pastored them for twenty-five years. They were those who were dearest to his heart and him to theirs.

He would tell us the song that he wanted us to sing and we all gathered in and sang our hearts out. He would call the name of an individual and ask them to sing a “special” song that they had sang in church, and they would sing their hearts out. What a time we had. You could feel the Spirit of God as it began to minister to each of us.

After everyone had sung and after we had pretty much exhausted the old song book. David spoke to Justin, his oldest grandson and my oldest son, and told Justin to go into his office and bring him some things. When Justin returned he had with him some sermon notes and a chart which he set up for his Grandpa.

David turned to Joe and said, “With all that has happened I haven’t been able to teach you this lesson that I really want you to hear. I have called you all in because I have something that you really need to hear.”

My prayer was answered. My desire came to past. There on his hospital bed “The Elder” stepped up to the pulpit and preached one last “Message” to his people. I got to hear him preach one last time.

He preached from Hebrews 10:34-38 which reads:

Heb 10:34-38
34 For ye had compassion of me in my bonds, and took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, knowing in yourselves that ye have in heaven a better and an enduring substance.
35 Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward.
36 For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.
37 For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry.
38 Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.” KJV

The words of the “Old Preacher’s” last message that stuck in my mind was this. Don’t cast away your confidence in God. Trust in God! God will always do the right thing. He said, “I don’t know why things in my life haven’t worked out the way that I planned them, but I have confidence in God that I will receive my reward and that He knows what is best.”

Yes, just as I had remembered it, the Preacher had a Message and that Message was for me. I am thankful I got to hear him preach one more time. Today, on what would have been his eighty-fourth birthday, I can still hear him say, “Have faith in God!”

Just a thought! God Bless!

Going the Wrong Way on the Right Road

Have you ever found yourself going the wrong way on the right road? What I mean is, you think you are going the right way, because you are on the right road, only to find out that you are going the wrong way. This has happened to me and, to be honest, it can shake you up a bit.

Last year Melinda and I were returning home from preaching for some dear friends in Louisiana. We had enjoyed ourselves with good services, good fellowship and good food. Earlier that days, as we were passing through Natchez, Mississippi, we had stopped and visited an old plantation. We had stepped back in time a hundred and fifty years and played the tourist. The day was beautiful and now we were focused on the drive ahead of us.

Warm sunshine on my left shoulder, the late hours of fellowship, time walking in the sunshine, a lunch and the monotony of the drive started to make me feel a bit drowsy. I looked over to see if Melinda felt like driving, but alas, I was too late! She had succumbed to what I was fighting. So I turned the air up, turned on the stereo and focused on staying awake!

We were driving up Highway 425 toward Bastrop, Louisiana heading toward Monticello, Arkansas. We had traveled this way a few times before, but it was always a while between trips so I knew I had to be careful and pay attention to the road and highway changes, but since I was staying on Highway 425 I felt really comfortable. To stay alert I began to pay more attention to the scenery, although there isn’t a lot to see in that area except fields of crops, and these were just starting to grow in the mid spring weather.

We passed a power plant and I thought to myself, “I don’t remember seeing that before?” However, being old and feeble minded as I am, I figured I just hadn’t noticed it prior to this. Then I began to think, there are several things I don’t remember seeing in the past. I just drove this road a few days ago, I should remember this? Again, I shrugged my shoulders and kept on driving. About that time Melinda woke up and I saw a sign that said, “Monroe 20 miles.”

Melinda immediately said, “Why are we headed to Monroe? Isn’t that the wrong way?” (Where was she twenty minutes earlier?) I replied, “I don’t know!” I started looking for a place to safely get off the road to check out the map. To make a long story short, we were headed toward Monroe, Louisiana which was the opposite direction from which we were suppose to be traveling. Fortunately we had only traveled about five miles the wrong way when we realized our mistake.
As we were backtracking, I asked myself where I had gone wrong? When we got back to the junction that I had missed I noticed it wasn’t well marked. I also noticed, and looking at a map I found I was correct, the highway changed directions ever so slightly, to the point as one wouldn’t notice the change. To stay on the right road I actually had to make a right turn and continue north. However, if I had been paying attention, I would have noticed I was headed in the wrong direction. The first indicator was the sun was no longer shining on my left shoulder, it was on the right side of the car. The scenery was different.  It was very unfamiliar. The road signs would have told me I was on the wrong road.

Last Christmas Jared and Amber, our son and daughter-in-love, came and spent a few days with us. We really enjoyed our time together and one evening we decided to go look at Christmas lights. There is one street in our town that has their lights set to music and you can listen to the music over a radio station and watch the lights blink and flash to the music.

We stopped at Starbucks and got some hot beverages to enjoy on a cold winter night and went to look at lights. After we found the neighborhood we were looking for, we continued to drive around looking at other lights and enjoying our time together. Melinda suggested we go to an upper class area that was built around a golf course. It had been several years since I had been in that area and I had never been there in the dark so it took me a few minutes to locate it again. We wound our way up and down the streets, commenting on both the displays and the beautiful homes until finally we had seen all there was to see.

I began looking for the exit to this community and finally found it. I looked at the street sign and it said, “Hogan,” so I thought, “I know where I am!” This wasn’t the street we had came in on but it would work. I made a left turn and drove a little way to a stop sign. I thought to myself, there shouldn’t be a road here, but I recognize the road and I know where I am. Again I made a left turn and we headed off into the night. Pretty soon I see a sign on my left that indicated we were passing the dump. I commented, I thought that was on the other side of the road and kept on driving. Not long after that there was a sign for Cadron Settlement Park, then there was a bridge and I knew I was on the right road but headed the wrong way. Somehow, wondering the streets looking at lights I had gotten turned around and should have made a right turn on Hogan or a right turn on Highway 64.

You know I have had this happen a few times in my spiritual walk as well. I’m going along living for God and dealing with life. I am doing my best, only to find out that somewhere along the way I had missed a turn or I had made a wrong turn and now I was on the right road but headed the wrong way. I had not left my walk with God, but I had lost direction.

There are indicators that we need to pay attention to that will warn us we are traveling in the wrong direction. Let me list a few: 1) No time to pray. I find myself just too busy right now and will catch it later. 2) Lack of interest in my Bible. I can find time and interest to read the newspaper, Facebook, Yahoo sports but I’m not interested in my Bible. 3) Isolating myself from my spiritual brothers and sisters. I find myself pulling away rather than drawing close. 4) I find money becoming very important to me. Money is necessary in our lives, but the love of money is the root of all evil. When everything becomes about money let, it is a warning. 5) Finding myself alienated from my Pastor and spiritual mentors. No person can survive without a Pastor. I need to trust those who have invested in my life and my walk with God to lead me. I need to turn to them for direction.

Every once in a while it is important to make sure we are on the right road and headed in the right direction. I need to make sure the indicators are telling me that I am going right. I can try and convince myself that I am ok, but I am only fooling myself. Eventually I am going to find myself a long way from where I need to be. I might be on the right road, but am I headed in the right direction?

Holiness and the Word

I am sharing a paper I recently wrote for my college Theology Class, thus the format. I came across some interesting thoughts and felt they might bless you as they blessed me. You might find a new perspective.

Introduction

            There are two words, or subjects, in the Bible that are of great fascination. These are the subjects of Holiness and the “Word.” There is not enough time or space to comprehensively cover these two subjects, for both of them reveals the nature of God to us. However, I would like to share a few thoughts concerning these two subjects that might both enlighten and bless. Holiness can be viewed as a lifestyle of worship and the “Word” can be seen as an action.

Holiness

Theological Definition

What is “holiness?” It is a word that appears frequently, 43 times, in the Bible. In the Old Testament we are instructed to worship God in the beauty of holiness. In the New Testament we are told to follow holiness because it is required of us if we are to see God.

            It is a word which, in the Old Testament, speaks of being set apart or to make sacredly. In the New Testament it signifies the same but goes further in that it speaks of a rightness with God and focuses on conduct and character.

Biblical Foundation

            In First Chronicles King David has led Israel in a great act of worship and honor by bringing the Ark of God to Jerusalem, thereby placing it at the center of the nation’s attention. During the time of sacrifice and thanksgiving, that followed, David delivered a Psalm to Asaph, who was in charge of leading the worship. In this Psalm of Thanksgiving, David encourages Israel to, “Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name: bring an offering, and come before him: worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness,” (1 Chronicles 16:29, King James Version).

            Paul encourages us to respond to the promises of God. The promises were he would be our Father and call us his children if we would separate ourselves from the uncleanliness of the unbeliever. Paul’s direction was, “Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God,” (2 Corinthians 7:1, King James Version).

            When writing to the Church in Ephesus, Paul instructs, “And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness,” (Ephesians 4:23-24, King James Version).

            The last time the word holiness is used, in the Bible, is in Hebrews 12:14. The writer of Hebrews wants the reader to understand that holiness is to be pursed. He encourages us to, “Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord,” (Hebrews 12:14, King James Version).

Practical Application

            When we look at the use of holiness in the Old Testament, it is often tied to worship and more than once described as beautiful. Holiness, worship and beauty create an astonishing picture of an act of separation, cause by the adoration for God by the worshiper. This adorns that worshiper in the splendor of that which is sacred and pure.

            Holiness in the New Testament speaks to us of a right relationship with God. It speaks of character and of character building. Not only does it encourage us to be separate and sacred, it also encourages us to pursue a good and a peaceful relationship with our neighbor as well as with God. Paul, in Ephesians 4:24 tells us to put on that new man who was created in holiness. He then explains some things we need to separate ourselves from such as lying, stealing, corrupt speech and more. In Romans 13:14, Paul tells us to put on the Lord Jesus Christ, or again, holiness, “Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy,” (1 Peter 1:16, King James Version).

            Combining the New and Old Testament uses of the word holiness paints a picture of worship that is beautiful to God not only in the actions of worship, it goes further to include worship that is beautiful because of character and right relationship with God. It portrays worship that is beautiful for more reasons than flowing words, rhymes and rhythms. But worship that is adorned by a character that is pursuing a right standing with God and portrays the sacredness of God in the life of the worshiper.

The Word

Theological Definition

            As we read the Bible we find an incredible importance attached to the “Word” of God. The Psalmist, in the 119 Psalm, focuses on the impact the “Word” of God has on a life with statements such as, “Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word” (Psalms 119:9, King James Version) or “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee,” (Psalms 119:11, King James Version). We also find that the term “thy word” is used interchangeably throughout the Bible with words such as law, statute, judgments, commandments, precepts, testimonies, truth and scripture.

            In writing his Gospel, the Apostle John launches an explanation of the deity of Jesus Christ with this statement, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made,” (John 1:1, 3, King James Version). He then boldly proclaims, “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us,” (John 1:14a, King James Version). John later quotes Jesus Christ as saying, “thy word is truth,” (John 17:17b, King James Version).

            When we are speaking of the “Word” we are talking about more than letters written on paper or verbiage filling the air. We are talking about God himself being expressed to us through the written word as well as through his earthly life. Considering this, our view of the “Word” should be a view of love and adoration.

Biblical Foundation

            God has placed great importance upon his word. The Psalmist penned this declaration, in the 138 Psalm, “I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name,” (Psalms 138:2, King James Version). As great as his name is, it is above every name (Philippians 2:9), God has magnified, or made his word greater than his name. When telling of God coming to earth in the robe of human flesh, John identifies God, as the “Word,” the creator of all things, the light that shines in darkness and brings life. Jesus spoke of the word being truth. When teaching Nicodemus he explained that men loved darkness because their deeds were evil. Then, rather than speaking of men doing that which is “good,” which would seem to be the opposite of evil, he said, “But he that doeth truth cometh to the light,” (John 3:21, King James Version). The only way to God is through the “Word.” Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me,” (John 14:6, King James Version).

Practical Application

            The “Word” of God is vitally important to our lives. We need it for direction and illumination as his, “Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path,” (Psalms 119:105, King James Version). The “Word” will help us to live a life of great peace no matter what the circumstances that we experience, (Psalms 119:165). By living truth, or living according to the “Word” we are brought closer to the light or to God. In fact, the only way we can come to God is by his word or through truth. There should be intense hunger or desire in the heart and mind of each believer for the “Word” of God. Job declared, “I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food,” (Job 23:12b, King James Version).

            It is impossible to have a stronger relationship with God if a person doesn’t love his “Word.” It is impossible to know how to live a life that is pleasing to him if a person does not love his “Word.” To deal successfully with the pitfalls of life one must use his “Word” as a lamp and guide. It is from his “Word” that a believer will come to know God and learn that he can trust God in all matters of life.

Conclusion

            Holiness is the determination to set apart your life, from the world, and to make it sacred to God. It is deciding to worship God, not only with your voice, but to worship him with your whole life. There is a decision made to take the “Word” of God and to hide it in your heart in order to draw near to him and learn of him.

A Miracle Happened After 38 Years

Testimony,

Well, where do I start? From the time I was a baby I had a growth problem with my leg... When I was very young I started wearing a brace to hopefully stretch my ligaments to help me walk a little better. Although the stretching of the ligament was not going to grow my bones, it would help my leg some where I wouldn’t walk on my tiptoes. Which the length needed to grow too. But doctors cannot grow bones so they worked on the tendon.
Well my mom had to exercise my foot all the time and I had to wear a brace to school. The brace went up to my knees ...so it was very noticeable! So as a child I got all the jokes I could stand. Which we are human and we carry a lot of the bad comments into our adult life and after awhile you believe them.
After some time, I don’t remember my age.. My mother just got tired of the braces and exercising my foot so she just quit! So I’m a young child that is growing up walking on my tip toe and not to mention the length wasn’t the same.. So I really got the looks ridicule from all the people in high school.
I adjusted as life went on ... But my infirmity never stopped me from trying to live life to the fullest! I would run jump play anything I could! To make a long story short.. I have done a lot of things with this infirmity... I went to college, got married, became a mom...
When I got in church and God filled me with the Holy Ghost in on April 20 th, 1997!! Wow! How amazing! God loved me despite all the harsh words I had heard from people in my life!!! How that I was crippled and made fun of but inspite of all that the God of Heaven still loved me!!!
I really enjoyed church! I loved soul-winning and was on fire for God! The infirmity that I had in my leg never stopped me from witnessing! I was going to win people to God walking straight or not!! Now through life I always got prayer for my leg and my foot! Don’t get me wrong… I did! I didn’t make an issue about it.. just would always go get prayer. If God healed me… “Wonderful” and if God didn’t heal me,” Wonderful!” My infirmity never stopped my walk with the Lord!
On January 14, 2012 , like any other day , I got up getting ready to start my day. I knew that Bro. Doran’s in Osceola was having revival! I just felt an overwhelming desire to go, which I love to go to church anyways but this was like overwhelming! So , I went to church that night! I knew God must have something special and amazing in this service so I was on my way! I never dreamed that I would be the miracle that was so profound that night!
After preaching, there was an alter call , so I went! I always go try to give things to God and to cleanse myself from the message being taught that night! People prayed for a while in the alter and God was moving greatly! Bro. Houseworth asked , “Is there a person here that has a problem with their right leg?” Well, I just raised my hands and said, “I do!” He asked, “What’s wrong with your leg? “ I said, well, my right leg is shorter than the left leg.” I think Bro. Houseworth said, Well, that’s a good problem.. lol.. or something to that nature. So, prayer began and then Bro. Houseworth wanted me to sit in a chair, so I did! Well, a lady laid her hands on my feet and prayer began again! I was enjoyed just the presence of God , when all of the sudden, I here a “ahhhhhh” and people praising God! I was like that has got to be good!!! Are you ready? EVERYONE WATCHED MY LEG GROW IN FRONT OF THEIR EYES!!!! IT GREW 2 INCHES OR MORE! I was like such in shock to the miracle itnever really came into my spirit till the next morning. I woke up and both feet hit the floor.NO MORE TIPTOEING! I tried to walk like I used to and when I did my right leg would raise up too high!!!There was no need to do that because God gave me new bones! I now walk flat-footed! My bones in my hip do not hurt!! It is truly amazing! Im still in awe!! I DON’T WALK LIKE I USED TO WALK..HE MADE THE DIFFERENCE!!!!

I was chatting with a friend.. she said , that the man that was at the pool of Bethesda was there for 38 years! Well, I am 39! A baby usually starts walking good after the first year! So, I was healed of an infirmity that I had for 38 years!! My story goes along so much with this story! When God healed the man , the Lord healed him “wholly” which is his body , spirit and soul!! Every since I have received this miracle, I feel like I have been healed entirely, “wholly” . All the pain from the past and years of emotional abuse from having an infirmity feel erased from my mind! Because humans are cruel and after years of hearing comments when I was young , you really feel like you are not good enough!! Or that you will never be good enough! But praise be to God, I’m healed body soul and spirit now!! God is amazing! I love Him! 

Who is Speaking into Your Life?

1Timothy 4:12-13, Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity. Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.

Warning! Be careful who you allow to speak into your life. I have always taught people that I have pastored to “check it with the Bible.” Just because I am teaching it, don’t take it for granted that it is right. Go to the Bible and make sure it lines up with the Word of God.

Today we have access to a lot of preaching/teaching because of modern technology. Just because it sounds good, or gives you goose-bumps doesn’t mean it is true. Before jumping on it, check it out. Here are five steps to check out what you are listening to:

1.          Take it to God in prayer! Be honest in your prayer. This is how I approach God: Lord I have heard this preached/taught. I am wondering if it is of you. I am seeking your face and asking you to show me the way to go. Help me to know the right from the wrong. Speak to the men of God in my life that watch for my soul. Open my understanding to your word and your ways.
2.        Run it by you Pastor. This is the man who is watching for your soul and he is also the one who will give an account before God for you, (Heb. 13:7). Talk to him about what you have heard. Tell him what you are feeling. Let him listen to it for himself, if he wants/needs to. Give him time to pray about it. Listen to his sound advice.
3.        Run it by your Mentor. This should be someone in your life that is an Elder and can help and teach you. Do with them as you have done with your Pastor. Allow them to be honest with you concerning their thoughts and feelings. Listen to their cautions. If you have asked them to be your Mentor, assume they have your best interest at heart.
4.        Talk to your trusted peers. Often when we find something new, our approach to others is from an attitude of superior knowledge. Rather than telling them what you have found out, approach them with this attitude: I have heard this and it has had an effect on me. What do you think about it? Discuss it with them. Listen to what they have to say. Weigh it with what you are hearing from others. Again, they should have you best interest at heart.
5.        Go to the scripture! Is it in the Book? Lately I have heard quotes by people from teaching they have heard and it is not sound doctrine. Don’t accept it until you know that it lines up with the Word of God.

Paul instructed the Church of Ephesus (Eph. 4:12-16) that God had gifted the Church with Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors and Teachers. Their purpose was to equip the saints to be prepared to minister. This would strengthen the Body of Christ. He also states, their purpose is to keep us from being tossed about by all types of teaching. This keeps us strong and walking in truth. It also brings strength and unity to the Body of Christ.

Paul admonishes the young man Timothy, “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;” (2 Tim. 4:3). Unfortunately we live in that time. There are men who are more interested in the acclaim of the crowd than they are in preaching truth. They know what will get people excited and will preach that rather than preach sound doctrine.

The wise man of Proverbs shares this wisdom, “Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety,” (Pro 11:14). Protect yourself, your heart and your eternity. Take some time to check it out.

Remember, it’s just a thought!

Dangers of Background Television

The Danger of Background Television

            Does television, in the home, cause problems for the young children of the United States? This is a question that has been debated for several decades with various opinions and results. Television plays such a prominent and powerful role in the lives of individuals as well as families. In fact, the average American family is made up of 2.5 people and has 2.86 television sets, according to The Nielsen Company’s 2009’s findings. (Nielsen Company). If there are negative effects, what might they be and how do they come about?

            One of the negative effects of television in the home is the result of background television. Our main focus, as it should be, is on what children are watching during direct exposure. However, while the young child is playing, it has been discovered, they are also impacted by the television that is playing in the background. This is called indirect exposure. Many homes have the television(s) on most of the time throughout the day and the night. The play of the young child is interrupted by the changes of sound, light and picture on the television. This causes the child to stop playing and to turn to the television, then return to play. These constant interruptions are believed to have an adverse effect on the child’s cognitive ability as well as their attention span. This is a great concern to the American Academy of Pediatrics as well as many others involved in Child Development.

            It was found “In a study, done by Pierroutsakos, Hanna, Self, Lewis and Brewer in 2004, they asked one hundred upper-middle-class parents to keep dairies of their two and a half to twenty-four month old infants’ television exposure each day. The children were exposed to an average of one-hundred-twenty minutes of television each day. Forty-nine percent of that exposure was adult and preteen programming” (Schmidt, M., Pempek, T., Kirkorian, H., Lund, A., & Anderson, p. 1138, 2008). M. Lapierre, J. Piotrowski, and D. Lineberger shared in their article, “Background Television in the Homes of US Children,” which appeared in Pediatrics Official Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, October 2012, “The average child is exposed to 232.2 minutes of background television on a typical day.” They went on to explain, “Leaving the television on while no one is viewing and children’s bedroom television ownership were associated with increased background television” (p. 839). That is close to four hours of background television that the average young child is exposed to each day.

  

(washparkchiro.com)

 Because it is part of everyday life, most people do not realize how much the television is on while it is not being watched. Nor do they realize the possible impact the background television might be having on the infant that is in the home. In an article for Child Development in August 2008, M. Schmidt stated, “Television exposure for children aged 30 months and younger is associated with poorer cognitive and language development.” They also pointed out, “Parents’ estimates of their children’s television viewing at eighteen and forty-two months were positively associated with parental reports of attention disorder symptoms at age seven.”

Cognitive development is important as it has to do with our ability to remember, to make judgments, to reason and how to use knowledge. Language development is learning to talk. Some of the reasons for both of these difficulties could also have to do with the quality of parent-child interactions, which is also affected by not only the child’s  being distracted by the background television, but the parent being distracted as well. So rather than the parent and child spending quality time interacting together, they are both distracted by the background television.

  

(californiaschildren.typepad.com)

A very sobering discovery in the research of the effects of background television was the children with the greatest exposure to background television are those from the poorest families. African American children, younger children and children with parents with lower education levels were found to be exposed to greater amounts of background television, up to six hours a day. (Lapierre, et al, p. 842, 2012) This would make one wonder if there are greater problems with language and cognitive development among these groups. Are there other problems that are related to the background television exposure? Lapierre and crew found, “Background television exposure has been linked to lower sustained attention during playtime, lower quality parent-child interactions and reduced performance of cognitive tasks” (p. 840, 2012)

            Play is often thought to just be something that children do. However, play is very important to the development of the child both cognitively and socially. Playing helps the child to develop motor skills, and to learn about objects. They are able, through playing, to learn about cause and effect. While playing they are able to stretch their imaginations and step into different roles to imitate the fireman or a princess. It is believed that the constant presence of background television can be an interruption to children’s play and has a role in the negative relationship between early exposure to television and cognitive development (Schmidt, et al, p. 1138, 2008).

            The study done in 2012 stated, “Our results indicate that children are exposed to a tremendous amount of background television. The average US child under eight years is exposed to four hours (232.2 minutes) of background television on a typical day. This is far greater than direct exposure” (Lapierre, et al, p. 842, 2012). They added to this statement, “The American Academy of Pediatrics renewed their recommendation that children two years and under should not be exposed to any television content,” (p.843).

            Television, indirectly or directly, seems to have a negative influence on our young children. If we were to also take into account the programing content as well as advertising, our findings could be staggering. We would do well to take into careful consideration removing the offender from our home or at least limiting when it is on.

     

References:

Lapierre, M.S., Piotrowski, J.T., & Lineberger, D.L. (2012). Background television in the homes of US children. Pediatrics, Official Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, Volume 130, Number 5, pages 839-843. Doi:10.1542/peds.2011-2581

Schmidt, M.E., Pempek, T.A., Kirkorian, H.L., Lund, A.F., & Anderson, D.R. (2008). The effects of background television on the toy play behavior of very young children. Child Development, Volume 79, Number 6, pages 1137-1151.

The Nielsen Company (2009). http://www.nielsen.com/us/en/newswire/2009/more-than-half-the-homes-in-us-have-three-or-more-tvs.html

If I Could Talk To Dad...

As I was leaving work yesterday, a co-worker said, “Happy Father’s Day, Don.” I replied, “You have a great one as well.” She said, “Thank you, but my father is gone.” I hesitated for a moment and said, “Mine is too. I really do miss him.”

We went our separate ways. I walked about twenty feet or so and was suddenly overwhelmed by a great sense of loneliness and began to weep right there in the parking lot. I hurried to my car and the tears continued to flow. I was surprised, embarrassed and at a loss. My father was promoted to heavenly duties almost fourteen years ago, why the sudden rush of tears? Then it came to me, I really wanted to just sit and talk to Dad.

One of the things I treasured about my relationship with my Dad was that I could talk to him about anything. I don’t remember him ever having the attitude that because he was Dad he knew it all. It seems to me that he always listened to my opinion or thoughts and then gave his when it was asked for. So, as I drove toward home I began to think, with the tears still streaming, of what I would talk to Dad about if he were still around.

I would talk to him about my kids and how proud I am of them. Justin has become the horseman that he has always wanted to be. He owns a business, a store, selling tack and supplies for horses and riders. He has a great son, Zac and is a wonderful father with fatherly qualities that I wish I had possessed at his age. Yes, Dad would be so proud of Justin.

I would tell him about our little girl, Abby. What a wonderful mother she has become. She takes good care of her boys, Donavan and Declan. Oh how Dad would laugh at them and the funny things they say. He would love Kelsey and would enjoy talking with him. I would also tell Dad how thankful I am for the way that Kelsey loves and takes care of Abby and his boys. How good that makes me feel. He would be thankful to know of their love for God and their desire to be used in the kingdom of God. Dad would be thankful.

I would tell him about Jared. I see so much of Dad in Jared. His love for the Word of God. He has a love for people and a tenderness that touches others. I would tell him how much I love to hear Jared preach, I know Dad would understand. I would tell him about Amber and what a blessing she has been to Jared and to our family. Dad would be proud of Jared as well.

If I could talk to Dad, today, I would be sure to let him know what a great son he raised in Tim. I know Dad was concerned when he left because Tim was so young. But Dad, you and Mom did well. He is a great man, father and husband. Added to all of that, he is a great man of God. He has raised his family to love and serve the same God that you served. Dad, you can be thankful.

I would tell Dad about that I started teaching a home Bible Study the other day to a friend from work. It was so exciting to sit in McDonald’s and show him the things of God in the scripture and to see the excitement on his face. We met at his house this week and he is wanting to bring friends and family to study with us. I am really excited Dad.

While we are talking, there are some things that concern me, greatly, that I would love to share with Dad. I received an email from a person who is deeply concerned because their pastor has changed his message. He seems to be straying from the Truth of the Word of God and following the easier way. I also heard of a pastor who recently said he wouldn’t name sin.  It wasn’t his job. Dad always taught us that we were to love truth and we were to preach straight, easy to understand messages that would help people to know right from wrong. One of Dad’s favorite sayings was, “After you are finished dancing and shouting, you need to walk right, talk right and spit white!” That is how I am trying to live.

I would tell Dad about Melinda.  She was always his favorite girl. I am so proud of her! She has started college and is doing well. She works so hard and gives it everything she has. What a wonderful mother and grandmother she is. She loves her babies! I would let Dad know that she is also taking care of Margie and Mom. She watches out for them as much as they will let her, you know how those two are.

Well there is so much to say and to share with someone you haven’t seen in a long time. I would be sure to tell him how Mom is. I am taking care of her for you, just like I promised. She slowing down a lot, she will be eighty this August. She takes her walks down the road a couple times a day, but she carries a cane now to help when she gets tired. Oh, but she is just as ornery as she ever was. Hey, she is just as funny, too. Dad, you are still her favorite subject. Every once in a while, at least once a week, she will bring in a picture and ask, “Have you ever seen this?” It will be one that she has shown me several times before and I know that she is just wanting to talk about her man. She is doing well.

I would end our talk by saying, “Dad, I do ok with the holidays and birthday, when they come and go. I always miss you on those occasions. However, it’s on Father’s Day that I have a hard time. That was our special day! So, before I say goodbye I just want to thank you for being such a great Dad. Thank you for teaching me to be a man. You taught me how to love my God, my family, my Church and my country. You taught me the importance of giving and loving. You showed me how to stand for truth and godliness. I love and miss you, Dad!”

I Had a Dog Named Sam

My brother and I once had an old beagle hound named Sam. Sam was an old dog when we got him, but we had always wanted a beagle and this was our chance. He was kind of a tired old fella. He didn't have much ambition, which is another story for another time.

Right after we got Sam, we hadn't had him but a few weeks, we had a new baby in the house, our daughter was born. So we decided it might be best to keep Sam outside for a while, at least until she got a bit older. We tied him on the back porch so he could lay in the grass if he wanted or could lay on the sheltered porch. We couldn't let him roam free because of leash laws and we didn't have a fenced area, so we had to tie him.

Down the road lived a huge hound dog with only one eye. This dog was big, ugly and just looked mean. It really looked like he had gotten in a fight with a bear or something and had lost his eye. His owners kept him tied in their front yard so I had seen the dog, from a distance, many times without getting close to him.

One particular day I was standing at the kitchen sink, looking out the window, when I saw this ugly, mean looking, dog walking down my drive way. I knew there was going to be trouble, so I headed for the kitchen door. Before I could get it open and get outside the two dogs tangled and started fighting. When I came out of the house yelling, the ugly dog took off running leaving behind a wounded Sam.

Being chained, and being old, Sam was unable to get away or to fight effectively. He had a few wounds on his face and was cowed down a bit, hurting! He had crawled back up on the porch and was hiding, so I reached out to him to help him. When I did Sam’s bite my hand! I was startled and shocked at his reaction. Sam had never acted aggressive toward any of us. Our two-year-old son played with him all of the time and Sam was so patient with him. I wondered what was going on when Melinda, my wife, said, “He is hurt and afraid! Leave him alone for a few minutes and then we will help him.”

Sure enough, when a few minutes had elapsed we were able to mend Sam’s wounds and help him. Sad to say, the attack took something away from Sam and he was never the same. He died of natural causes not too long after that.

I was thinking today of Old Sam. Wounded people are much like Sam was that day. You can see they are hurting. You can see they need help. You might even know the answer they need to hear or the course of action they need to take. However, when you reach out to them, they attack you, the one who is trying to help them!

Oh, wounded one! Be careful that you, in your hour of need, don’t push away the hands that are trying to help you. It is easy to become harsh, cynical, scornful and hateful. It is easy to find wrong with every thing and everybody. We can all do that. Yet, this isn't going to help you. It will not strengthen you and it will not heal you. It only drives away those who want to help you until you stand alone.

Ironically enough, in my lifetime I have found that when I am hurting and lashing out at those who are trying to help, it usually means I am having a problem with God. He has done something, or failed to do something, that I felt was very important to my life. If I want healing, I need to make sure I have forgiven God! I won’t find healing from pats on the back and encouraging hugs from my brothers and sisters, although I need those. Words of affirmation won’t make a long term difference, although I need those. I have got to go to the root of the problem and get things right with God.

The writer of Hebrews admonishes us: “Look after each other so that none of you fails to receive the grace of God. Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many.” (Heb. 12:15 NLT) Bitterness is the result of unforgiveness. It is like a cancer and will consume and destroy everything it touches.

A person, who has been wounded, will turn one of two different ways. They will allow God to comfort them and heal them. Later they will be a blessing to others who are wounded because they know, from personal experience, that God will comfort and heal. (2 Cor. 1:3-4) Or, unfortunately, they refuse comfort! They withdraw to themselves and lash out at the helping hands of others. One day, bitterness overcomes them and they are destroyed. All the time they are blaming God.

My brother and sister, let it not be so in your life! Fall in love with an altar of repentance and make things right with your God. Allow him to cleanse away the acid and bitterness and make you fresh and new again.

Oh well! It’s just a thought!

A Good Soldier

Last night I listened to a brief story told by a 90 plus year old veteran of World War 2. It was his personal story of his experiences on the battle field. The story, which captured my attention immediately, includes accounts of being wounded three different times in three different battles in three different countries. It also included an incident where they should have killed him but God heard his prayer for mercy. The veteran spoke of being a good soldier, which caused me to realize that not everyone is a good soldier. More is required, to be a good soldier, than completing basic training. A uniform, although it identifies the soldier and makes him look handsome, doesn't make him a good soldier. A rifle on his shoulder and a helmet in his head are equipment every soldier needs, but they won't make him a soldier. Even being on the battlefield in the heat of battle isn't enough to make a person a good soldier. Listening to this veteran paratrooper I came to realize the characteristics of a good soldier were internal rather than external. They were ingredients of the inward man rather than the external characteristics that might attract our attention to the soldier. I had to think of King Saul from the book of First Samuel. He was attractive to the people of Israel as they looked for a king. He stood head and shoulders above every man in Israel. He seemed to have a humble demeanor when he is first introduced. Yet we quickly find that he is not a good soldier nor a good leader. His poor judgment and rash decisions lead Israel into situations that are very detrimental to them. In fact, when God is choosing a leader to replace Saul, he tells Samuel, "Men look at the outward appearance, I however, look at the heart." The Apostle Paul, in Second Timothy 2:3, encourages Timothy to "endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ." Endurance must be a quality of a good soldier. As a good soldier you will have patience, and the stamina, to carry out the task before you. Being a soldier requires more than marching on the parade ground. A soldier is going to be in some difficult situations. He is going to have sometime of pain, fear, discomfort and stress. However, a good soldier is going to endure them. Suffering will be part of his life as a soldier. Several years ago, I listened to the story of a recipient of a "Purple Heart" as he told of the battle in which the Japanese wounded him. It was during World War Two and he was going in front of Marines that were landing on a South Pacific Island, with a mine sweeper. A sniper shot him, leaving him wounded on the beach. His fellow Marines were unable to reach him and he was unable to move because the sniper's fire had him pinned down. For two days he laid in the sand enduring or suffering the hardship of battle until they drove the enemy back and they rescued him. A soldier of the cross realizes that there will be sometimes when he must endure or suffer for the "cause" of Christ. Jesus said we would need to take up our cross and follow him. We would need to forsake things that are dear to us and put him first in our lives. A good soldier obeys orders. They might not always agree with what they have ordered them to do, but they carry out the command, nevertheless. The soldier realizes that he is only seeing and considering the immediate situation while the commander is looking at the whole battle. The commander understands what is required too win the battle. The good soldier trusts himself to the commander and follows his orders. We often look at our immediate situation and wonder if our "commander" is right in what he is telling us. Does he really understand what we are facing and where we are going, are questions that run through our mind? However, we must trust in the Lord! In fact the writer of the Proverbs says, "Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding," (Proverbs 3:5). Another trait of a good soldier is hatred. I am sure this catches you by surprise, as it did me. However, a good soldier MUST hate the enemy. From listening to these veterans I learned that somewhere along the line, the war becomes personal. Up to that time you are just doing your job and trying to survive. Nevertheless, when they have wounded and killed friends and comrades and they have wounded you, the war becomes personal to you. A hatred is born for the enemy! A good soldier of the cross must hate sin! Sin is destructive! Jesus spoke of the thief coming to kill, steal and destroy. I have seen the destructive power of sin. I have seen lives broken and destroyed by sin. Marriages destroyed and ministries lost as the result of sin. Love is stolen, families crushed, careers sabotaged and lives ravished all because of sin. I hate sin! Sin has caused many broken hearts! I hate sin! One last trait of a good soldier is that he refuses to become involved with the enemy or anything that might distract him from his task. He is on a mission and nothing will stop him from accomplishing what he has set out to do. Paul told the young man Timothy that a man who is at war refuses to entangle himself with the affairs of this life. He wants to please the one who has chosen him to be a soldier. He remains focused on his task. The good soldier is not tangled up with civilian life. He is a soldier! An old song, which we sometimes sang when I was growing up, called "Onward Christian Soldiers." We are soldiers of Christ. He is our "captain" and is leading us into battle for our souls. The results are eternal so we must be diligent and watchful. Determine in your heart to be a good soldier. Purpose in your heart to be a good soldier. Make a commitment to endure the hardship that comes your way. Hate sin! Don't become entangled with this world. Trust your commander. Be a good soldier! Remember! It is just a thought!

Momma's on a Mission!

Unspeakable fear and uncontrolled thoughts race through her mind as she travels at a speed much faster than she is accustomed to. She doesn’t take the time to look behind her to see if anyone is following her. Nor does she really look ahead to see where she is going. Her eyes take in the objects, along the road, that she must miss, yet she isn’t aware of them. Momma was on an urgent mission! She had to reach the prophet! As she hurried along her mind went over the events of the past several years that had led up to today. She remembered, so well, the day she and her husband had first met the prophet. He had visited their little town and they had invited him to their home to eat. This was the first of many meals shared in their home with the prophet. She also remembered, with almost a smile, the day they had led him to the door of they had built the little room which was especially for him to use. Oh the look of surprise and gratitude that was on his face that day. Then, of course, she remembered the day that he told them they would have a son in nine months. That feelings of being afraid to dare hope it would be true that they would have a son after all these years. In fact, she had been so afraid, to accept the promise of a miracle child, she had told the prophet not to tease her with such a promise. Yet, despite her apprehensions, the son had been born. He was such a fine young man! He was sweet and loved his Momma. Also, he was energetic and wanted to be like his Daddy. In fact, just that very morning he had arose early and insisted that he accompany his Daddy to the field to work. “Momma,” he said, “I want to be a farmer just like my Daddy.” With great sorrow she recalled the events of that morning, including the servant rushing the boy to the house. He had developed a headache while in the fields with his father. While she held him in her arms, he had died! Now she is on the way to find the prophet! He had given her a promise and promised a miracle! The miracle and promise had come true. They had happened. Was she allowed to hold her miracle only to see it fade away so soon? Did she receive her promise for it to die in her arms? NO! She refused to accept that to be true! So, Momma was on a mission! When she had left the house, she had told her husband, who wondered where she was going, “It shall be well.” As she approached the home of the prophet, he spotted her coming down the road and sent his servant to greet her. She told the servant that all was well. Then she came to the prophet, the man of God, who had given her a promise that became a miracle and she pours out her heart. Momma is on a mission! The determination of this mother amazes me. We do not hear her say woe is me. Nor do we hear her say that life is not fair. What she does say, to the prophet, “You made me a promise and I told you not to make it if it wasn’t going to be true. Now I want my promise!” The prophet sends his servant ahead of them to the body of the boy. However, the Bible tells us, in Second Kings 4:30, this mother refused to leave the prophet. She was clinging to her miracle. There was “no give up” in her make up. Yes, her promise laid dead on a bed. I know, her miracle had died in her arms. However, no matter what the facts said, she wasn’t giving up on her promised miracle. Momma was on a mission. I remember the joy of holding my babies in my arms when they were born. The feeling that I felt, as I looked into their faces, is one that I will never forget. So, I can imagine how that mother felt, a few hours later, when her son sat on her lap again. No, I don’t know how she felt since. I have never experienced what she did that day. Yet I can just imagine the joy and thankfulness she felt as again she held her miracle. In fact, she was holding a “two time miracle!” How often do we give up on our promise? We dare to hope for it! We stretch to believe it will happen. Then when there is a problem, when some type of obstacle comes up, we give up and walk away. Yet, in spite of all of the evidence that shouted at this Mother to give up, she held on. Despite the fact it did not make sense to believe otherwise. This Mother held to the fact that the prophet had made her a promise and had received a miracle. She had said she didn’t want it if it wasn’t going to happen and it happened. So, she was going to cling to her promise and would again hold her miracle. Momma was on a mission. Hold on! No matter what the evidence screams at you! Cling to your promise. Keep holding on to your miracle. Know that it might not happen the way you planned it. Understand that God might want it to happen in a different way than you thought or planned for it to happen. This is the time to put your trust and confidence in God and allow God to be God! Oh the GLORY and HONOR that come to those who trust God to do his will in his own way. We have the promise! The miracle happens! It seems the miracle will pass from you. This is when faith has to happen and trust has to kick in. This is when we have to refuse to leave the source of our miracle! Make that your mission! I will have my miracle! I will hold on to my promise! Remember! It is just a thought! God bless.

I Know It Smells on the Ark...

I know it smells, but the Ark is the only thing floating! ~ Noah on day 299. Do you ever wonder about the conversations that took place on the Ark? It would seem that Noah and Mrs. Noah were on the Ark with their three sons and three daughters in law for about a year. Combine the close quarters of eight people with all of the animals and even a vessel as large as the Ark was will become very small. You have to wonder what took place and what was said. I wonder if they reacted like I sometimes tend to do? I find that sometimes when I am in the midst of being “saved” from adversity I complain about the method of that “salvation.” Rather than being thankful all I can see is the “stink” that is around me. Now you know the boat had to stink! Have you ever been to a zoo? Have you ever driven by a dairy? How about pulling up to a signal light and finding yourself setting next to a livestock truck? Anytime you get several animals together the natural result is going to be a smell. In fact it is going to be a really big, bad smell! A smell that would get more intense and eventually drive a person to a distraction! What do you do? The Ark is the only thing floating. There is no where else to go. Actually the Ark is your salvation. If you hadn’t gotten on board the Ark you would have drowned with everyone else. But now, the Ark is stinking and you are wishing you were anywhere but on the Ark. Been there and done that! I have often prayed prayers that go like this: “God I have got to make heaven no matter the cost and I need your help.” So God looks at me and sees some things in my life that will keep me from heaven and goes to work. Then in the midst of God’s mercy and grace I begin to complain that what God is doing in my life is too painful, it stinks! Another prayer that I have prayed is, “God I want to know you and to be like you. Show me what I need to do.” Again, God takes me at my word and begins to show me what I must do to know him and be like him. However, the cross is heavy, the road is lonely and, well, it just stinks! Yet when I look around me. When I look at all that is happening and going on in my world. I see a lot of destruction! There is so much that is failing! So many are drowning in the cares of life. They have put their hopes and trust in the things of life and all of its assurances only to have it wiped out. I know, the Ark is the only thing floating! So, despite the smell. Irregardless of how uncomfortable it might become I am going to stay in the Ark. I have found safety from the storms of life, in the Ark. I have truly found that I can rise above all adversity in life by remaining in the Ark. I will admit it isn’t always as pleasant as I would like it to be. However, it sure beats trying to tread water. Remember, it is just a thought!

You Might Lose Your Head But Don't Lose Your Heart

“You might lose your head, but don’t lose your heart” ~ Peter. Ok, I just made that up. Peter didn’t really say those words, that we know of. However, Peter did live a life that spoke those words. He dealt with persecution, imprisonment and eventually death. Yet through it all, he never lost his heart. It is so easy, when things are going good, to make statements and promises that are hard to keep during adverse times. Just as Peter did to Jesus. His promise was that even if everyone else left Jesus, he would stay and fight to his death. His intentions were good, he even drew his sword and took a swing at the enemy. However, when the adrenaline stopped flowing and things quieted down, Peter had second thoughts and lost his heart. The wise man tells us in Proverbs to guard our heart because the issues of life come from it. (Pro 4:23) Of course he isn’t speaking of our blood pumper, but the seat of our emotions and thoughts. This is the place many of our decisions are made. The influences of our lives come from our heart. It is from our heart that the voice whispers to us telling us to do something or not to do it. We would do well to be careful what we allow to come into our heart. There is an urgent need to protect our hearts. Not too many years after the night in the garden and the tragic mistake in the courtyard, Peter’s heart is once again put to the test. He is lead before a court and found guilty of preaching about Jesus Christ. The judge condemns him to death and he is led away to his execution. Of course we have no way of knowing but my imagination tells me that Peter’s heart was reminding him of the night so long ago when it had failed him. Oh the shame and frustration that had resulted from the wrong decision. No! It won’t fail him now. He might die for what he believed but he would die willingly. And he did! Yes, we might lose our head. Things might not go the way we planned or hoped that they would. However, we must protect our hearts at all costs. Our heart affects everything I do so I must keep it safe. Remember, it’s just a thought!

We Think Different!

You have probably heard the wise counsel that men think different from women. You might have even read the book that explains how different men and women are in their thinking. In fact the name itself stresses that fact, “Men are from Venus and Women are from Mars” or maybe it is the other way around? If you have been married for very long you know this to be true. Something you might not realize is that we, people, think differently than God thinks. Yes God has created us in his image and likeness. Yet we think differently from the way he thinks. He is infinite in his wisdom and understanding. You and I are very limited in our wisdom and understanding. God lives in the eternal present. We live in the moment. God knows the beginning from the end. I have a hard time knowing what time it is. God is the author and finisher of our faith. I am busy trying to take the hand life has dealt me and make it through today. Yes, we think differently. Realizing the difference in our thinking, God and me, will help me to better deal with life. Understanding that God is thinking on a different level, than I am, will help me to make it through those moments of uncertainty and fear. It will allow me to know the peace of God that is beyond understanding. Remembering God’s ways aren’t always my ways will enable me to trust him and allow God to guard my heart and mind. (Philippians 4:6-7) Let me give you some examples of the differences in the way God thinks and the way that I think: #1 God’s thinking is different from mine. A. Here I am in a storm and I think “Oops! I shouldn’t be here! I have made a bad mistake somewhere that has landed me in this situation.” B. In a storm God thinks, “AWESOME! This is an opportunity to show my love, my mercy and my power. You are right where I want you.” #2 God’s thinking is different from mine. A. I am in a desert place and I think, “I have missed God and I am being punished.” B. In a desert place God thinks, “This is the perfect place to show my sustaining power. Let me teach you that you can rely on my word and prepare you for a ministry and a new level of relationship with me.” #3 God’s thinking is different from mine. A. I see the halt, the blind and the lame and ask, “Who sinned to cause this condition.” B. God sees the same halt, the blind and the lame and says, “No one sinned. This is so they can see my power in him!” #4. God’s thinking is different from mine. A. I see those in need and feel inadequate and lacking. B. God sees those in need and says, “I don’t have anything of earthly value to give you, but I will give you something that will change you life forever!” #5 God’s thinking is different from mine. A. I see myself as wise and insightful. I have it all figured out! B. God sees my wisdom as foolish, weak and worthless. His foolishness is wiser than my greatest wisdom. (1Corinthians 3:19-20) So, again, it comes down to relationship. I have got to learn to trust God in all things. I don’t have to have it all figured out, but I simply have to trust him. When I submit my life and will to God I allow him to have control and being my life to the place he has prepared for me in his kingdom. Paul, in 1Corinthians chapter two tells us that it is the spirit of God that allows us to understand the things of God. Our eyes have never seen and our ears have never heard the things that God has prepared for those that love him. Nevertheless, God will reveal them to us by his spirit. Not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit of God. The Holy Ghost will teach us the spiritual things that are foolishness to a natural thinking man. We have to change the way in which we think and allow God to renew our minds through his Word and through his Spirit. No, I don’t think like God. My thinking is a lot different from his. Yet I am trying to learn to be like the Psalmist who wrote: “Shew me thy ways, O LORD; teach me thy paths. Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day.” (Ps 25:4-5) In other words, Lord, teach me to think like you do. Well, it is just a thought!

What Do You Do When It Stinks?

What Do I Do When It Stinks? Emotions of despair, those feelings that the situation that is being faced is hopeless and impossible. Realization dawns upon the consciousness bringing with it the certainty that all hope is gone and that I have arrived at the “Irr Home.” At the “Irr Home” everything living here is: Irreparable, Irremediable, Irretrievable, Irreclaimable and Irrevocable! With that realization comes a perception of impotence, which brings with it the awareness of powerlessness and weakness. Struggling with the conception of thoughts that leave one paralyzed with fear. Feeling totally ineffective to face another day of more of the same. These are the feelings of the real world. Products of a world that is determined to take the best we have to offer and to stomp on it until it is totally crushed beyond repair. We have tried our best and our best isn’t enough! We have offered all that is sacred and dear, and it has been rejected. We have gutted it our until we feel that our guts are exposed to be literally ripped from our bodies. The world looks at us with a look of contempt and scorn and says, “You made your bed, now sleep in it!” However, I have good news for you! The wonderful news of the Gospel of Christ! When the world says you made your bed now sleep in it, Jesus says, Take up your bed and walk!” It is just another day like any other day for the past thirty-eight years. Somehow he drags himself one more time down by the sheep market to the Pool of Bethesda. He isn’t even sure why he goes to all of the trouble. He knows that there is no possible way for him to get into the pool if the angel were to come today. With this acknowledgment comes a feeling of despair. His situation is hopeless. He is not only physically impotent. He is powerless to ever change his life. Life will always be this way! In the midst of this chaotic jumble of embroiled emotions came Jesus! Jesus came to this place which conveyed ideas of magical cures. A place where sometime during the year an angel would come and trouble the water and the infirm would hope to be the first into the water. The first person in the water, after the angel troubled it, was healed of their disease. This was a place that was close to the sheep market, and like is the case with large livestock sale barns, I am sure the emanation of the sheep gathered into that one small place would begin to attack the olfactory senses of those that came to the pool. In other words, it smelled! The bodies of men and women who were sick with all manner of diseases, impotent folk. The blind, the halt, the crippled. Many of them unkept and unwashed. It was a painful picture of the chief kind of human suffering and bodily disease. It was a place of hopelessness. A feeling which must have permeated the air. A cauldron of fear percolating out feelings that each situation was irremediable, irrevocable. Screaming there is no hope! Helpless and powerless! Individuals grasping at the illusive, fragile dream that they might be the first into the pool the next time the water was troubled. Struggling to hold on to that dream through year of failure. Hearing a constant bombardment of doubt and fear from those around them that had been at the pool for so many years. Spirits, once high with hope and promise, have now shrunken in distress as realization dawns on them, their situation is hopeless. That was the atmosphere of the Pool of Bethesda! Jesus looks on the man, knowing how hopeless his plight is, and without demanding from the man even faith, asks him, “Wilt thou be made whole?” This individual, who might have come to the place where he was doubtful of the blessing of healing because of the resulting responsibilities, is hearing a question he might have heard from others. He whines out, with a professional drawl, his oft told story, reflecting very much on his lovelessness, quarrelsomeness, and ugly temper. The melancholy recital of his frequent disappointment is given with an air of insolvent resignation. Maybe even a gloomy satisfaction with his lot in life can be heard in his voice. However, Jesus doesn’t even rebuke him for his lack of faith, as he has others. He doesn’t require anything special of him. All he simply says is, “Take up your bed and walk.” The Psalmist said, “Why am I discouraged? Why so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again — my Savior and my God! (Psalms 43:5 NLT) The Apostle Paul added to this, “And if we have hope in Christ only for this life, we are the most miserable people in the world.” (1 Cor 15:19 NLT) We are living in a time when life is filled with uncertainty. Men and women are living lives filled with fear and hopelessness. No matter what is tried to improve life it seems powerless to make the needed change. There is a high rate of burnout and certainly a deep level of cynicism. Dependency upon the world system has left many in despair, wondering where to turn and when it will all change. Our hopes in this life and what this life has to offer are bound to bring nothing but disappointment. This world, or the age in which we live, is ruled by the god of this world. As a result, it is doomed for failure. If we rely upon this world to meet our needs and to save us from our despair, we too are doomed for failure and disappointment. Jesus stood at the tomb of Lazarus. His heart was broken, not because his friend had died. He knew and had already said that Lazarus was just asleep. His heart hurt for those who were crushed with sorrow and wept as a result of all hope laying dead for four days. He told them to roll away the stone from in front of the tomb and their response was, “He has been dead for four days and it is going to stink!” So what do you do when it stinks? You roll the stone away! You take up your bed and walk! You refuse to let circumstances dictate to you your response to the blessings of God. Step out by faith. Do the opposite of what is natural and step into the world of the Supernatural! Let Jesus Christ have a chance to bring to live what the world says is dead! It is in the midst of turmoil and chaos that Jesus Christ is at his best. Whether it be in the midst of a crowd at the pool where hope has faded or at the tomb of one who has been buried too long, Jesus Christ is still the answer we need today. When life is nothing but a stinking mess, Jesus Christ is still our only hope. The choice is ours. We can continue to lay in a world of cynical unbelief or we can take up our bed and walk. We can continue to lay in that which has entombed us, or we can arise and come out of the tomb. Well, its just a thought! I refuse to be discouraged or sad, I will put my hope in Jesus Christ!