Dozer Work

Celebrate Recovery 12 Steps

2010-03-29T10:33:00.000-07:00

Celebrate Recovery 12 Steps
Twelve Steps and Their Biblical Comparisons

1 We admitted we were powerless over our addictions and compulsive behaviors, that our lives had become unmanageable. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. Romans 7:18

2 We came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity. For it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. Philippians 2:13

3 We made a decision to turn our lives and our wills over to the care of God. Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God - this is your spiritual act of worship. Romans 12:1

4 We made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves. Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the Lord. Lamentations 3:40

5 We admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. James 5:16

6 We were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. James 4:10

7 We humbly asked Him to remove all our shortcomings. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9

8 We made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all. Do to others as you would have them do to you. Luke 6:31

9 We made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others. Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift. Matthew 5:23-24

10 We continue to take personal inventory and when we were wrong, promptly admitted it. So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall! 1 Corinthians 10:12

11 We sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God, praying only for knowledge of His will for us, and power to carry that out. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly. Colossians 3:16

12 Having had a spiritual experience as the result of these steps, we try to carry this message to others and to practice these principles in all our affairs. Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore them gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. Galatians 6:1

Is Attitude Everything

2010-01-15T10:41:00.000-08:00

This below was written by a kindred spirit (Kevin Bussey) on his Blog, Confessions of a Recovering Pharisee. Being a Christian and living the Christian life is not keeping a bunch of do gooder rules, merely going to church, learning to pray, giving a little money, getting into the bible, having a happy two parent family in a big house and giving to the United Way or to even trying to make this world a better place. That is not the message of the Cross: That's moralism! The message of Christianity is that the eternal God of the universe, came to this planet, and He is just and He is holy. What His holiness demands, Jesus provided at the cross, so you can be in a right relationship with God.

Read the following, it will be well worth your time.

In Christ
Andrew

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Is Attitude everything?
Published by Kevin Bussey at 12:31 am under attitude

I saw a sign the other day that said “ATTITUDE IS EVERYTHING.” Really? I used to buy into that. Years ago I read every John Maxwell positive thinking book. I subscribed to his cassette teaching tapes and went to every conference he had. I filled my head with positive thinking books, tapes and conferences. I read the Prayer of Jabez and prayed that prayer daily for years. I was on my way to be Joel Osteen!

I believed that God was going to do great things in my life just because I had positive thoughts. Yet positive thoughts don’t pay the bills. Positive Thoughts don’t explain all of the pain people endure. Romans 8:28 says in all things give thanks. It doesn’t say to be thankful for all things but to give thanks. Not everything is positive. So attitude doesn’t get us through life, Jesus does. I was convinced that starting a church would be awesome. We raised money and recruited a team to help us. We had a great attitude. Then we scheduled our launch date of September 16, 2001. You can have the best attitude in the world but starting a church the week of the tragedy of 9/11 is tough.

I accepted a position last year that allowed us to move back to Alabama. I expected God to sell our home and take care of our needs. I knew this would happen. My attitude was right. Now over a year later the house hasn’t sold.

I have several friends who have had loved ones or they themselves got cancer. I’m sure they had great attitudes and were convinced that God would heal them but attitude isn’t everything. We know several Godly people at our church near the Gulf Coast that died of cancer recently. I can’t understand why God didn’t answer all of our prayers. We believed yet they died. I’ve prayed for people who have lost jobs and they had great attitudes. Yet their attitudes didn’t save their homes. I’m sure their are people in Third World Countries have prayed and had great attitudes that God would provide for their needs. Yet so many go hungry. Why didn’t attitude work for them? I have two friends that were leading churches in transition and they had death threats from people in their church! Their attitude was to serve God and the people at their church and it led to pain. One of them is still at his church. Attitude just brought their families pain. I even had a group at one church that sent letters to members and had a meeting to have me removed. I had the attitude that God was going to transition this church but the attitude I brought only brought pain to those who didn’t want change and to my family. I have a friend who has been in jail for over a year for something he didn’t do. He tried to keep a great attitude and yet it hasn’t gotten him out of jail. He asked me to help him through the anger of not knowing why God hasn’t answered his prayers. What do you I say? I’m tired of giving the trite “Believe” and “Attitude” will save you.

Here is what I’ve come to learn. Attitude is great but it isn’t everything. I wanted to play football at the University of Alabama but Coach Paul Bear Bryant didn’t need a slow, white cornerback. I dreamed about it and thought I could but reality is I wasn’t talented enough. I don’t know very many people who get married with the attitude it will fail. But we can’t control another person’s actions. We can’t control how they feel. If attitude is everything then why do so many marriages fail? I’m grateful my wife has stuck with me through a lot of tough times.

I’ve become more Calvinistic as I experience life. I believe we should have great attitudes because God commands us to love each other. But God isn’t a magic Genie. Saying the Prayer of Jabez, rubbing a Holy Hankie, or chanting believe and receive, or sowing a seed, or any of the other garbage that is being taught isn’t Biblical in my opinion. Just because Jabez prayed a prayer doesn’t mean God is going to bless us when we pray it. There are no magic words or attitudes that get us closer to God. Remember Job who lost everything. Did attitude save his family and his wealth? What about Joseph who was accused of doing something he didn’t do and spent years in prison. Did having the right attitude get him out of jail? Jesus paid the worst price of anyone. His attitude was perfect and yet He had to die for all of our sins.

I have come to believe this. God can and will chose to do whatever He wants. I don’t have to like it. I can whine and complain (which is a sin) or I can adjust my life and my attitude to His. I’ve not been promised anything except eternal life by trusting in Him. I’m not promised a nice home. How arrogant it is for Americans to think this. We have 2000, 3000, 4000+ sq ft homes and complain yet people around the world have nothing. We aren’t promised good health. Tell that to all of the Godly people who die way too young. We aren’t promised anything. I get sick of hearing about fairness. If I got what I deserved it would be death. I can’t believe how selfish our prayers can be. I’m pretty blessed. I was brought up in America with two loving parents who led me to Jesus at an early age. I have 2 believing siblings. I have a wife of over 21 years who loves me unconditionally and two believing children.

Attitude may help someone become successful but I don’t believe it is everything. If that were the case then why are cheaters successful? If attitude is everything then why doesn’t Bama win the National Championship every year? If attitude is everything then why can’t I make a living writing books and speaking? Reality doesn’t always factor in our attitude. The attitude my Bible says we are to have is that of Jesus who humbled Himself. That attitude is everything.

A mission field right under our nose

2010-01-09T07:08:00.001-08:00

Who better to understand the struggles of single parents than another single parent who has been there and grown closer to the Lord because of the experience?” When you openly share how you overcome, It gives HOPE. When you openly share your struggles with those Christian Single parents it will bring you hope too.

Thirty-one percent of American families are headed by single parents. Married couples only comprise 25% of households.·

Twenty-two million children in the United States go home to one parent; of those, 83% are moms.·

Single parents consist of divorced, widowed and never-married parents.
Never-married comprise the largest group. (40%) ·

Most single parents are between the ages of 27 and 34.

Single parents over 40 are increasing in numbers because of the trend by many women to delay childbearing.·

One-half of all single moms receive no child support.

Half of all children involved do not see their fathers on a regular basis two years after the breakup of the family. ·

Seventy percent of single-parent mothers live in poverty making less than $13,000 annually.·

Of those single parents who profess to be Christian, only 5 percent attend church. (Why? Is a good question.)·

In 1970, fathers accounted for only about one in 10 single parents. In 1998, it's one in 6.·
The number of single parent families headed by fathers has grown from 1.7 million to 2.1 million.·

There are currently 9.8 million mothers in the single-parent role.·

Single-parent families increased in number in the past three years and now account for 27% of all families with children according to a new census report.

America single parent families ARE today’s church field. We have to ask ourselves, “What am I doing here?” More than that you need to ask yourself, “Why has Jesus placed me here and what am I going to do about it?”

“Put in the Sickle, for the harvest is Ripe.” Joel 3:13

O-God

2009-09-03T21:15:00.000-07:00

'O' God, a New Book by Best-selling Author Josh McDowell, Reveals Truth about Oprah's 'Salad Bar' Spirituality

Contact Gregg Wooding, President, I AM PR Services, 972-567-7660, gregg@iampronline.com
DANA POINT, Calif., Sept. 3 /Christian Newswire/ -- Best-selling author and apologist Josh McDowell ("More Than a Carpenter") and fellow apologist Dave Sterrett of Probe Ministries believe that as many people leave churches and give up on organized religion, they're turning to Oprah as their spiritual leader. Their new novel "O" God: A Dialogue on Truth and Oprah's Spirituality" www.midpointtrade.com/detail.aspx?isbn=978-1-935071-17-4 (Worldnet Daily Books) will release nationally on Oct. 6, 2009. Whether voiced aloud, only thought about, or hidden down deep as a nagging suspicion, the truth about Oprah's splintered belief and the advice of the colorful teachers she promotes is among today's most relevant issues. "The danger is that while appearing to use Christian and inclusive language that at first seems similar to that of Christianity, Oprah teaches a message that is radically different and absolutely contrary to the true teaching of Scripture and historic Christianity," McDowell and Sterrett warn. They cite examples of the media's portrayal of Oprah as a modern-day Billy Graham and her selection as master of ceremonies during the national memorial service held at Yankee Stadium in the aftermath of the 9-11 terrorist attacks to demonstrate her powerful influence.The Bible foretells of such a time as this "when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear." (2 Timothy 4:3, NIV).

USA Today reporter Cathy Lynn Grossman noted this theological shift in a recent article, "Religion today in the USA is a salad bar where people heap on upbeat beliefs they like and often leave the veggies--like strict doctrine--behind."McDowell and Sterrett share in the book's introduction why they teamed to author "O" God. "As Christian apologists who believe that salvation is by God's grace alone, through faith alone, and in Christ alone, we wanted to create a fictional, almost Socratic dialogue that would cover many of the themes of Oprah Winfrey's spiritual teaching in recent years." "O" God follows conversations of two girl friends representing the multitudes of Oprah fans, who unwittingly place their faith in the hodgepodge of spirituality embedded in her popular TV talk show, magazine and webinars. In the end, a life-altering crisis helps crystallize the truth from counterfeit teachings. Like classic Christian author C.S. Lewis, McDowell and Sterrett decided to employ fictional narrative to disarm and entertain readers, while refusing to shy away from biblical truths and expose Oprah's errant teachings. Josh McDowell has spoken to more than ten million young people in 84 countries and on more than 700 university and college campuses. He has authored or co-authored 118 books and workbooks with more than thirty-five million in print worldwide. Josh's most popular books are The New Evidence That Demands A Verdict, Why True Love Waits, and Right From Wrong. Dave Sterrett is an educator, speaker and writer for Probe Ministries International in Plano, TX. Dave teaches on Christ-centered living, Christian apologetics and true spirituality at conferences, schools and churches. He contributed to the Apologetics Study Bible for Students, and will release the book Why Trust Jesus? with Moody Publishers in March 2010.By mid September, WND Books will launch a special website at http://www.ogodbook.com/, where the public can receive updated information about "O" God: A Dialogue on Truth of Oprah's Spirituality, can view author interviews, and can download free curriculum for personal and group study.

Media interested in interviews with "O God's" co-authors Josh McDowell and Dave Sterrett and in receiving review copies and press materials should contact Gregg Wooding, President of I AM PR Services http://www.iampronline.com/ at 972-567-7660 or via email at gregg@iampronline.com.

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From Me: I can remember one night as I was in a deep spiritual struggle wrestling through a dark night of the soul, sitting in Sweetbay Coffee shop waiting for my friend and pastor Scott Ward to arrive. There were several copies of Oprah's magazines on the table... The topics on the covers were eerily relevant to the situation I was currently in. When Scott sat down I told him very jokingly, "Hey man, I don't need to sweat this anymore, I got Oprah! DUDE, all this time I've been struggling, and look, Oprah's got the answers right here on the cover of her magazine!"

Very Creative

2009-07-09T04:45:00.000-07:00

CHICAGO (AFP) – Greenpeace activists were arrested Wednesday for scaling Mount Rushmore and hanging a banner next to the carved face of Abraham Lincoln urging President Barack Obama to get tough on climate change.

A video posted on the environmental group's website showed the massive banner hanging on the South Dakota mountain face.

Its message -- "America honors leaders not politicians: Stop Global Warming" and an unfinished portrait of Obama -- was barely visible as it was whipped by wind.

"Doing what it takes to solve global warming demands real political courage," Greenpeace USA deputy campaigns director Carroll Muffett said in a statement.

"If President Obama intends to earn a place among this country's true leaders, he needs to show that courage, and base his actions on the scientific reality rather than political convenience."
The protest comes as Obama meets with other G8 leaders in Italy.

G8 leaders agreed to bear the brunt of steep global cuts in greenhouse gas emissions, saying developed countries should reduce their pollution by 80 percent by 2050, a summit declaration said.

Greenpeace said the 11 climbers "took special care not to damage the monument, using existing anchors placed by the National Park Service for periodic cleaning."

Park officials said they were still investigating whether the iconic monument -- a restricted area which is closely monitored -- suffered damage.

"Early this morning visitors saw these individuals on the mountain," said Amy Bracewell, a spokeswoman for the National Park Service.

"They got up next to Abraham Lincoln and unfurled the large banner," she told AFP.
"As soon as our people were mobilized we took down the banner and apprehended them and got them safely down the mountain."

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From Me: I'm not a big huge fan of Greenpeace. I am not really even sure global warming exists. While I respect the office, I don't care much about President Obama and his policies. However this got my attention. I am not into desecrating America's monuments but this I thought showed creativity, got their point across and did no lasting harm. Sorry they had to be arrested.

As always I welcome your comments.

In Christ

Andrew

The Fine Art of Blowing It

2009-07-02T05:27:00.000-07:00

The Fine Art of Blowing It
by Charles R. Swindoll

2 Corinthians 12:8-10
It happens to every one of us. Teachers as well as students. Cops as well as criminals. Bosses as well as secretaries. Parents as well as kids. The diligent as well as the lazy. Not even presidents are immune. Or corporation heads who earn six-figure salaries. The same is true of well-meaning architects and hard-working builders and clear-thinking engineers . . . not to mention pro ball players, politicians, and preachers.

What? Making mistakes, that's what. Doing the wrong thing, usually with the best of motives. And it happens with remarkable regularity.

Let's face it, success is overrated. All of us crave it despite daily proof that man's real genius lies in quite the opposite direction. It's really incompetence that we're all pros at. Which brings me to a basic question that has been burning inside me for months: How come we're so surprised when we see it in others and so devastated when it has occurred in ourselves?
Show me the guy who wrote the rules for perfectionism and I'll guarantee he's a nailbiter with a face full of tics . . . whose wife dreads to see him come home. Furthermore, he forfeits the right to be respected because he's either guilty of not admitting he blew it or he has become an expert at cover-up.

You can do that, you know. Stop and think of ways certain people can keep from coming out and confessing they blew it. Doctors can bury their mistakes. Lawyers' mistakes get shut up in prison---literally. Dentists' mistakes are pulled. Plumbers' mistakes are stopped. Carpenters turn theirs into sawdust. I like what I read in a magazine recently.

Just in case you find any mistakes in this magazine, please remember they were put there for a purpose. We try to offer something for everyone. Some people are always looking for mistakes and we didn't want to disappoint you!

Hey, there have been some real winners! Back in 1957, Ford bragged about "the car of the decade." The Edsel. Unless you lucked out, the Edsel you bought had a door that wouldn't close, a hood that wouldn't open, a horn that kept getting stuck, paint that peeled, and a transmission that wouldn't fulfill its mission. One business writer likened the Edsel's sales graph to an extremely dangerous ski slope. He added that so far as he knew, there was only one case on record of an Edsel ever being stolen.

And how about that famous tower in Italy? The "leaning tower," almost twenty feet out of perpendicular. The guy that planned that foundation to be only ten feet deep (for a building 179 feet tall) didn't possess the world's largest brain. How would you like to have listed in your resumé, "Designed the Leaning Tower of Pisa"?

A friend of mine, realizing how adept I am in this business of blowing it, passed on to me an amazing book (accurate, but funny) entitled The Incomplete Book of Failures, by Stephen Pile. Appropriately, the book itself had two missing pages when it was printed, so the first thing you read is an apology for the omission---and an erratum slip that provides the two pages.
Among the many wild and crazy reports are such things as the least successful weather report, the worst computer, the most boring lecture, the worst aircraft, the slowest selling book, the smallest ever audience, the ugliest building ever constructed, the most chaotic wedding ceremony, and some of the worst statements . . . proven wrong by posterity. Some of those statements, for example, were:

"Far too noisy, my dear Mozart. Far too many notes." ---The Emperor Ferdinand after the first performance of The Marriage of Figaro

"If Beethoven's Seventh Symphony is not by some means abridged, it will soon fall into disuse." ---Philip Hale, Boston music critic, 1837

"Rembrandt is not to be compared in the painting of character with our extraordinarily gifted English artist Mr. Rippingille." ---John Hunt (1775-1848)

"Flight by machines heavier than air is unpractical and insignificant . . . utterly impossible." ---Simon Newcomb (1835-1909)

"We don't like their sound. Groups of guitars are on their way out." ---Decca Recording Company when turning down the Beatles in 1962

"You will never amount to very much." ---A Munich schoolmaster to Albert Einstein, aged ten

And on and on it goes. The only thing we can be thankful for when it comes to blowing it is that nobody keeps a record of ours. Or do they? Or do you with others?

Come on, ease off. If our perfect Lord is gracious enough to take our worst, our ugliest, our most boring, our least successful, our leaning-tower failures, our Edsel flops, and forgive them, burying them in the depths of the sea, then it's high time we give each other a break.

In fact, He promises full acceptance along with full forgiveness in print for all to read . . . without an erratum sheet attached. Isn't that encouraging? Can't we be that type of encourager to one another? After all, imperfection is one of the few things we still have in common. It links us close together in the same family!

So then, whenever one of us blows it and we can't hide it, how about a little support from those who haven't been caught yet?

Oops, correction. How about a lot of support?

Evangelical Divorce

2009-06-16T08:37:00.000-07:00

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/columnists.nsf/keepthefaith/story/5BB1245EEE3DEE1C862575D40008AD3E?OpenDocument

http://www.joycemeyer.org/default.htm

Coleman case brings up question of evangelical divorce
Religion writer Tim Townsend

06/13/2009
Police involved in the Coleman triple-murder case hit on a thorny theological question this week that goes back to the time of Jesus: Under what circumstances can Christians divorce? It's an important question in the case because divorce, or more specifically, an evangelical organization's prohibition of divorce among its employees may be one reason behind the murders. That question, of course, leads to others: When, and why, do religious organizations forbid their employees to divorce?Police have charged Christopher Coleman, a former employee of Joyce Meyer Ministries, with killing his wife and two children last month in their Columbia, Ill., home. A week after the murders, the Post-Dispatch disclosed that Coleman was having an affair. Soon after that, he resigned from his position working security with Joyce Meyer Ministries, a nonprofit evangelical organization based in Jefferson County. Coleman, 32, has pleaded not guilty.

Police disclosed Wednesday that on the day of the murders, Coleman told his girlfriend that his wife, Sheri Coleman, would be served with divorce papers. In sworn testimony Wednesday, Columbia Police Chief Joe Edwards said: "Joyce Meyer Ministry does not employ people who get divorced." He said if the Colemans had divorced, Christopher Coleman "would end up losing his job." Calls to the ministry's headquarters were not returned, and an attorney for the ministry refused to speak on the record about the ministry's policy about divorce. Last month, however, a ministry spokesman said "a violation of moral conduct" led to Coleman's resignation. Three former employees of the ministry described the no-divorce policy for the Post-Dispatch, though they couldn't say whether it was a written rule, or just an ingrained part of the Joyce Meyer Ministries culture. They said that people who have already gone through a divorce can be hired to work at the ministry, but that anyone divorced while working at the ministry is let go.The ministry "hires people who have broken lives, who are divorced, who've been drug addicts," said George Wise, who said he worked for Joyce Meyer Ministries from 2001 to 2003 as a video specialist. The ministry uses testimonials from believers to attract others to the organization, including one from a woman whose relationship "ended in a painful divorce." "I started to watch Joyce Meyer every chance I got," she writes. "God started to transform me and heal my broken heart."Wise said he'd been divorced twice by the time he was hired by Meyer and then married a colleague at the ministry. When that marriage didn't work out, he said, he was fired three days after his divorce was finalized."Everyone I ever knew that worked there and got divorced ... was fired," Wise said.

Professor Bradford Wilcox, a sociology professor at the University of Virginia who has written about religion and marriage, said a no-divorce policy is not unusual in Christian organizations whose employment guidelines are structured according to their faith."Some more traditional, typically evangelical Protestant or fundamentalist Protestant institutions ... have a policy relating to an employee's personal conduct," Wilcox said. "For some of those institutions that conduct can encompass marital infidelity or divorce, and you could be sanctioned as a consequence."All of which is completely legal. "There is no law in Missouri that forbids discrimination on the basis of marital status," said Mary Anne Sedey, an employment attorney at Sedey Harper.

Eric Sowers, an employment attorney at Sowers & Wolf, said he'd never heard of anyone at a secular organization fired over marital status. He said religious organizations are exempt from the Missouri Human Rights Act. Wilcox said the First Amendment gives religious institutions wide latitude "to shape their employment policies so they're consistent with their religious teachings."Church leaders use a handful of passages from the Old and New Testaments as the Scriptural basis for such policies, including verses from the Gospels in which Jesus, referencing Genesis, said married people "are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate."Most Christian scholars believe that after taking into account all the relevant biblical passages, Jesus said divorce was acceptable only in cases of adultery. Christian leaders have struggled ever since with putting that message into practice, especially in clear cases of marital abuse."The big issues are the permitted grounds for divorce and whether or not one can remarry while the former spouse is alive," David Instone-Brewer, author of "Divorce And Remarriage in the Church," said in an e-mail message. "There are a few Christian teachers who would say that no believer may ever divorce, even if their spouse was committing constant adultery."Edwards, the Columbia police chief, testified Wednesday that Christopher Coleman has told authorities he had a good marriage, with a difficult period a year ago that was resolved with marriage counseling.

Despite the concentrated effort to keep Christian marriages together, a 2008 study from the Barna Research Group shows evangelical, or "born again" Christians divorce at the same rate as the rest of the American population — about 33 percent of all marriages. Joyce Meyer said in her book she divorced her first husband, a part-time car salesman who cheated on her, in 1966 when she was 23. She calls it an "emotionally abusive first marriage" on her website. In an article on her ministry's website, Meyer wonders, "How many marriages could have been saved from divorce if husbands and wives had been willing to show love by serving one another."

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From Me

A staff member going through a divorce… I am not certain it is the biblical thing to fire this person. If you ran off all the sinners, you would have no church at all.. When you corner anyone into a bad situation with no hope of escape, how would you expect a fallen sinful person to behave?

Yes I believe the bible teaches that divorce is sin. We hear much about how in Malachi 2:16 God hates divorce, but we rarely hear the rest of the verse….

For the LORD God of Israel says That He hates divorce, For it covers one’s garment with violence,”Says the LORD of hosts. “ Therefore take heed to your spirit,That you do not deal treacherously.”

Jesus calls us to peace. Peace is the highest of higher calling. We are all sinners. We need to again, leave our stones in the dirt. We further should acknowledge that people, sin. Even Christians sin. We are fallen creatures and that is precisely why we so desperately need a savior. Also people in damaged marriages are wounded already. With the added religious pressure…we do no service to encourage them to fight to hold onto marriages, especially when the other person wants to leave. The apostle Paul wrote that a brother or a sister is not under bondage. Hyper religious people occasionally stay in marriages where they are abused and wrongly suffer not entirely because they love, but because they fear God and view themselves as "sufferring for Jesus" in a martyr complex. In our pharisaical efforts to push legalism onto individuals, we often forbid people who have truly messed up and irreconcilable differences to divorce. This does not acknowledge the frailty of men or that all have sinned. Divorce is a reality that is DEALT with in the bible. Those trapped like a caged animal, will sometimes act violently.

Jesus calls us to peace. Sometimes the only peace that can come is found by saying, “This is not what I would choose, but it is your choice, so ok. Go in peace.” Then we follow what is written in 1 Corinthians 7.

You could rightfully say, 'this man’s situation was a little different than irreconcilable differences. He was cheating on his wife with one of her friends. He deserved to get canned.' I would of agreed several years ago.

Today I believe differently. I could not say he deserved to get canned for what he was doing on his own time away from the workplace. No other employer in America, can get away with that type of intimate personal intrusion. You should not be able to pry into the private life of someone so far down into the organizational structure. To terminate a rent-a cop from his job for infidelity is absurd.. I do not think it’s a stretch to say that Joyce Meyer’s policies had no role to play.

From someone who loves Jesus and had to go through a divorce personally, conservative Christians put a lot of garbage on people that really, is not in the bible and simply should not be.. No…. murder certainly is not justifiable. However I will tell you, there are a lot of messed up ideas out there in the church that help to enslave and entrap peoples minds in the “name of Jesus.” We enslave instead of setting men free. We stress people out! If people of God were not made to feel quite so cornered… there might be fewer behaving so desperately..You simply don’t know what was going on between the husband and wife or what the circumstances were that led up to the affair and the tragedy..In some of my most desperate moments going through my divorce I know I could of snapped. Perhaps that is why God told me that night to get up and leave, because I was no longer safe. Was I in more danger from her, or from myself? Years later I still really don’t know..

I am not disagreeing with facts. Infidelity is wrong. Divorce is wrong and murder is wrong. To point to his sin and say ‘there is no excuse for it, and therefore he deserved __________’ is forgetting we are forgiven much. My POV comes from a different perspective. Based on what I have been through in ministry, it is not an unreasonable question to ask, ‘Did Joyce Meyer’s Ministry policy regarding divorce have a role in this tragedy.’ I believe it is VERY plausible.

Because of that our response should be different. If we are absolutely matter of fact condemning, we have not helped. We are no better than the Pharisees who brought the woman caught in adultery before Jesus to ask, “What say Ye?”

There should be grace, mercy and compassion for everyone…including the perpetrator. Every individual case needs to be taken into account. If you have a different POV that’s fine and alright. While I pray for a more understading compassionate church, I do pray and hope no one reading will ever see it from my perspective.

In Christ

Andrew

Athiest believes Africa needs God

2009-06-02T20:16:00.000-07:00

I like this article from an athiest who is convinced North Africa needs God. I think the whole world needs to know God, but this is awesome... Yahooo!!!!.

"Now a confirmed atheist, I’ve become convinced of the enormous contribution that Christian evangelism makes in Africa: sharply distinct from the work of secular NGOs (non governmental organizations) government projects and international aid efforts. These alone will not do. Education and training alone will not do. In Africa Christianity changes people’s hearts. It brings a spiritual transformation. The rebirth is real. The change is good..

http://debbiekaufman.wordpress.com/2009/01/03/an-atheist-who-believes-that-africa-needs-god/

HUG A MISSIONARY… WE ARE CONVINCINGLY AND DECIDEDLY WINNING THE WORLD FOR JESUS!
They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony;

Revelation 12:11

Gold or Bronze?

2009-06-02T15:13:00.000-07:00

Gold or Bronze?

Refuse to be casual in Worship... Sometimes in some places worship becomes casual. I want to make it clear that I am NOT being critical of casual come as you are dress, or laid back contemporary worship music. I am talking about the condition of one's heart. Flippant, Casual worship is always off track.

I'll give you a kind of a picture of this from the Old Testament. The writer of 2nd Chronicles says that Solomon built the temple, filled it with things of great beauty and great value, great gold, including gold shields that were awesome to people that looked at them, a reminder of the greatness and splendor and goodness of God, very costly as Solomon intended them to be, an expression of the value that people placed on God.

Then Solomon died, and his son Rehoboam took over, and the Bible tells us that Rehoboam abandoned the law, abandoned his devotion to God, and at one point the king of Egypt came up and plundered the temple, took away the shields of gold.

Here's the statement, 2 Chronicles 12:10, "But King Rehoboam replaced the shields of gold with shields of bronze." He replaced the shields of gold, what had been costly and sacrificial, with shields of bronze, that which was cheaper. He didn't omit them, he didn't forget about the temple altogether -- he just downgraded them, just replaced them with less costly things. He had a kind of casual approach to worship. When he was in trouble before his enemies, he went to the temple and humbled himself before God. When trouble went away, so did his urgency about worship. He did not set his heart to seek the Lord. He replaced the shields of gold with shields of bronze.

Ask yourself…

Am I casual about my time investment with God?
If I show up to church that is fine, if I don’t that is fine?

Do I perpetually arrive late so the preliminaries are over?

Do I serve with a casual heart?

Can I be counted on by those I am in community with…or my leaders?

Am I perpetually late to areas I am assigned to?

Do I give financially with a casual heart?

Have I seriously committed to move toward tithing (10%) or am I satisfied with a lackadaisical, ‘I should do a little gift?’

When I sing do I really give heart-felt worship to God for the wonder and beauty of who He is?

Do I selflessly release myself, get caught up into God’s presence as I sing, lift my heart and sometimes even my hands in selfless consciousness and adoration to God?

This is a great place to begin assessing whether we give God our “gold.” If we haven’t, it is a great place to begin the change!

In the dirt

2009-05-28T10:28:00.000-07:00

CBS 4]
A teacher at a South Florida Catholic School is accused of having sex with a 15-year-old boy. Police say she admitted to the relationship, saying she and the student had been sexually active since March 2009.

Maria Guzman Hernandez, 32, is a sixth-grade teacher at Our Lady of Charity in Hialeah. She was charged with sexual battery on a teenager just hours after she and the boy returned from a trip to Disney World over the weekend.

The boy’s mother reportedly told police investigators and the Department of Children and Families that she knew about the relationship and approved of it. The mother said she thought Hernandez was a ‘nice person’ and was a good influence on her son. Police say the teen’s mother is also now under investigation and could face charges.

====================

[From Me]

I borrowed this story from a friend's blog (Kevin Bussey - Confessions of a Recovering Pharisee) and I agree with Kevin that this clearly illustrates what a twisted world we live in.

IS SEX WITH A MINOR DEPLORABLE BEHAVIOR? : DEFINITELY.

IS THIS CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR? : WARRANTS A THOROUGH INVESTIGATION..

I AM NOT SAYING THIS IS RIGHT. : IT CLEARLY ISN'T.

Once, there was a time when in fundementalist christian fervor and dogmatic zeal I would of said, "Put them under the jail," Today....there is a difference.

In John 8 we read...."Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. 3The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group 4and said to Jesus, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?" 6They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him. But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. 7When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." 8Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.

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9At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. 10Jesus straightened up and asked her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?"
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11"No one, sir," she said. "Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin."

I believe the cause of Christ would be better served if simply Christians were to BACK OFF! Before making a blanket statement that these people should be put under the jail, pray for them. Better yet, make no statement at all. There is a young man, a woman and a mother who’s lives have been torn up. These are PEOPLE. People Jesus loves. People who for all we know are otherwise significatly contributing members of society.

One revolutionary idea changes things. Jesus took this sinful world as it is, not as He would have it. He loved us while we were yet sinners. Christians should do justly, no doubt. We should also love mercy as we walk humbly with our God.

Yes sin is sin. I am sure by now the mother, the son and the teacher are all sorry. Sorry for their sin, or sorry for getting caught, matters little to me at this point. They are hurt. IF the only Christians they meet, are accusing and judging, how will the cause of Christ be served.

If you disagree, ok be my guest.

My stone is staying in the dirt.

In Christ

Andrew

Letter to a Friend,

2009-05-28T10:13:00.001-07:00

Below is a letter I wrote to a young man who ACTUALLY left everything to follow Christ.

"Must you go to China? How much nicer it would be to stay here and serve the Lord at home!" Just like that, J. Hudson Taylor's new x-girlfriend made it plain at last that she would not go to China. Thankfully J. Hudson Taylor did not cave to this woman. He followed the Lord Jesus Christ instead of what he wanted. No other missionary in the previous nineteen centuries since the Apostle Paul has had a wider vision and has carried out a more systematized plan of evangelizing a broad geographical area than Hudson Taylor.

You..... are choosing to leave Fort Smith, moving away from family and friends and a godly girlfriend... Am I that strong? For most of my 41 years I have not been, and I was trapped by my own fear of loss. That for the Christian is how your life gets stripped away & pruned. Apparently I have not been so smart as it has happened to me more than once. Now, with a few years and bumps and bruises....I only wished as young as you are now, I had the courage to do as you are. You are paying the cost of discipleship. As sure as there is a God in heaven, I promise You, you will bear much sweet fruit in your life to come.

*** Deleted some personal comments ***

I want you to know, I am your friend and feel incredibly blessed to be yours. Go with the blessing of God and win this world with the enduring love of Jesus.

In Christ
Andrew

The Most Commonly Heard Excuses

2009-05-26T04:54:00.000-07:00

The Most Commonly Heard Excuses

by Keith Green

The following objections are just a few of the many that Christian groups and missionary societies constantly hear from prospective recruits for the mission field. Although many may merely be excuses, we have heard them spoken so many times as serious statements from well-meaning Christians in response to the question, "Why don't you get trained to go into full-time Christian service in a foreign country?

1) "But I'm not called." You don't know how many people I've met who have said to me, I agree that more people need to go to the mission field, but I've never heard God tell me to go." Well, the truth is that God has already told you to go in His Word. In fact, He commands you to "Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature." (Mark 16:15) That's right - YOU ARE CALLED! In fact, if you don't go, you need a specific calling from God to stay home. Has God definitely told you not to "go" somewhere outside your country to preach the Gospel? If He hasn't, then you'd better start praying WHERE to go, instead of if you should go-for again, you're already called.

2) "But God needs people to stay here to be a witness to those lost in America. There's enough need right here!" It is true that God has called some people to stay right where they are to be witnesses for Jesus in their daily lives and professions. But again, God is merciful and just. Since America has only about 5% of the world's population, then only about 5% of the believers would really be called to stay in this country as a witness (that's only about l out of 20) while the rest of us should go into the parts of the world where there are almost 0% believers. (In Albania, for instance, there are only "a handful" of known believers in the whole country of 2.7 million people - less than 1/2 of 1/1000th percent!!)

3) "But God needs people to stay home and financially support those ministries and missionaries who are already all over the world. In fact, my church is already supporting some missionaries with my tithes and offerings." You should never have to worry about there not being enough Christians staying home to support missionaries. There will always be enough people around who will not answer the call to go - who will stay home and gladly just send a check (instead of themselves) to reach the lost. After all, nothing is easier to give than money (except nothing). This does not mean that everyone who stays home is selfish and disobedient. As I've already said, there are some who know they are definitely called to stay, and they are doing exactly what God would have them do here, while they greatly support other ministries. I'm just saying that there will always be plenty of people around to financially support the pitifully few who answer the call and obey God.

4) "But my family and friends would frown upon me going." "He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me (Matt. 10:57) God is very clear about whose approval we should seek. It's shocking to me how even Christian parents react when their children say that they'd like to go for training as a full-time Christian worker. "A missionary! Are you crazy?" It's as if they've announced they'd like to be a thief or a prostitute. It is true that God wants us to honor our parents and love our friends, but He has also made it clear in His Word that this honor and love must not exceed our love and obedience to Him and His calling on our lives. We should always try our best to explain God's call to our families, lovingly and patiently, but the bottom line must be that we will obey Christ no matter what the cost. We should always try to get our family's understanding and blessing when God makes our ministry clear to us, but we must also always be ready to leave "houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or farms" for His sake "and for the Gospel's sake." - (Mark 10:29)

5) "But I need to stay here and lead my relative to the Lord first. If I go somewhere else, how can they get saved?" There once was a man who wanted to follow and obey Jesus, but he said to Him, "Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father." Jesus' answer to him was, "follow me; and allow the dead to bury their own dead." - (Matt 8:21-22) This may sound cruel of Jesus not to allow the man to have a funeral for his dead father-but most likely, the man's father had not died yet. The phrase "wait until I bury my father" was sometimes used to say wait until my father has died." What he was really saying was, "I'd like to follow You now, but You see, my parents wouldn't understand. Please wait until after they've died, and then I'll be more than glad to follow You" Jesus' answer was appropriate "allow the dead to bury their own dead." In other words allow the unbelievers to take care of themselves, and follow Me!" Jesus doesn't want us to throw our usefulness away because our relatives are not yet saved. The greatest witness they can see is you fully obeying the call of God on your life. Jesus didn't want this man's father to be buried-He wanted the young man to follow Him, and then maybe even the man's father would come to know Him too. Obedience is truly greater than sacrifice (I Samuel 15:22)-when we obey God, He takes care of all our other obligations. (Matt 6:33)

6) "But I need to get an education first." I don't believe that God wants every Christian to go to college just because, "Well everyone goes to college now, unless they're too dumb!" You shouldn't go to college unless God has definitely called you to go. Just like everything else in our Christian lives, He's the Master, we're the servants. He's the General, we're the soldiers. If you're really a Christian, you're at the beck and command of the King. If you're not at His command, then you're really not a Christian. Yes, God does call some people to go to college. Sometimes it's to get training for a ministry calling He's made clear to them. For instance, if you know what country you're called to, perhaps God would lead you to learn the language and culture somewhat before you go (although the very best place to learn is within the country itself-it's a definite "crash course"!). Of course, another reason God might lead you to college is to minister to people right there on the campus-as well as to mature emotionally and spiritually. But be careful! Make sure you're there in direct obedience to God, or else you're wasting your time-and His.

7) "But I need to get married first, and then maybe my mate will want to serve God full-time on the field, rather than me going alone." Nothing could be a more foolish reason for putting off obeying God now. God does not want you to look for a husband or wife, He wants you to be married to Him, and trust Him for any mate He may bring into your life. I know of many single Christians serving Jesus overseas who are trusting Him for everything. And some of the most beautiful stories of God's grace I've ever heard are told by couples who went to the mission field single, and then God led them to marry another whose heart was also fully devoted to serving Him there. Remember, "Your Father knows what you need before you ask Him." (Matt. 6:8) Trust Him!

8) "But I have a family to support. God doesn't want me to neglect them, does He?" The Word of God says, "Seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you. "(Matt. 6:33) If you can trust God for your needs, you can certainly trust Him for your family's needs. You would never be foolishly "neglecting" your family's needs by obeying God's call to go. God will show you the way. I know of so many families-some with many children-who are on the field right now, trusting God for their needs while they minister in His name. I have never heard of ONE occurrence where God didn't meet the needs of one of His servants and their families. As King David said... "I have been young, and now I am old; yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, or his descendants begging bread. All day long he is gracious and lends; and his descendants are a blessing." (Psalm 37:2~26)

9) But the mission field is dangerous. God would not have me put myself or my family in danger of disease or native hostilities, would He?" "Why is the Lord bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become plunder; would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?" (Numbers 14:3) It is all a matter of our priorities-do we look at the temporary or the eternal in making our choices? It's true that you will probably be in more physical danger on the mission field than you would be in the suburbs of America, but that is part of the cost that we need to count when it comes to serving God. The question should not be, "Will I be kept safe wherever I go?" but rather, "What is on the Lord's heart for me to do?" If Jesus decided to go the way of least pain, He would have never gone to the cross. There is no place of greater blessing for you than in the center of God's will. You must stop to count the cost, but remember one thing - the privilege of serving God always outweighs the price. "If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake and the Gospel's shall save it." (Mark 8:34-35)

10) "Although in the past most countries freely allowed foreign missionaries to come, most people in other lands now resent them. Why should I go where I'm not welcomed?" Did you welcome the Gospel before you were saved? The Word says that we should save some, "snatching them out of the fire." (Jude 23) Some people just don't want to be saved! That's exactly why we need to go to them. The more unwelcomed, the better. If they resent Americans, then you have an opportunity to show them that Christian Americans can be humble with the love of Jesus in their hearts. For the Word says, "He who is wise wins souls. (Proverbs 11:30)

11) "But I could not afford to get the training, and raise the necessary finances to place myself (or my family) on the field." Don't worry, God will help raise the money you need. Wherever God guides, He supplies-even if it means helping you get a job! Problems and worries about finances are usually only a surface excuse when it comes to obeying God to go. In your heart you know He'll make a way for you!

12) "But I don't have any special talents or abilities that would qualify me to be a missionary." Then you're just the person God is looking for! Sure God can use nurses, teachers, accountants, and mechanics on the field, but it always blesses God to greatly use the one who seemingly has nothing to offer. It is this person who has the opportunity of purely representing Jesus in the endless "common" tasks that are part of the daily life of a missionary. "When I am weak, then I am strong." (II Cor 12:10; also see I Cor 1:26-31)

13) "But how could I commit myself for years and years to go to the field without having a chance to see what it would be like?" It is true that in past generations a foreign missionary had to make almost a lifetime commitment before he could go to the field. Then in most cases, he had to go to college for at least four years, and then seminary for two to four years before he could even begin his missions training and service. But today there are missionary organizations that have short-term programs for people who want to receive training and find out what serving God in other countries is like. These programs last from a few weeks to a few years in length. So now there is an opportunity to "take a bow" before making a much longer commitment.

14) "But God wants me to stay in this country and prosper. The reason the rest of the world is so poor and unconverted is because their heathen religions and idolatry have caused them to live in ignorance and poverty, without God's blessing." This has to be THE most selfish reasoning I've ever heard for not going-and I've heard it! Of course they live in ignorance and poverty, that's just the very reason you should go-to bring the enlightenment that comes from knowing the truth about Jesus, and to bring them the true riches of knowing Christ. If you don't believe that the reason God has blessed you with abundance in this country is so you can be a blessing to others-then you have never understood the Gospel of Jesus Christ! "Freely you received, freely give. (Matt 10:8)

15) "I'm just not ready to make that kind of a sacrifice and commitment." Ah! That's just the point. That's probably the underlying reason for almost every one of the above objections. In fact, you might just as well have said, "I'm not willing." You need to decide whether or not you are a disciple of Jesus-that is the question. If you are His disciple, then you are not your own...you have been bought with a price." (I Cor 6:19-20) And if you truly love Him, then you will not feel bondage, you will feel incredible excitement at being chosen to represent Him in the world! To be a servant of Jesus Christ, an ambassador, a missionary, is the highest calling a man or woman can attain to!

Now what are you waiting for??

I will not despise the Ravens

2009-05-21T06:45:00.000-07:00

The following is an article I wrote for a Christian magazine years ago. I've preached this on occasions when I was invited to...because the message is always relevant. I have learned to not despise the little ugly disgusting things that occur in life. If you've prayed for God to remove it, and it remains, there is a reason. He doesn't allow us to hurt because He's a mean God. Trust HIM. He loves you. Like a daddy cleaning up a scraped knee with an alcohol swab hurts, we experience pain before healing.

Ravens

"Then the word of the LORD came to him, saying, 'Get away from here and turn eastward, and hide by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan. And it will be that you shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.' So he went and did according to the word of the LORD, for he went and stayed by the Brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan. The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening; and he drank from the brook." (1 Kings 17:2-6)

I love the pages of scripture immediately preceding this story, where the prophet Elijah announced a great drought. This drought was a threat to the northern kingdom of Israel, and to the wicked king Ahab. He had just become "famous" as an adversary of Ahab, for so mighty were his prayers, that God stopped the rain at his request. Yet, now Elijah's life was in danger. God sent him to the Brook of Cherith to hide.

At the moment of his new found fame God wanted Elijah to hide? Unbelievable! Wait a minute God, You are leading him to hide? The escape to the Brook Cherith was for more than protection. It was also to train Elijah. The name "Cherith" comes from the ancient Hebrew root meaning, to cut away, to cut up or off. This shows that God had some cutting to do in the life of Elijah. In a season of drought, Elijah had to learn to trust that God could keep this brook flowing. He also had to accept food from ravens. Ravens are unclean animals: nasty. God told the prophet, "I have commanded the ravens to feed you there." There is an emphasis on the word "there." God promised that the ravens would feed Elijah has he stayed at Cherith. Of course, theoretically the ravens could feed him anywhere - but God commanded that it be at Cherith. Elijah perhaps wanted to be somewhere else, or be preaching, or doing anything else. Yet God wanted him there, in the wilderness at that particular place and time, and God promised He would provide for him there.

Charles Spurgeon drew two points of application from this event, likening the food the ravens brought to spiritual food. First, he recognized that God may bring a good word to us through an unclean vessel, a spiritually unclean like a raven. Second, that one can bring spiritual food to others and still be unclean spiritually themselves. At that place, "The ravens brought him bread and meat." Life sustaining food came to Elijah came from the beak of an unclean animal. Elijah had to put away his traditional ideas of clean and unclean or he would die of starvation.

I love birds and nature. However Ravens stink of death. The blackness of their feathers may be matched by the blackness of their nature. They are disgusting birds that rejoice in death. Ravens have been seen leading wolves to prey. Ravens drive prey to predators. They are cunning, deceitful and intelligent. Ravens know how and when to take advantage of other animals to help them mooch a meal they couldn't otherwise reach. Was this the creature God used to sustain Elijah's life?

At the time I am writing this, I am grieving. Friday I lost my son in a custody battle. He is a special needs child. It just stinks. I am in a difficult place. I wanted God to come in be a mighty warrior. I prayed that He would correct wrongs. It doesn't always happen that way. I prayed for His will to be done, certain that what I wanted was His will. He is an all powerful mighty God who can come and be victorious and overcome all my enemies. On this day, He was the lamb. I was allowed to suffer loss. I am disappointed in the outcome. The situation makes me wonder how He felt in the moment when He lost his own Son? It's easy to wax spiritual, when it is someone else. It is a difficult concept to grasp and accept in the middle of the reeling chaos and grieving. You have surrendered your life to Him, so How does a loving and just God allow those who are actively following after Him, to suffer loss?

However, He Not only allowed it, He ordained it.

I wish I could have been like Job in my heart. (Job 13:15 Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him. . .) but instead my initial guttural reaction upon hearing the judge's decision, was anger towards God. I know anger towards God for allowing this pain in life is unjustified for if I truly believe God, that means I believe this circumstance was not only allowed, but fore-ordained. That's a tough pill to swallow when you feel an anger welling inside. But He designed the situation and blessed and filtered all of it through His all knowing, caring and gentle hands to achieve what He has in mind as the best.

As a surgeons knife cuts into the flesh, or he's sewing you up, you aren't saying, "Gee thanks a lot, that feels a lot better." Unless you are unconscious or have drugs in you, you're usually crying. Even if you are knocked out, you eventually wake up and oh, uh….ouch… Pain hurts. Healing takes time.

Being a Christian and living the Christian life is not merely going to church, learning to pray, giving a little money, getting into the bible, having a happy two parent family in a big house and giving to the United Way or to even trying to make this world a better place. That is not the message: That's moralism! The message of Christianity is that the eternal God of the universe, came to this planet, and He is just and He is holy. What His holiness demands, Jesus provided at the cross, so you can be in a right relationship with God. He suffered indignities for us, horrors that cannot truly be imagined by mere men, so that we can be in relationship with a holy and just God. You can choose to accept it or not. Either way, in the end, the debt for our un-holiness will be satisfied. You choose to pay yourself or you allow Jesus to pay the debt for you. He will accept the severe but just penalty, all so that you can be in relationship with Him. That is the gift He offers: To be one with God. The moment we accept that free gift, You are sealed in the spirit, and You are adopted and the peace of God comes into your life. You are heaven bound.

Like an info-mercial, Wait there's more. He has an agenda for you, as His son or daughter. Now He begins the processes of sanctification, which in your daily life makes you more and more holy. That is the justice of God. True hard core Christianity is embracing that, the cross of Christ, not to enjoy some giant kegger in heaven, but to die to yourself daily. Die to your plans, to your dreams, and to trust in Him, and His provision alone, so that you may live in Christ.

I am not alone feeling small. It was my turn. Maybe in your life it's the ongoing sickness of a loved one. One who is precious, but this person, as they slowly die, consumes your own life as you tirelessly serve, breaking your back, helping them in and out of bed to tend to the most humble of human needs. You pray and pray for their recovery, perhaps for your deliverance, and it just does not happen. Maybe it's the marriage you desperately want to succeed but still it is teetering on the knife edge between glorious bliss and a nasty divorce, despite the many tears and desperate prayers. Maybe the marriage has failed already and you are alone and devastated, penniless, possibly even homeless Maybe it's a prodigal child that just will not come home from the far country despite your efforts to reach out, to provide for and there were many prayers and pleading. Maybe your child died. What is the deal with God? Do you feel you have followed God faithfully and He has led you to an isolated desperate place? Instead of things being great, you are finding weeping, hardness, bitterness, tears and you are wondering where is the Marvelous Light?

Stop: the Marvelous Light is this, an eternal relationship with a Holy God who loves you more than any other creation, is yours for the asking. He made a way for us to be together forever in perfect love. I love to use this illustration a lot: Christians aren't Smurfs. We don't dance around the fire singing la, la all day long. We choose to walk in the way of Christ and to suffer as He suffered, because the glorious gift we have received is our hope. He ain't no genie, and under no circumstances has He promised a new car, a good job, a Rolex, a pretty wife and the American dream, whatever. The martyrs in the coliseum in Rome would not recognize the blab and grab gospel so popular today. They loved the lamb and the Lamb loved them, and that was worth giving up everything, even life.I can't fully comprehend so I can't possibly explain but could it be that unbelievably difficult situation you are placed in, is how God is developing you now, to sustain life?

Joseph suffered so that many could be saved alive. Eye has not seen nor has ear heard what God has in store for those who love Him.

If it was not necessary, I am certain God would spare us, but God did not spare even His own Son Jesus when it was truly necessary for Him to suffer.

We suffer with hope. God is near to the broken-hearted, and You can trust that He weeps with the pain you feel. You can trust that He has a special way to provide for you in your hour of need. This issue of INNERGY focuses around the word, believe. I spent years BELIEVING one day I will have it alL together. I'll fake my way through it until it happens. It never did: it never will. Just because I HAVE been a Christian longer than some, it's at these times I learn all too well, I am not a master. He is Master. I am servant. I am as weak and as dependent upon Jesus as Savior as an infant is on its parents. I must trust God through dealing with my own "stuff" by depending on His daily provision to sustain my life. There is no other way, for Elijah or for me. Life on this fallen world is rough and will continue to be so.

Jesus said in John 16:33 These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."

That is our hope. Jesus has overcome all that truly matters in this world. The fact that I am still here means He has been faithful to His promise. Will my son ever come home to me? I do not know although I hope someday he will. God only knows. In the meantime, I wait in the place he told me to go, for his provision. I really do not know by what method His provision will be delivered. I am uncertain it will come the way I desire. (I almost guarantee it won't) I cling to what He has promised and follow where He leads. He will provide to meet my needs. However His provision is dispatched, I will not despise the ravens.

In Christ
Andrew
<*)))><

When the elements melt, what will remain?

2009-05-19T17:03:00.000-07:00

Jesus in Matthew 28 says,..’go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything’ He commanded. This is not an optional call to ministry, but one given to every Christian. It’s as personal as it is universal. Followers of Jesus are to all be committed to follow Him where He leads us, when He leads us and do how He leads us.

My dad often repeated a phrase to me from the time I was a toddler. “Only one life, this too will pass; Only what’s done for Christ will last.” He repeats it to me occasionally, even to this day. It instilled in me the knowledge that whatever I chose to pursue to do in this life, the only thing that truly matters is Godly fruit. Fruit will last AFTER the elements melt away and we are standing face to face with the One we trusted our lives to. Seed planted into lives that choose to follow God, through every dark difficulty and despair, and into HIS marvelous light, will bear fruit that will last for eternity.

In eternity, loosed from the distractions and the things of earth that appeal to our flesh and compete for our allegiance we will see Jesus. It will matter very little to us that the gates are pearly, the streets are gold, and walls are jasper. On that great day, Jesus and what He desires will be everything.

So what IS most valuable to Him?

What better gift could I bring to lay at His feet that day than a harvest of people who are loved beyond measure, and are in love with Him. There is nothing He desires more.

As always I welcome your comments.

In Christ

Andrew

Wholly Holy

2009-05-18T16:19:00.000-07:00

Listen to Wholly Yours (A Collision Album Version) by David Crowder Band : //free.napster.com/player/tracks/18703817

whol⋅ly –adverb
1. entirely; totally; altogether; quite.
2. to the whole amount, extent, etc.
3. so as to comprise or involve all.

ho·ly - adj

1. Set apart; sacred; reserved from profane or common use; holy vessels; a holy priesthood. "Holy rites and solemn feasts."

Andrew Murray wrote, "...the only sure mark of the presence of God, (is) the disappearance of self, ...That alone is our holiness." There is much written but little else anyone can say further on this subject.

As always I welcome your thoughts and/or comments.

With enduring love for Christ Jesus

Andrew \o/

Titus 2:13

Dream

2009-05-16T16:20:00.000-07:00

Check out this dream... I was sitting on a bench on a dark cloudy day really bummed because I had sinned and life had blew up because of it. I was upset and grieving, when my work phone rang.

My brother's x-girlfriend, calls me. She is hysterical, screaming happily....It's happening, it's really happening! Graves are blowing open and..... Then a rush of wind and a bright light, and I am streaking towards the sky in the hottest takeoff I have never seen any aircraft make. I never saw them but somehow I just knew that a pair of angels came to get me. One stayed behind to tidy up a bit, and the other was with me, but apparently behind me. He either held me or simply accompanies me, it was so fast I am unsure. Within a blip of time we, because it is apparent to me that there are huge numbers in the sky with me, I am many thousands of feet in the sky. I see an angel hovering like he is directing traffic and pointing us towards a great crowd congregating above the clouds, and we pitch over and head towards where the angel was pointing above the clouds.

It is at this point in my excitement I awaken this morning. It was about 6:00am. My heart raced, tears were on my cheeks.

One thing in the "real world" I discovered this morning....I never knew I constantly felt pain through my whole body. That was until for the briefest of moments I did not feel any pain. I wasn't numb, I simply felt good. It was the sweetest feeling. Also at this point I knew immediately this dream might of been significant. I however fell back asleep for a couple more hours of extremely restful sleep.

Do you ever dream like that? Feel free to share your thoughts and comments.

With enduring love in Christ Jesus

Andrew

"looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ" Titus 2:13

It's The End Of The World As We Know It

2009-05-14T20:42:00.000-07:00

"It's the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine. "

by REM http://play.napster.com/track/17490607

In the classic Warner Brothers Road Runner cartoons, Wylie Coyote is constantly busted and banged up. He keeps coming back with new ways; new plans. Broken and battered, chastened, he is undeterred and unwavering in seeking to achieve his goal. All of his limitations, past experiences, shortcomings and failures, did nothing to deter his resolve to go after the Road Runner with everything he could muster. He dared valiantly. Until the end, as he was suspended in mid-air, just past the edge of the cliff; and gravity reasserted itself. Wylie (actually knew a guy named Wylie) had one thing going for him. No matter how banged up, tore up, wasted and destroyed he would get in 7 1/2 minutes, he never died. We, on the other hand: When we dare greatly and put forth great effort, and fail, we usually endure pain.

We cannot hunker down, and just pretend anymore that the world as we knew it a year ago exists. Pop culture tried to warn us. For years we've had Homer Simpson, the spot on perfect American: Childish, Irresponsible, Oblivious, Fat and Happy. Last year in the theaters, we saw WALL-E, and the Homerized former earthlings. We've known in our heart of hearts, that we could not continue like we have been, still we continued.... Now, who knows what lies ahead.

It's not all doom and gloom. There has always been and will always be those to say the church has failed. Satan always wants to shatter our hope. He does not want us to trust in the promises of God. I agree that we are looking towards a future substantially different than our present and past. The economy, pandemic flu, the changing of the world demographics are requiring those who call on the name of Christ, to Walk the Walk and Talk the Talk. It is no longer "OK" to be straddling the fence.

I choose to trust in the name of the Lord my God, and in what He says and to live like it. He is with us, and we will not be left orphaned and alone, nor will we be begging for bread or lacking anything we truly need. Like Wylie Coyote...we will never die. Live like Wylie for 7 1/2 minutes, and repeat as often as neccessary.

As always I welcome your thoughts and/or comments.

With enduring love for Christ Jesus

PS: Check out Jeff Crawford's blog The good, The Bad, and the Ugly

http://jeffreycrawford.blogspot.com/2009/05/three-cultural-shifts-every-christian.html)

Failures

2009-05-12T15:55:00.000-07:00

William Carey (1761-1834)It was February 1794 when Carey, 32, his wife Dolly, their four boys and Dolly's sister Kitty disembarked their river boat at the small village of Debhatta. The two women had complained nonstop about the other missionary deserting them in Calcutta. The two daily reinforced each other's bitterness at this terrible land. In Debhatta a British official took Carey aside. "Peculiar how far one can see back through the trees," noted Carey to the official. "There is nothing but tree trunks from the ground - which is little more than mud - up to the first branches of the trees." "Lucky for us," grumbled the official. "We can see tigers a long way off." "But I thought tigers avoided people.""Not here in the Sundarbans they don't. Tigers killed 20 people last year in my district alone." He sighed. "Do watch for cobras and crocodiles too, reverend."William's heart sank. Oh, what plans he had made for missionary work. He was the first sent anywhere by the Baptist Missionary Society. All future activity probably depended on his success in India. And in just three months he had run out of money, lost his colleague and ended up in the most Godforsaken place on earth. If only he hadn't brought such a large family. Originally only Carey, his oldest boy and the other missionary were to come. The other missionary pressured Dolly into the trip. Now the other missionary was gone. Carey had to support a family of seven on this Sundarbans mud. Moreover, he must somehow protect them from tigers. He didn't own a gun. He didn't know how to use one anyway. And when would he find time to evangelize the Indians? Oh, how mightily he had failed his family, his mission and the Baptist Missionary Society![source: William Carey: Father of Modern Missions by S.Pearce Carey, 1923]

Amy Carmichael (1867-1951)In 1892 Amy, comfortable as a guest in the manor of coal tycoon Robert Wilson, clearly heard God say, "Go ye." She never doubted for a moment God directed her to become a missionary. Even her rejection weeks later by doctors at the China Inland Mission headquarters in London did not stop her. She had powerful friends. Robert Wilson sent her forth as a 'Keswick missionary' to join a mission group in Japan. During 1893 Amy's work on the north coast of Japan was fruitful, though hardly a success by standards set by missionary giants like David Livingstone and Mary Slessor. Amy could not fathom the language. And she knew she never would. She resigned herself to forever using an interpreter. After one year her health began to fail. "The climate is dreadful on brain and eyes," she explained. But she worsened. Headaches were crushing. Often she was in a bed for a week, sometimes she awoke blind for hours! Could she be too frail for mission work, just as C. I. M. doctors had told her? Like Livingstone and Slessor, she persevered, even sailing to other side of Japan on a new assignment.Yet she had barely disembarked when she was brought low: …I collapsed...A touch of fever, then a fainting fit...a terrible comedown, for I always declared nothing could make me faint. All such weakminded nonsense I quite scorned...But this time, over I went and before I came back all the humiliating attentions attendant upon such departures had been showered upon me and they left me very wet…Amid 'wet towels, doleful faces and blurs' she feebly explained, "I lost my parasol aboard ship."No, Amy was no Livingstone, no Slessor. She was brought even lower yet. She was sent to China, so the C. I. M. doctors there could look after her. Oh, what a burden she had become at 27 in the missionary world, what a privileged weakling, what a failure...[sources: A Chance To Die by Elisabeth Elliot, 1997, and Amy Carmichael of Dohnavur by Frank Houghton, 1953] How failure in Japan pained Amy! She versed her pain in verse as she often did:Will not the End explainThe crossed endeavor, earnest purpose foiled.The strange bewilderment of good work spoiled.The clinging weariness, the inward strain.Will not the End explain?

Billy Graham (1918-Alive)In 1937 Billy enrolled at the Florida Bible Institute near Tampa. Students were urged to practice preaching. The word was out: a student had to be ever ready to preach when the 'opportunity' came. Billy polished four sermons he memorized from a book, a common practice. He had in his head what he figured were at least two hours of preaching. Who knew when he would be called? Sure enough, Billy soon got his call: he preached one night at a small church near Palatka. He raged on the pulpit. In fact he blasted out all four of his sermons in less than ten minutes! The wide-eyed congregation looked like they had been machine-gunned.Billy felt miserable. Why couldn't he slow down and speak like a real preacher? Night after night he agonized over doubts. For the first time in his life he could not sleep. He developed back aches and took to lying on the floor to ease the pain. Sometimes he had to leave his dorm room and wander the grounds. Maybe he shoudn't be a preacher at all. Once on a sidewalk in downtown Tampa he stood at the door of a sleazy bar haranguing the people inside about their certain steps to hell. The bartender whacked him sprawling into the street. When he went home to Charltte his own family heard him preach. His parents were stupefied. His sisters were embarrassed.Ministers in the Tampa area had doubts too. Billy heard the rumors. Oh, he was powerful at praying. More than anyone they had ever heard he seemed to actually talk to God. But his preaching was so frenetic, said the whispers. Billy flailed the air with his pipe-stem arms, pounced around the pulpit like a man swatting flies, boomed his raw North Carolina twang to the far pews. Somehow that skinny throat bellowed like a freight train. And yet his message was plain vanilla. The pointy finger: 'You are a sinner. Christ died to pay for your sins. But you must accept Christ to be saved. ' Many whispered that only the most backward hick would respond to Billy's loud, frenzied message… He seemed such a loser.[sources: Billy Graham: The Authorized Biography by John Pollock, 1966, and A Prophet With Honor: The Billy Graham Story by William Martin, 1991]

Corrie ten Boom (1892-1983)Corrie ten Boom's first venture into the adult world at the age of 18 was dismal. She worked as a domestic in a wealthy home. There she was molested by the master of the house. Shaken, she returned home. She helped at home and began studies at a Bible school. Typically she attacked what seemed to be their entire curriculum at once: ethics, dogmatics, church history, Old Testament, New Testament, Old Testament history and New Testament history. She studied very hard in her moments outside of housework. What would she do at the age of 22 with her fistful of diplomas? Why, teach the Bible, of course.After two years she was sure she was ready for her final exams. Failure never entered her mind. A prayer never crossed her lips. The first part of the examination at Bible School was to give lessons to students and answer their questions. This she did with ease. After all, she had been giving Bible lessons for several years now anyway. She was very able with students of every level. She had even taught mentally handicapped children - and very effectively too.The second part of the exam was in Haarlem's revered Saint Bavo's Cathedral. Corrie had spent many wonderful hours there. But the exam was held in a conference room off the one of the pillared corridors. Several ministers sat at a massive oak table. Their faces were cold as stone. The room was cold too. Corrie stood in front of a lifeless fireplace. This conference room seemed truly like a tomb. Worst of all it seemed God had deserted Corrie. They began her oral examination with ethics."You studied only the teachings of Mr. Johnson?" asked one of the ministers, not hiding his displeasure. "He's one of my instructors," she answered lamely. Corrie sensed trouble. Was she in the middle of some faculty dispute? Her brain began to curdle. Too late she realized God had not deserted her but she had deserted God. Why hadn't she asked for his help? Was she so proud of her learning? The subjects rose one by one. All seven. Her mind remained blank. At the end of the day she had a perfect record. She had not passed one subject. She had failed utterly and completely!At home her sister Betsie said, "You just had a bad day. You must take the exam again as soon as possible." But Corrie could not do that. The defeat was too stinging. She couldn't look at those tombstone faces again. Maybe she had attempted too much…[sources: In My Father's House by Corrie ten Boom with Carole C. Carlson, 1976, and Corrie ten Boom: Her Life, Her Faith by Carole C.Carlson, 1983]

Andrew Perkins (1967 – Very Alive) The ordinary soul trusting God through the difficult darkness, struggling for answers with an incomplete view of what the final result will be, is as awesome as it is awe inspiring.Like you, I struggle through. We have the general revelation of God: The Bible. I love to have God give me a direct revelation to go and do something specific. That doesn't happen very often. Usually I am plodding along through life with only what has been revealed, just trying to do my best from moment to moment. Often I am feeling like a failure. I make no claim to greatness. Neither would any of the people I mentioned above. I am much like William Carey who became the father of the modern missionary movement. Also Amy Charmichael who served and loved the people of Japan so much that she worked as a missionary there for 55 years without a furlough. Billy Graham has led more people to faith in Jesus Christ: arguably is the greatest evangelist of all time. Corrie Ten Boom a Christian Holocaust survivor who helped many Jews escape the Nazis during World War II. All at one point, saw themselves as a failure.I said God doesn’t give a clear specific direction very often… We have his standing orders in the word, but occasionally God does say, do this. I believe it happens. On once such occasion, He gave me just such direction. I had been fighting a lot of bad feelings. Married and divorced twice, I served a couple of church plants, but for one reason or another, I was no longer involved. I was attending and serving at Journey Church in Fort Smith Arkansas but was not really sure of the specific call God had upon my life. I had recently heard a favorite preacher (James MacDonald) speak on the radio about how you will know Christians by their fruits. The next words out of his mouth astonished me. "If you know a preacher who has been divorced… a couple of times...what does this kind of fruit say?" It crushed my spirit.With all the stuff I had been through over the past few years, its safe to say, I was feeling a little down. I had been seeking to follow God intently for years, facing trial after trial and what was the result? A twice broken home, A son that the last time I saw him three years ago, in court, he was wearing chains on his hands, ankles. Oh...at the time, I was also out of work. By every worldly account...I was a LOOO-OOOO-OOOOO-SER!I began to do some self evaluation. I didn’t like it. I wondered inwardly, “Lord, am I truly yours, or have I missed You?” Where was this promised fruit that comes from living the Christian life!!!? It was a challenge to fight feeling like Satan painted a big "L" on my forehead. The accuser of the brethren (Satan) was constantly chiding me that my life and ministry is fruitless. I know it's not true because of the Voice of Truth (Jesus) living within me as well encourages me. That doesn’t however mean it's not still a real battle.

I have to daily choose what voice to listen to. I had been waiting patiently and faithfully plodding along in this Christian life when I heard from God directly. It was like God spoke to me using the King James Bible, similar words He spoke to Abram in Genesis 12...."Get thee Hence... to where I will show you." Can't explain it...just somehow knew.... God meant for me to GO TO Oklahoma City. This was Monday night. I left Fort Smith Tuesday morning. I had no idea of where I was going, or who I was going to visit with but --- I was going! As we often do rather than quietly trust God, I tried to “figure God out.” It's funny looking back at all the ideas I had. I would come up with all of my preconceived notions and... just started talking to God. Who is she God....am I going to meet the girl of my dreams? Yeeh hah, Whoo Hoo! But God said no, Andrew...no... Seriously......no. Laff

I thought then God just wanted to get me alone with some windshield time. That was cool so I prayed more. Eventually I was just talking to Jesus about my son, WEEPING as I drove. Jesus spoke back. He reassured me, and calmed me a little, telling me that I entrusted Chris to HIS care. What more loving thing could a father do? I wasn’t really happy with that response but His voice calmed me down. As I drove my mind was still curious…. I called my pastor, "Pastor Rob….“Dude…God....like called....He called me to OKC... and...and.... I have no idea where I am going or what I am going to do! ........... Isn’t that exciting?” You might expect Rob just cocked an eyebrow and said, Well uhhh, yeah Andrew… exciting just isn’t the word I would use…crazy maybe…hello?” Thankfully that didn't happen. No He was excited for me too! Rob had no 'Rev’s from hev' about where to go or what to do... but he was excited! So I kept trying to reach a friend. I have a friend who is a pastor who had mentored me for years. Marty Brown…JUST SO HAPPENED.....Marty was now pastoring a church in OKC. However this day, Marty was in Turkey..... on a mission trip. I knew about another person. John Zumwalt and "Heart of God Ministries" which was near OKC but I did not know anyone there. I kept trying to call all morning.

I Finally get into OK City and reach someone at Heart of God ministries. But JUST SO HAPPENED…..I failed AGAIN…. I MADE IT TO TINKER AIR FORCE BASE AND found out I went too far! I had to turn my truck around and back track.For you people who know me, you know I am a rare hybrid. I am sort of a Hippie/Redneck. God restored my marriage this past year and my wife and I have 4 generations under one roof. We all live in one house...all hippie like....communal style.... with used cars up on blocks out in the backyard! There are a few of us still around, but very few. Thankfully. So when I pull up into the driveway of the ministry Campus, I see this guy in long dreadlocks hanging out of the open driver's side door. He is sitting in the driver’s seat of an 1980's beater Olds being pulled with a chain by a guy in a white Ford 4X4 pickup. My immediate thought was, "Wow God, if a Redneck pulling a HIPPIE with a chain is near to Your heart God… THIS IS THE PLACE FOR ME!" The "HOLY Spirit" couldn't have better confimed to my heart this is where HE was leading me by showing me that.So I got out and toured the campus and afterwards I took this young man (Jason) showing me around, to lunch. I liked Jason. We then went to a coffee shop (Joe's Addiction) that John Zumwalt and the local Vineyard fellowship runs. We had coffee and sat and worked a jigsaw puzzle…for two hours! The jigsaw puzzle was one of those National Geographic Magazine Cover puzzles, and this one was of the Sphinx in Egypt. I didn't know how significant that would be until later.

As Jason and I worked the puzzle, he quietly listened as I shared with him some of my feelings of failure. Disgust at being 40 and not having made a significant impact for the kingdom of God...etc... And as we worked away enjoying our coffee we discovered even the puzzle was jacked up! Oh man There were pieces missing so we couldn't even finish this work that was started. I couldn't believe God would have me drive all the way to OKC to work a jigsaw puzzle in a Christian coffee house! I kept this inside but I felt very impatient with God. Come on...GOD???? Finally, we decided to leave before we finished the puzzle to head back to the ministry campus. He started to slide the puzzle back in the box before we left. I told Jason, "No....Lets leave it right here for somebody else to finish later. -k?" At this point…I felt Him. The Holy Spirit and I had huge chill bumps. Why???? I had no idea what God was doing bringing me to OKC that day.Jason drove me back to get my truck. As I was saying good bye in the Heart of God "tech center" one of the guys had a live video feed from a pair of Missionaries in Cairo Egypt. The guy in Egypt I don't know who he was, heard I was from Fort Smith and asked if I knew a few people from the University of Arkansas in Fort Smith.'No man, that name doesn’t ring a bell. Nuh unh, I am not sure I know him either…oh it's a her. Sorry - My bad'. Then…he mentioned someone I knew. She was a young girl who was in a church group I once served with. That group folded months ago and no longer meets today. Presumably another ministry "failure." He then said, that’s my wife! She's in the kitchen making some chicken and dumplins. His voice faded in the distance from the mic as he went to her. “Hey baby? Come here…

I was astonished to see her. We spoke for just a few minutes. This girl, now graduated from college and married, IS on the front lines on the opposite side of the globe, serving Jesus in the mission field! Guess who was there to pray with her years before as she gave her heart to Jesus?As the phone call ended, I said my goodbyes and as I was walking to the truck, the Holy Spirit spoke to me…..Andrew....Fruit. And it pierced my soul. Fruit from my ministry! I got to my truck pulled out onto the highway and wept more. This time… with a grateful heart.I have spent my life in a local church…

I have always so wanted to be so much more than I am. I felt a call, and knew from an early age that "Jesus commands us to GO." I felt like a failure… I felt as if I made no real positive impact on anyone. I longed to REALLY serve Jesus “In Ministry”… I wanted to be a professional Christian. Yeah. Suprisingly I still do. The unfinished puzzle in the coffee shop that day was precisely what the Spirit called me to. It speaks volumes....Close your eyes… imagine that image. You are looking at a round glass top coffee table on a painted concrete floor in a sunlit room. Hold onto it for a moment? Take that in. What puzzle is on your table? As my daddy would often say when I was a kid...Only one life, and this too shall pass. Only What's done for Christ will last.I spent my Christian life....Disappointed in myself and my lack of achievement. It never occurred to me I had no reason to be disppointed. God wasn't... Why was I disappointed? What has been the global impact of your service in the local church? Who have you given food away to in the food pantry? Who’s dirty diaper did you change in the nursery? Who rode the bus you drove in the bus ministry? Who have you given a donut and a cup of coffee to?

I promise you. The heart of God IS for the nations. God tells us to GO… I get that. Jesus calls us to serve Him. It doesn't matter where you are on the planet, we are never commanded to sit and soak, but to serve as Christ served. This is so that every tribe tongue and nation will know Him and the power of His resurrection. There is no denying, this is God's plan from Genesis to Revelation.Going for you may well be to the opposite side of the planet……So what are you waiting for....Go to the ends of the earth proclaiming His love and making Him known!

Do not however forget that you grew in Christ.... somewhere. Someone caught the vision that they could make a global impact to reach the world for Jesus.... a few missionary kids are out there, but for the most part, we experienced God through the ministry of a local church, that was faithfully equipping and mobilizing the kingdom of God.

With enduring love for Jesus

Andrew

I have the body of a God...

2009-05-12T11:24:00.000-07:00

I have the body of a God...too bad it's Buddah's.

Today, I had the opportunity today to walk with my friend Pastor Dan Williams of Midland Heights United Methodist Church this morning. Dan and I have talked about for over a year getting together to walk, and we're finally comitted to doing it twice a week. I would hang with my pastor, Rob Williams of Journey Church (Dan's brother) but he likes to run. No bueno.... Not unless I am heading to a buffet, there isn't much chance of me running anywhere. I mean, why risk that? It would be extremely dangerous. Not just to me, but to you and to the whole of creation. Seriously. I remember my college physics professor said regarding Einstein's theory of relativity: mass increases as speed increases. If an object moves fast enough, when it reaches light speed, the object also achieves infinite mass. Well... lets just say I decided a long time ago, to stay well away from that. I am massive enough. I manage to keep myself in enough trouble without disrupting the whole time/space thing of the universe. I mean, me not exercising, it's my way of doing my part in saving the planet.

My wife loves to tell the story about a High School Camping trip a few years ago we took with my stepdaughter's Northside High School ROTC battalion. We stopped at a little town for dinner, and my wife and I, along with a few of the other chaperones, walked over to a Waffle House (aka: Awful Waffle, Waffle Hizzle) One of the parents, coincidentally, a small attractive young blonde single mother, (yeah) asked to sit with us. I replied, "Of course you can, can't she honey!" I do not recall much of the conversation, except that she was pleasantly suprised, because we were not at all what she expected. She was scared to speak to us because my size was "intimidating." Renee and I still laugh about that. Jesus was accused of being a glutton. That surely meant that he had a weight problem, since no one that you know of who was skinny was ever accused of being a glutton. Most of the gospel of John was written around a table. Also the family of Jesus (in Mark chapter 3) thought he had gone crazy because he was not eating his lunch. What did Jesus leave us to remember him by? Food! Bread and wine. Jesus became angry only a few times. One time was when he was hungry and a fig tree, though well leaved, did not yield any fruit. It made him angry enough to kill the tree. The Old Testament was also...filled with feasts They had at least one feast every month Three of those feasts lasted at least a week God set up the feast system. God commanded that the feasts be filled with joy. After the Resurrection, every time you see Jesus, what is he doing? Eating! Right after he appeared to the scared Apostles hidden in a room and told them not to fear, he asked them if they had anything to eat. Luke 24:41 And while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement, he asked them, "Do you have anything here to eat?" Luke 24:42 They gave him a piece of broiled fish, Luke 24:43 and he took it and ate it in their presence. Finally, the two men on the road to Emmaus did not even recognize Jesus until He sat down to eat. Then they said, "Now we know you." The Early Church had only a few constant habits--items that would readily identify them. Eating together was one of them. Acts 2:46 says, "Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts," How is Heaven going to begin? The Marriage Supper of the Lamb. In Revelation 3:20 Jesus said, "Behold I stand at the door and knock. If any man hear my voice I will come in to him and sup with him and he with me." Eating is one of those things, kind of like "Be fruitful and multiply." It's in the bible, but no one ever preaches about it...because no one has a problem doing it.

The truth is however, I am more than just chunky. I am morbidly-obese. I have never been too concerned about my weight. I personally don't care if I am fat...because....Man I'm pretty. What I am concerned with is my health. I am 41 years old, and facing a very short life expectancy unless something radical changes. I am comitted to doing whatever it takes to shed this flesh, not for my looks, but for my life.

I appreciate your prayers and would welcome your comments.

With enduring love in Christ

Andrew

<*)))><

It all begins with a risk....

2009-05-11T15:35:00.001-07:00

It all begins with a risk...

Those who venture into the Christian life, take their first steps into a great unknown. As you learn to trust, you learn to have an extreme confidence in the truth you are learning. An extreme confidence is often called faith. Developing faith is a never ending process this side of death. You dare to trust in the unseen, you find that trust was well placed and you develop more and more confidence to trust even more in the unseen.

It's a rough and tumble existence at times but for those who have walked this way a while know it is one that is worth it. What are you believing God for today? If you want to, feel free to share some comments or questions.

With the enduring love of Christ
Andrew

http://www.ilike.com/artist/Ten+Shekel+Shirt/track/Risk

Introductory Post

2009-05-10T14:01:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my blog, 'Dozer Work.'

I got the nickname "Dozer" from a little kid. Many years ago, the kids in the neighborhood called me Grover. All but one who's grandma lived next door to me. He was three with a lisp and could not say my name to save his life. Jeff Rogers would run out into the yard and hollar "Hey Dozer." Well that nickname stuck.

I grew up and pushed my way like a Dozer through some incredible obstacles that I won't bore you with. When I graduated High School I went to college majoring in Civil Engineering.... spent many years in a secular job, designing and engineering in related fields.

However that is not my passion. My passion is Jesus. Jesus said, "... if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."

Well, kick the tires and light the fires, Moving Mountains, sounds like just the kind of work for a Dozer.

In Christ

Andrew Perkins