DAD'S GREATEST BLESSING.

Well, Henry Blackaby says in his experiencing God that there are moments that are true turning points or defining point in our life with Christ. This weekend I experience something that every father should want in the short existence in this world. You know dads want to be able to know that things for his children are OK. I mean really OK, not just OK.

Saturday, #2 daughter, her mom, and I went to see a musical drama presented by First Baptist Church Florence which just happened to be directed by my boy and which my #1 daughter was participating in by singing with the choir. The title was "Bow the Knee". Now I've seen this before several times but My boy added some stuff and it turned me out!!! What a blessing!!!! So proud of him and his.

But that's not that magical moment. That came about 15 minutes before the end. It occurred during a very moving song. Yep, brought me to the wet eye stage and I was not alone. I might as well have been alone because I had no awareness of any one but the person next to me, #2 daughter. Yep, she was crying and raising her hands in worship as many others were, I guess. I at that moment caught a feeling I've never had before. I was worshiping Christ with my daughter and she was worshiping Christ with me and nobody was expecting her to. She was worshiping because of her relationship with God and not her relationship with her dad. Then something else happened, I saw daughter # 1 in the choir. Her face was radiant and I could till that she was worshiping the same God that we were and it wasn't because either of us were worshiping but because her heart was filled with love for Christ and her voice was proclaiming His glory.

OK, this is where the moment comes in... get ready. I realized that I was standing in the wet eye stage worshiping the God of all creation and my girls were OK. They were OK because of their relationships with Christ the risen savior. THEY WERE OK! AND WOULD BE OK FOR EVER!!

Every dad should be able to have that moment in their life, you know to know that his children are OK. I'm not going any where so I'll take care of them as long as I'm able, but their mom and I know they will always have the LORD God to take care of them.

WOW! WHAT A FEELING. WOW!

Nothing but fear itself.

Churchill or Roosevelt? Do you know who said that and Why?

We all face challenges in life, all of us no matter who we are. Those that think they are "hard" and don't are liars and will probably be a failure if not already experience failure. I've learned that the best way to overcome fear is to gain in knowledge. Example, snakes, oh yea, it's in your head now right. Most folk I know fear the little crawly things. I took a young friend from my church to scout out a location for a little retreat one spring. As we walked back to the car with thoughts in our heads of this beautiful little creek area and the potential for a great experience for our youth my friend froze in his tracks. I was right beside him in a some what safer spot in this world. Right in front of his right foot was a small rattle snake. The warm weather had brought this little guy out. I guess it was a reflex but I pull the blade from the sabut on my back. I usually carried a large blade with me any time I was in the woods. I quickly dismissed the rattler from this world. Not much to me but I thought I was going to get a bar and prior my friend loose and to this day he claims I saved his life. Needless to say he walked slower and more cautious the remainder of the trail back. I recognized the snake but knew there wasn't much danger because of the time of year and the weather. Sure danger was present, a snake that is very poisonous, but my KNOWLEDGE of snakes gave me an edge.

Lots of things we face are like snakes, they cast fear into us, they paralyze us, they keep us from getting to where we need to be. To overcome those fears we have to learn about them, gain knowledge about them. How does that happen? YOU GOT ME!

Not really, just kidding. You read, study, experience, and ask those who have read, studied, and experienced that fear of . It not an age thing either. Young or old, we all face fears.

When I was a youngun I was afraid of the dark. I guess that was because I saw a ghost in my hall one night. Really, no joke. Thank God for those covers on my bed that protected me that night. I'm not afraid of the dark any more but I still respect it because it covers up a lot of dangerous things like the edge of the coffee table. I remember when my first daughter was very young and fell out of her bed. She "sounded her alarm" and I ran to her room which was across the entire house. Full speed sprint, leaving her mother in my dust. Now as you know I'm not a little person but I didn't touch one thing on the way. Not the couch, not a table, lamp, door, heck I'm not sure I touched the carpet. My experience at moving through the house so many times lead me that night. My mind knew what was where and I was not. Boo-ya! I impress myself sometimes.

Anyway the title, "nothing but fear itself", is from Roosevelt and relates the the big war, WWII. The war my dad was in, the one that my uncle died in, the war to end all wars. He used it to address our nation. To encourage America because he knew tough times were ahead. People were going to die, sacrifces were going to have to be made by most if not all. The fears that would come could be overcome because of what we were. A great nation with a great heritage that stood for things that were right and just.

Another man said this "fear not for I have overcome, defeated, smashed and 'busted up' this world". He also said "in this world you, my children, will experience trials and fears and doubts but remember, always remember, I have overcome, defeated, smashed, and 'busted up' this world and will always be here with you." (Walden paraphrase) That guy is my father. I am a child of the KING, the CREATOR, the SUPPLIER, the MOST HIGH GOD, The LORD JESUS CHRIST. And that a good thing.

WOW! Glory to God

Say No Once... it will make a difference.

I hate it when people ask me to donate to their cause or buy something for their kids fund raiser, I HATE IT. OK, I feel a little guilty but it really adds up when you have 30 plus staff members and they all have kids or grand kid. II really hate it when the boss ask you for something. It's like they really say, "I'm the boss so come up with the cash." More that a few years ago I decided to say NO and let folk talk about me and talk about me they did, like a "dawg." It was like I had an abundance of money to give away. I made a pledge that I would not ask them for any money if they did not ask me. The word kinda gets out and you don't have the constant digging at you. I'd say "just say NO to fund raisers." Most people respect that. OK, I know what you are saying and no I don't have my first penny, but I will go to the trouble to pick one up. God has blessed me with great abundance and allows me to help finance a lot of causes. See Libby, the most wonderful wife on earth, and I tithe our funds to our church with the trust that those funds go to the right things. Based on what our church does for many, it is money well spent. We don't have to give to the church but we do because we feel it is right. The church is God's organization. If we didn't tithe we wouldn't go to hell or something like that but we tithe because Christ loves us and we honor that love with our giving. We don't boast about our giving but we have given more every year we have been married that the year before. That's with two daughters to take care and send to college too. Why if we didn't tithe I'd have a boat, a big motorcycle, a recumbent trike, and a bunch of other stuff. We give and the amount is not important. What lives in our heart governs what we spend our money on or where we spend our time or... i think you get the idea. Any way I don't put a lot into fund raisers but I do put a lot of what God provides into other sources. That's how they provides for a lot of people.

Radical dreams or Radical living.

"Radical dreams make us radically dependent. When we are engaged in what God has called us to do, every part of our spiritual life comes alive. There's a reason to grow, we have a compelling reason to pray, to stay in close contact with our Leader and Guide when we walk unfamiliar, threatening paths. There's a strong drive for fellowship, allies, and friends, close at hand because what God calls us to do we can't do alone. There's an undeniable need for worship, a clear vision of who God is and His commitment to meet our every need as we walk with Him into the future. Dreams make us aware of resources. We discover resources we may not have known we had." When we find our "true north", the "stirring of God", the “desire of our heart,” our "why", our "truest desire and created intension" our spiritual life comes alive. We become very needy in an exciting way. I have heard some say that only going to God when you need Him is self-centered and immature. But, the core issue is not the frequency of going to God, rather our frequency of needing God. Too many of us live God-less lives, lives that do not require God in any way. That kind of life makes Him optional. There are two types of lives: a dull, mundane life and a transcendent special life. These two types of lives have nothing to do with the family we where brought into, nor the education we received, nor the situation we find our self in. It has to do with the story we believe is going on around us. When we refer to life as being mundane we see it as being ordinary and meaningless. The word mundane means worldly, common, unimaginative and in a way, all of life can seem like that. After all, what have we done or are we doing that has not been done before? Transcendent or special means "going beyond ordinary limits; beyond the ordinary range of perception." In other words, there is more going on than we pick up on and our actions are more meaningful, more important than we understand at the moment. Having the perception that your life is mundane will kill you; it will dull your heart. We will be counted among those that Jesus described, "You will keep on hearing, but will not understand; You will keep on seeing, but will not perceive; For the heart of this people has become dull." (Matt. 13:14, 15) On the other hand, we will not lose heart if "we do not look for things that can be seen but for things that cannot be seen. For things that can be seen are temporary, but things that cannot be seen are eternal." 2 Cor. 4:18 (ISV) There is nothing like perceiving the important realities of your life and understanding that the glory of your life goes beyond ordinary limits. Every action in your life has an effect on everything else, an effect on things unseen. This is why the daily consecration of our life is essential. Consecration means to set something apart for divine purposes. In other words, we declare that everything we do this day, every decision we make, every action we take, every conversation we have, every thought we think, everything we offer is solely for the purpose of God. This is a life of transcendence, a special life. When we live this way we have taken the first step in discovering and understanding our calling, our unique glory, our place in The Story. Then we joyfully and unapologetically go to God throughout the day because we need and want Him. "There's a reason to grow, we have a compelling reason to pray, to stay in close contact with our Leader and Guide when we walk unfamiliar, threatening paths." "There's a strong drive for fellowship, allies, and friends, close at hand, because what God calls us to do we can't do alone." "There's an undeniable need for worship, a clear vision of who God is and His commitment to meet our every need as we walk with Him into the future." And He meets those every needs because He loves you.

IT'S A NEW DAY, BUT...

IT IS A NEW DAY BUT... IT'S THE SAME SONG!


Got to school today feeling pretty good, knowing that I would have a Divine appointment some time during the day. Little did I know the divine appointment was to be "me" meeting with me about Him.

You know God will not give you more than you can take but I had a coach tell me "you gonna feel like dying, you gonna want to die but before you die your body will just quit. Then I'll fix you and you can move on, so don't worry about dying, you got me."

It is so important to KNOW who you are. Who you are in the eyes of God and those you love. Today I had an encounter with several folk that "weren't feeling me." They didn't see me as a child of God who was bought with a sacrifice of a loving Son, they didn't see me as a loving father that would give all for his family, they didn't see me as a person who would rather serve others that be served, they didn't see me because they are blind to the good things in life by the evil things and sin.

My heart hurt for them, but there is nothing I can do to open their eyes. I was not alone. I had my Jesus with me. He tells me that "I'll never leave you..." He was there and His Spirit gave me the peace, kindness, and patience I needed. Oh yea, He was there!

It's a new day but the same song just a difference verse for many. I pray God will give those I dealt with today sight, but those folk "gots to want it" first. I also pray that God give those of us that love Him better sight so we can help the blind.

Opportunity Knocks or Falls Out

WOW! as Jerry Clower would say "look for it."

Going to see my baby in B'Ham today and cut school to sleep and get ready. Decided to go ahead and get tires although i really didn't need them on the front. See I'm a cheap, Back a while I needed two tires so i went to a junk yard and got them for $80 bucks. Good tires, good deal but now I needed tow more so I decided to put 4 on since there was a sale. Sale was so much of a sale but got them anyway. The tire place is just up from the barber shop so I called "Candy" and she could see me to I walked down for a cut. Two birds with one rock, right? I had no idea. You see 2 days ago while taking I was showering and getting ready for work I discovered I was thinking hard about what i would be doing at word. Well, that's not a bad thing but while listening to the gospel music I suddenly said to my self, "self this is not the time for pining about work, let's worship!" So i began to sing along with the gospel tune and the day began as it should. I was able to share with some folk at work and yesterday one of those people came to me and said that she thought about what i HAD SAID AND SHE DID THAT FOR YESTERDAY! WOW!

OK, OK, anyway I go to get my hair cut. Cindy is a real cutie, sweetie blonde girl who does a great job and REMEMBERS MY NAME! I get there and she gets started and we are talking and she says she hasn't had breakfast and only ate her vitamins today. Then she says she doesn't feel good and you guessed it, she starts to pass out. So I take care of her. NOBODY ELSE DID A THING! NOT ONE OF HER CO-WORKERS EVEN MOVED! She felt better and wanted to continue and reluctantly I said OK. You guess it near passing out again and I put her in the chair to lean back. Time she agreed to just sit there and i took the bib off and walked over to the Walgreens and bought her some cookies and a muffin. Brought the stuff back and made her eat something. She was most grateful and i was prepared to go "as is". See i can cut my own hair, it's just Libby doesn't like it when I do. So she gets to feeling better and says "please let me finish, I only have a little to do and i feel better." So I let her. She did OK. I had to pay her with quarters! She didn't want for me to pay but the help and concern for her was free and special to me. She was most appreciative and said you're a good Daddy. NOW I'M NOT HER DADDY AND DON'T READ ANYTHING INTO THAT BUT THAT IS ONE GREAT COMPLEMENT.
I didn't know when I started out today that I would have the opportunity to be a servant of God, to show His love and caring for others.

I didn't know that there would be an "opportunity" but I was ready. I thank God today that for giving me the opportunity and letting me be aware of it.

GO GOD!

Ifida Only Done IT Dfferently

Ifida Only Done It Differently

I don't know about you but I hope I don't look back on my life an say I could have done so much more. That's when you meet that woman, "Ifida Only". Ifida has kept many a man from reaching their potential.

This is a devotion message that I sent out today. It is very strong . "Those of you with ears let ye hear" (Walden Paraphrase).

So be careful how you live, not as fools but as those who are wise. Make the most of every opportunity for doing good in these evil days. Don’t act thoughtlessly, but try to understand what the Lord wants you to do. Ephesians 5:15-17

We all have the same amount of time, 168 hours a week. The only question is, “How am I investing it?” We want to learn to invest it wisely so that we won’t be like the man in Isaiah 49:4, who said, “I have used up my strength but have accomplished nothing”.

Ephesians 5:15-17 offers three steps to understanding how to manage your time better:
1. Analyze my lifestyle. “So pay close attention to how you live. Don’t live like ignorant people, but like wise people” (Ephesians 5:15). Be aware of time robbers. Don’t say, “I wonder where all my time went!” Carefully evaluate your schedule and seriously consider how you live.
In order to save time, you must first know how you lose it. Sit down and make a time log: “How did I spend last week?” Or, over the next seven days, keep a record of how you spend your hours. Where does your time go? Just by keeping a record, you’ll use your time better.

2. Utilize the present. “Make the most of every chance you get” (Ephesians 5:16). The best time to manage your time is right now – not tomorrow, not next week, not next year. Now!
Proverbs 27:1 says, “Never boast about tomorrow. You don’t know what will happen between now and then” .
How do you make the most of the present?
· Do it now. If you had a bank account and I were to tell you that every morning someone was going to put in $86,400 into that bank account, that you could spend it any way you wanted to, but at the end of that day, whatever money you hadn’t spent from the account would be lost, do you think you’d try to spend it? Or do you think you’d let it go to waste? Guess what? You have 86,400 seconds every day! Utilize the present by doing it now.
· Eliminate time wasters. “I may do anything, but everything is not useful . . . [or] constructive” (1 Corinthians 10:23 PH). The apostle Paul is saying that many things in life are not necessarily wrong, but they’re also not necessary. You’ve got to eliminate the time wasters. It’s amazing how creative we get when we have a job to do that we don’t want to do.

3. Prioritize what’s important. “Don’t act thoughtlessly but try to understand what the Lord wants you to do” (Ephesians 5:17). When you talk about time management, you’ve got to do what God wants you to do. You have just enough time to do God’s will. If you do not have enough time right now, it means one of several things is going on:
· You’re doing something God never intended for you to do.
· You’re not doing what God intended you to do.
· You’re doing the right thing in the wrong way.God would not give you a purpose in life and then not give you the time to do it.

So if you don’t have enough time to do everything you need to do, it means God didn’t expect you to do it all.

TOP TEN PREDICTIONS NO MATTER WHO WINS THE RACE

Top 10 Predictions No Matter Who Wins the Election

1. The Bible will still have all the answers.

2. Prayer will still work.

3. The Holy Spirit will still move.

4. God will still inhabit the praises of His people.

5. There will still be God-anointed preaching.

6. There will still be singing of praise to God.

7. God will still pour out blessings upon His people.

8. There will still be room at the Cross.

9. Jesus will still love you.

10. Jesus will still save the lost when they come to Him.

God approves this message!