Comforts in The Storms

During the last few months we have been going through many different circumstances that many would consider stressful. There are times right now that we do not know if our church will be able to support us from one month to the next, and that has indeed been stressful.

The one thing about all of this is that it has certainly made us look to God for the answers. I know that all of my life I have wanted to seek out the answers myself. I have wanted to figure out the problem. I have wanted to come up with the solution. The real problem with all of this is “I”.

I have had the chance to preach a few times over the last few weeks since I have last blogged, and each time there has been something in the message that has been for me ( I really think that is how it should be for a preacher. The message should have worked on his heart first).

Last night I preached to a group of about 25 adults at a small bible college chapel service. I preached out of Matthew 14:22-33. This is the time just after Jesus has fed the multitude, and he has sent the disciples away in the ship. He then goes into the mountain alone to pray. (This passage is so full of things that we need to learn)

There were five things in the passage that the disciples needed (that I need) to know:

1) He brought me here. (verse 22)  The Bible tells us that Jesus “constrained” (compelled) the disciples to go. He wanted them to be in the middle of the sea. He knew a storm was coming, and that is exactly where he wanted them.        He knows when storms are coming in our lives, but He keeps us there because He wants us there. There is a purpose for it.

2) He is praying for me. (verse 23) Jesus went into the mountains to pray. He is our intercessor. Hebrews 4:14-16 and Romans 8:34 tell us that he is interceding on our behalf. God became man so that he could perfectly identify with our struggles, so that he could know how to intercede for us. (Look up sometime the story of Dr. Evan Kane — He performed the first appendectomy done under local anesthesia. He performed it on himself to prove it was safe)

3) He will come to me. (verse 24 & 26)  — Also see Mark 6:48. Jesus saw the disciples toiling in their rowing, but He did not come to them immediately!!!!!  WHY!?!?!?! They were not ready for what they needed to learn. He came to them at the darkest hour (4th watch — 3 a.m.) and on walking on what they were most afraid of — the water.  He came when they truly needed Him and were ready to learn from Him.

4) He will help me grow. (verses 28 & 29)  When Jesus said to Peter, “Come,” Peter had every right to expect Jesus to take care of him. Peter’s faith grew beyond measure at that moment when he walked on water. Many people want to look only at the fact that Peter fell, but he walked on water. When he fell he had one simple prayer, “Lord, save me!” And Jesus did. That is what He wants from us. That simple active faith that Peter had. Faith that is doing something.

5) He will see me through. What happened when our Lord stepped into the boat? The storm ended. It had accomplished it’s purpose and it was over. The storms in our life are only temporary. They may feel like they will never end. They might bring horrible pain and tumult to our lives, but they do end. They end when they have accomplished their purpose.

You are either going through a storm, just got through a storm, or are just about to face one. There is comfort in the storms of our lives. That comfort is Jesus Christ. Have an intimate and active faith and He will see you through the storm. Let it accomplish it’s purpose .

The storms in life cause us to appreciate the calm in life that much more!

Friends

This has been a topic that has meant a lot to me over the last few weeks, but especially the last few days.

Last week we started a new section of study with our youth group at church and the topic is Friendship. The Bible has a lot to say about friends, and the examples are there that we should surround ourselves with friends.  Proverbs 11:14 and 24:6 tell us  “… In the multitude of counselors there is safety.” (The NASB says there is victory).

There are so many more reasons than safety/victory to surround ourselves with friends. The last time I posted, God had used a friend to bless our family by saving us a ton of money.  What a blessing this man was to us.

A few days ago while sitting in my office a close and “old” friend started texting with me. We had not communicated for awhile, and while the conversation was a lot of “trash talk” — we always had a lot of fun at each other’s expense– it led to me laughing my head off in my office, and having a hard time explaining to others in the building why I would be sitting in my office alone acting like I was ready to be locked in a padded room. Memories of things we had done together and ways we had ministered together came flooding back and blessed my soul again. He and I may not see eye to eye about a lot of things, but we encourage and lift each other up before God.

Last Saturday we had just planned on sitting around the house, maybe doing a little house cleaning, but not much else. Jenn Got a call in the morning asking us to go out on a boat for the evening. Some people from our church were going out and thought maybe we would like to join them — um yeah , maybe — Can you believe it, she did not even check with me first!?!?!  What a wonderful blessing and time of fellowship we had. Other than running out of gas just 100 yards short of the dock, it was perfect — even that was alright. It was all pretty humorous in fact. Now I just have to get Jenn over the desire to live near a lake and own a boat (when she lets me get a motorcycle she can get a boat:)).

Even Sunday night after church we had another chance for fellowship with some dear friends. We put the kids at one table (we are still second guessing ourselves on this one) and had an “adult” table where we could just have some good conversation and fellowship. What a blessing!!

All that to say that we need to have friends around us. The examples are there all through the Bible. Moses had his Aaron and Joshua. David had his Jonathan. Elijah had his Elisha. Even Jesus had his twelve disciples, and from those he had three special men (Peter, James and John) that were his close friends.

One thing we have to remember about friendship is that it comes with responsibility. The Bible says in Proverbs 17:17 “A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.”  Proverbs 27:6 says, “Faithful are the wounds of a friend…”   Sometimes it is not easy to be a friend. We have to carry a friend through some rough patches, love them when they are really tough to love (thank you to those friends who have done that for me) and sometimes “wound” them.

Thank you God for the friends that you have brought into my life. Faithful friends that love me through it all, that “wound” me when it’s needed, and most of all are just there for the encouragement that each of us so desperately need but will never ask for. Help me to be the kind of friend that I should be.

Why Do We Worry?

Two nights ago at nearly midnight my wife woke me up to tell me the air conditioner was not working.  Of course, my response was exactly what it should have been: “Of course the AC is not broken, it has just cycled off. Don’t borrow trouble, and let me go back to sleep!”

Of course, I was wrong and the AC was down, and after late night calls to my father and trekking outside to check the AC unit we believed the whole thing was shot. This would not be cheap! This would definitely cramp a lot of things (specifically our bank account).

We had some choices to make — 1) worry about it or 2) trust God to take care of it. Well of course we chose number two!!!!!  BUT only after we had cycled through number one.

When I went back to bed to try and get some sleep God reminded of me what I have been trying to teach my children all their lives, what I have especially been teaching the teens at church the last few months, and what I have been “preaching” to anybody else who will listen –  It is all HIS!!! I do not need to worry about any of it!!!

When we got up in the morning and started calling some people to get recommendations on men to fix the AC a man in our church said he recommended himself. I was shocked, because I did not know he did AC work.

First blessing — It was going to be less expensive, because he was not going to charge me for things I did not need or for labor that did not need to be done.

Second blessing — He was at our house an hour later (this may not seem like a big deal, but in the Georgia heat waiting on AC repair can sometimes take a few days, because of the numbers of people needing help).

Third blessing — When he checked the AC unit out it all boiled down to one small part that only cost $6.17. What could have been something that may have cost over a thousand dollars ended up costing only $6.17.  At the very minimum, just to have a service man come from a regular place would have cost us $100 at least. This good man would not even let us pay for his time or the gas that he spent to get to our house or to go get the part. (there is even a humorous side to some of the things that happened while fixing the AC unit, but I will spare everyone involved the embarrassment)

All of that to say, why did we worry in the first place? God knew what was going on. He was in control.

Jeremiah 29:11 says “For I know the thoughts that I think towards you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an unexpected end.”

God knows the end. We may not, and most of the time we are not supposed to know the end. It is kind of like when we are trying to surprise our children. They may know something is coming, and they may want to know what it is, but they are not supposed to know until it happens. We may think the journey will be better if we know what the end is, but looking back on it we realize that the expectation of the unknown made the journey that much better.

Where Has The Time Gone!?!?!

I can see from the beginning that I never really hit the boloshphere running.

I intended to write something worthwhile and memorable many different times, but just never got around to it. Such is life.

Now I find myself sitting at my desk with a few minutes, so I thought I would write something here (since it has been well over four years since I started and posted to this blog), but I find myself at a loss for something to say. I know that any person who knows me is in utter shock and dis-belief over this.

I do want to start using this blog as a way of keeping track of what God has been doing in my life, what He has been doing in my families life, and what He has been doing in my churches life. Because, contrary to what many people in this world believe (whether by their words or actions), God is alive and at work in our lives today. We do not give Him the credit He deserves, but we are sure to give Hime the blame He does not deserve when things do not go our way.

The only verse I can think of to put on this blog today is a verse that is always with me. Psalm 46:10 “Be still and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.”  We (I) need to “be still” — literally translated — let go — and know that He is God.  A truth we would all be better off getting ahold of and making a part of our lives .

Well, I’ve wasted enough of every ones time. Stay Tuned to this station for another exciting episode hopefully sonner than four years from now.

Are We Where We Need To Be?

Just recently I have been doing a lot of thinking about why I am in the place I am (not specifically Stockbridge, Georgia)

It seems that a lot of people that I know or know of have really made big names for themselves in the realm of fundamentalism. It also seems that they have compromised themselves in ways that I never would have expected.

I began feeling sorry for myself, because here I am in a small ministry, and not many people know where we are. I am doing my best to be in God’s will, but it seems like I can never get ahead. This was all just a bunch of self-pity– in essence it was just garbage.

It took my dear wife to remind me that if we are doing God’s will, then we do not need to “get ahead in life”, and besides our reward is not here it is in heaven. (THANKS JENN!)

When we go about seeking our own here on earth we might get the rewards, but it detracts from our heavenly reward when we finally get to see Jesus face to face. As nice as I think that it might be to get some of that recognition and reward here on earth, it would not even begin to compare to what is waiting for us.

So, for now let’s just be content with what we have. The apostle Paul has always been my hero form the Bible, and he tells us in Philippians 4 that we need to be content in any position that God sees fit for us to be in. Paul new what it was to be in high positions, and he new what it was to be brought down. He also knew the secret, and that was to be CONTENT. When we are content then God can work through us on a higher level.

I want to hear that “well done” from my Lord so much more than I want to hear it from anyone here on earth.

Forgive my ramblings. These are just some thoughts that I was working through, and because of the blessings of a wonderful wife I have been able to find some answers.

My Welcome To The World of Blogging

I guess that it is about time that I finally got into the 21st century. The world of blogging has finally caught up to me, and I hope that I can keep up with it.  Since this is my first blog ever, I will keep it short, but I would like to say to anyone that reads this, “WELCOME!”