Prepare for Irene!

This past weekend the country faced another massive storm named Hurricane Irene. The hurricane skipped Florida and South Carolina and hit North Carolina then made its way up the eastern seaboard. It impacted the Mid-atlantic states as well as the northeastern states. Although it dissipated to a tropical storm it caused major damages to alot of places in its path. Much like Katrina did but with a huge difference. That difference was that people prepared for it and many evacuated to get out of harm's way. Many people in Katrina's path refused to leave when told to and suffered as a result.

If there is one thing most of us know it is this, life is not without its ups and downs or its difficlut times. Everyone ever born has experienced all types of pains whether they are physical, emotional of physchological. One cannot get away from the fact that life has these moments that we each face. many of the circumstances we end up facing may not have anything to do us but the fact we are experiencing them. We did nothing to cause them yet we are being affected by them. In other cases, our suffering may be a direct cause of our own actions and choices. When we choose to play with fire and we get burned, we got burned becuase we played with fire. You can think of many examples by yourself so you do not need me to tell you all the possibilities. The fact is our choices always come with consequences no matter which ones we make. Those consequences can either be good or bad. The consequences will depend on what our choices are. If we choose wisely then good results. Choose poorly and the results will be bad. When someone faces a storm like Irene and neglect to heed the warnings, they can risk injury or death. Those who refuse to evacuate endanger themsevles as well as those who try to rescue them. When it comes to spiritual failures, we often do the same thing. We do not listen to God and do what we want and then find ourselves lost and confused. God knows what he wants to do in and through us so all we need to do is listen.

The Journey of Life- Part 2

Did you think I forgot my next Life's Journey blog? I didn't but I have been busy with some other things. Today's blog will take a look at people who start out bad and end up doing good. I am reminded of the story of Corrie Ten Boom and her encounter with a former Nazi guard at the concetration camp she and her sister were imprisoned in during the war. Her sister Betsy died while Corrie was miraculously released before she too would have been put to death. She met the guard at a service years later where she found out he had come to Christ and was now her brother in Christ.

The thing that amazes me so often is how someone who is heading down the path of destruction encounters God and their lives are changed so dramatically by this encounter. I think about the Apostle Paul who was a Jew's Jew and hated Christians. He thought he was doing God's will by trying to stamp the Church out. He was going to arrest the beleievers he found at Damascus but was waylaid on the way by God. He met the risen Savior and his life was changed. He did go to Damascus but not for the reason he set out for originaly. He was led blind to the city and God restored his sight and began to be used by God to preach the same message he had earlier tried to snuff out. Eventually he met the other apostles and was commissioned to go and preach the Gospel to the Gentiles. Paul no longer counted on his religious superiority and the law but on faith in a Living Savior. He was to face all types of difficulties and trials and eventually death for his faith. He wrote most of the New Testament and he impacted the world through his life. Had he not had an encounter with Christ, he would have just been another Jew who passed into eternity never amounting to anything. He started off bad but ended up doing good.

Corrie Ten Boom was confronted by her former prison guard and struggled to forgive when he asked for her forgiveness. She told God that she couldn't forgive him and He said that only through Him could she do it. She embraced that guard and gave him her forgiveness. You see the guard was evil yet his life too was changed much like Paul's. So if you are one of these folks strruggling to do right, don't think God can't change you. He can but only if you let Him do the changing from the inside out!

The Journey of Life-

The Finality of Life?

I will finish my three part series on the journey of life but today I wanted to share about the passing of a coworker and friend Denis Dumm. Denis went on a real vacation for the first time in five years and died as a result of a swimming accident. Tuesday we closed the office and went to his funeral. The office will never be the same because of his passing. Things are quiet now and his voice calling out for someone will never be heard again except in our memories. We were so vivdly reminded that death is a part of life for each of us. Our friend is gone but our lives continue on until it is our time to step from this life into eternity. But death is not the end for us only the start of the next chapter. Death is not the final arrival point for any of us.

You see when God created us (and if you read this and don't believe in God or creation you will find out when you step out from this life that it is true) He created us as eternal beings with a soul that will live on after our bodies cease to function. Our bodies are only tents as the Apostle Paul tells us that we live in here while on earth. The body will break down and age and finally stop working one day unless the Lord comes back for His followers. He made us spiritual beings that were created to serve and worship Him and to have fellowship with Him. The problem is that when Adam sinned, he messed up God's plan for mankind. He designed us to live forever with Him. Death was not to be our destiny but eternal life with our God was. When sinned entered this world, death became a part of our future. Sin always leads to death and separation from God. Many people fail to undertand that when we leave this earth through death we do not cease to exist but our spirits live on. Some live on to experience the joy of God's presence in Heaven while many others go into a Christless eternity and punishment. God knew Adam would mess up and that we too would fail Him. But He provided the Lamb whose blood would take away our sin and give us life if we only accept it. God loves each of us so much and wants noone to perish but that all would come to repentance and eternal life. Christ defeated death and the grave and in Him we too can do the same. We may die before He returns but the death and the grave cannot hold us because we serve a risen Saviour!

My hope is that one day I will see my friend Denis again when I make my own exit from this life either through death or the Rapture. I hope, no I pray, that those people I touch with my life will see Christ in me and desire to be with Him for all eternity. Denis is gone but his spirit will always live on not just in our hearts but in God's presence. You know I have to ask. Where will you spend eternity? Remember that death is not the end only the start of the next chapter of life.

The Journey of Life - Part 1

Lately I have been reminded about life's fragility and that we are never certain as to when ours will end. Our pastor said that the dash between our date of birth and date of death represents our life. It symbolizes the journey which we have taken while here on this earth. It is the dash I want to look at here and look at three different types of people on that journey. The three types are those who start out good and finish bad, those who start out bad but finish good and lastly those who start out good and finish good. This blog is about those who start out good but finish badly. A good example of that type is King Solomon.

King Solomon was born to David and Bathsheba and became king after David. He was asked by God what he wanted God to do for him when he became king . He didn't ask for wealth, fame or power but he desired to have the wisdom to rule Israel well. God was pleased with his request. He not only gave him the wisdom he sought but He also gave Solomon wealth and fame along with power. Solomon started out great recognizing his need for God to rule. But something happened to Solomon as he went along. He began to marry foreign women as a way to establish connections and peace with these lands. They began to influence him and draw his heart away from God. He built places for them to worship their gods and even joined in. His heart was no longer pure before God. There are many folks who start out in life knowing God but turn away and begin to seek the things of the world. They no longer care about the things of God. They end up losing out on eternity because of their choices. God has some great blessings for us both here and in eternity only if we stay true to Him. Jesus tells us that He is the vine and we are the branches and we must abide in Him if we want to live and grow. When we cut ourselves loose from Jesus we will die. Spiritual death is what we are born into because of sin but God makes a way to prevent that. So when we are no longer in the vine we are cast out and ready to be burned. God loves each of so much and desires us to be with Him forever and not seperated for all eternity.

My simple question to us is this? Have we started out good with God and are we still good or have we left things of this world to take our eyes and our hearts off of God? If so, God is still there waiting for you to come back to Him and get back on the right path. Don't wait til its too late!

When All You Can Do is Pray!

This has been a tough week since last Thursday for me. I have an abcessed tooth causing me great pain and making me feel sick and feverish. Then On Saturday I learned A brother in Christ passed away from cancer very suddenly. Yesterday I sat in the conference room at work and learned a friend and coworker drowned while on vacation last week. They were able to get his heart going but since then have found he has no brain function. His wife has the difficult decision to take him off life support after the family has had a chance to see him. I feel overwhelmed right now. I thought to myself that I cannot do anything but pray. Then I realized that once again I felt God reminding me that He has called us to do just that. We cannot change anything ourselves but through prayer and faith He can.

How many times have you felt like me this week? You feel weak and helpless when things happen. You want to be able to reach out to someone who is hurting and do something to make it better but there is only one problem. You can't! You can sympathize with the person hurting and in some cases you might even be able to empathize with them. What's the difference between sympathy and empathy? Simple! You can sympathize with another but you can only empathize with them when you yourself have been there where they are now. You know the pain and the hurt and all the emotions that go along with it. You have been in their shoes. But still you can do nothing to change what has occurred. We often say 'Look, all I can do is pray for you!". Prayer is the greatest thing any of us can do for someone else. Why? Because when we commit the situation into God's hands, He is the only one who can bring healing and comfort to the person facing the heartache and hurt. I love to hear some older folks say I may be too old to do anything else but I can still pray! God can and does bring beauty for ashes so why not let Him have control of everything we ever face?

when things happen to you or a close friend or loved one, remember that you really can't do much to change the situation but you can the best thing! You can pray and commit it to God! He still sits on the throne and He is still sovereign. Prayer isn't the only thing we can do, it is the greatest thing we can do for each other!

Getting Reconnected

Yesterday our pastor spoke on the topic of being connected and talked about getting face to face with God and other people. He discussed the program of Facebook and how millions of people are now a part of Facebook all over the world. Many people are now using this forum to interact with others rather than doing it one on one in person. Many folks have become addicted to Facebook and seem to live on it. I don't spend much time on it so I get this message from Facebook every once and a while that they notice I have not been connected lately. I was thinking how many others have not been been connected with God but so tied up and preoccupied with so many other things.

The sad part is that it isn't only the unbeleivers that are not spending time to connect with God. Many beleivers are spending their time doing other things than taking time to spend some alone time with God each day. We get so busy doing things for God we forget about God. I have been guilty of that from time to time with my schedule. It is not that what I am doing is wrong or unimportant. On the contrary! Sometimes ministry gets so hetic but we are doing ministry and we fail to take the time to be alone with the Father. We need to remember that nothing is as important to us as spending some quality time with God so He can speak into our lives. We lose our spiritual edge and strength when we fail to have this time with Him because we then depend on our own strength and not His only. Most times we are blinded to that fact. The enemy loves to see our devotional life quietly disappear. The enemy doesn't try to turn us around in one quick attack. He turns us slowly from where God wants us to go. It is much like the proverbial frog in the boiling water. You stick a frog in water that is already boiling he will jump out quickly because he knows it isn't good to be in that water. Oh but put him in cold water and slowly start to bring it to a boil and before he knows what is happening he has been boiled to death. Satan loves to get us just a little at a time then goes in for the kill. The only way to prevent that is top stay strong in the Lord and that happens by abiding in Him!

Facebook keeps a track of how often someone gets on and will often do as they do with me and send me a message to reconnect on the forum. God wants us to reconnect with Him not just once and a while like I do on Facebook but every day. Besides, there have been days I have been blessed beyond measure because I have even though my schedule was full. God is waiting for each of us to reconnect Him. How long has it been since you have reconnected with God?