Movies,Telephone Poles and Football

You may be wondering about this article's title and how these three things are related. Here's the answer. They all came from the Lord. Yep! Everything good and wonderful comes from Him. Why do we love movies so much? Well, maybe it's because we all love a good story. The whole idea of story telling originated a long time ago. Jesus loved to tell stories. He taught with stories and parables. He lived a storied life and so do we. Life is our story. Movies are a by-product of the image of God that is deeply imprinted in every human being. Every person from every culture loves a good story. Movies are just a hi-tech way of telling a story and it all started with God.

Telephone poles were built to carry lines of wires for miles and miles so that we could communicate with each other from a distance. Our desire to communicate is from God. We love friendship and family and there is an inbred need to communicate with them. Telephone poles are another by-product of the creativity given to us by the Lord to keep us in close contact. We think that we have done all this and on the practical side that might be true but the driving force behind our desire to communicate is the Lord.

Football is not important to the Lord but the relationships and teamwork that is displayed in this sport came from God. I'm sure that God is more excited about the players encouraging each other and building strong relational commitments. The binding together of love and commitment are deep from the heart of God.

As you can see in these few examples, all that we have built and created that is good came from the motivations and talents that God gave to us. He wanted our talents and abilities to reflect things that were important to Him. Stories,communication and commitment in relationships are all important to God and so movies,telephone poles, and football are all a result of the goodness of God.

Thank You Lord!

Times,Seasons,Eternity

I remember in my youth that I always seemed to have an eye for the future. I had the sense that I was preparing myself for something that would inevitably blossom much further down the road. In my middle years there was time to reflect on the past and at the same time future goals were still there to be had. As I enter my senior years I begin to feel a squeeze on what's ahead. My mother is approaching 90 years old and her conversations pretty much revolve around the years that have passed and that is understandable. Time on this side of eternity is measurable to us because most of us do not have a firm grip on eternity. It's too nebulous and not much fun to think about because for the most part even the experts are clueless.

I almost have to stop and reason with my finite little mind about what is really going on in the world around me. There are patterns in life and someone clearly designed those patterns. The four seasons are a clear indicator of the cycles in our nature as well as the seasons in life. There are principles of life and death that encompass the whole animal kingdom. Everything has been set neatly in place to perpetuate all of creation. I rely upon these visual aids to reinforce my belief that God has also created a progression into eternity for mankind as well. We will never be able to hide from the fact that there is a beginning and ending to life on earth. I remember as a little boy thinking about how long it would take me to become an old man. It seemed like an eternity to me. I'm not an old man right now but the reality of aging is certainly sinking in fast. I've done a few things to preserve my youthful look. I've never dyed my hair. It's been gray to white for the last 20 years. I figured that when I turned 60 that I would look the same and everybody else would look different. Ha! I was right! That's one small consolation anyway.

The merging of your beliefs with your timeline becomes more and more significant as life goes by. I can't imagine the fear that exists in folks that do not know the Lord. I know that some people are so hardened in their heart that they cannot even see their own eternal demise but the majority are still out there wondering a bit about what is to come. We cannot avoid the inevitable and we cannot determine our own fate without some serious thinking. God in His mercy gave us this incredible freedom to pick and choose as we participate in His life creation. As I look back over my history, everything can be measured by the choices that I made. There was a definite cause and affect to all of those. God gave me the privilege of choice and I am grateful for that. My choices made me significant. Our choices make all of us significant. God would have it no other way. He just wants us to choose Him in the process and that choice has eternal significance for sure.

Merry Christmas!

Whether you have been naughty or nice, it doesn't matter. You can still have a Merry Christmas. Who's keeping score anyway? That will drive you crazy. I was naughty once about ten years ago but I have forgotten about all that because of my impeccable record of being nice over the last decade. Yep, it's really not that hard to live a perfect life if you are oblivious to your flaws. That makes you a legend in your own mind anyway. You can roll along in life thoroughly convinced that you are a-okay. I have been guilty of keeping score of my own life at times and it can be very punishing. That kind of self-awareness is not good. It doesn't permit you to receive the grace of God. It doesn't allow you to live in the freedom that God provided for you through Jesus.

Think about it. You love your children no matter what. They really don't have to earn that. You just do. They make mistakes. They even sin but you are there to help get them back on track and then move on. The love is consistent though. It doesn't leave when your child screws up and they don't have to earn your love back. There may be consequences to the errors that they make but that has nothing to do your love for them. Life is the sowing and reaping of all the decisions that we make. We are all a work in progress and God loves us no matter what.

That is a cause for great merriment and joy for all of us. He loves us no matter what. That's hard to fathom if you are keeping score on your own life. Rest in this. You are not a completed work as yet. You are all that you can be at the moment. God loves you as you are and will help you through the things that you struggle with. Our greatest enemy is too often ourself. As for living a perfect life, give it up. Forget about about it! God loves you with all your imperfections. He wants to be your Heavenly Father on a regular basis.

This isn't an Im okay, your okay philosophy. It's an I'm okay because He made the way kind of thinking and we can all rest in what Jesus has done for all of us. I wish all of you that kind of peace this Christmas. It truly is the peace that passes all understanding. It's Jesus. He brings us all back to the heavenly father.

He is the Way, the Truth and the Life

Merry Christmas!

Under The Influence

A lot of things shape our lives. We don't know it at the time but in our early childhood years we are under the influence of the world around us. Our parents, friends, school teachers, neighbors and relatives all play a part in how we think. We create a set of values based on these relationships and then we saunter off onto adult life armed with what we have learned in our youth. My father never seemed to give me a lot of advice but what he did give me I used later on in life. I remember in my early teen years when he told me that getting through life and being successful had everything to do with "guts and determination". He must have told me that 100 times during those years and lo and behold when I got out on my own I became a very driven young man. I really think that my ability to sell the music industry on my talent was some of the reason that I had success in Nashville.

My dad also used to tell me something before I went out on a date. He said, "remember son, your mother was a lady." I really didn't understand where he was coming from for awhile but it soon sunk in that he wanted me to respect the girls that I dated. Those two bits of advice stuck with me a long time. Even though I could have used a few more, I often heard my fathers voice when I was working a job or going out on a date. After all these years I still find that to be kind of an amazing phenomena. It is clear to me that God gave us fathers to guide us and give us values. Some of us are better at it than others but the influence is there both positive and negative. I would think that you could probably look at a society and see that the root of its success or failure has been determined by the values of the moms and dads. That is powerful. That is a great responsibility.

There comes a time in life when we come out from under the influence of our family and find that the tables have turned and that it's now our turn to influence our own children. It's on the job training for sure. God had a plan. You can see his image written all over fatherhood and family. If we are going to be under the influence this holiday season, I recommend at least a pint of "Abba", the fatherhood of God. Earthly fathers can only do so much.

He Made His Mark

Year after year, you will hear just about the same things about Christmas. He is the reason for the season is pretty much worn out and the media battle over whether we should use the term Christmas or Happy Holiday is getting old as well. The insignificance of all that is clearly recognizable by most. It's like the effort to keep God on our money as a battle worthy to be waged. I don't think so. All these things are trivial as compared to the real important things in life. I guess that is our human nature. We like to appease our self with these minor confrontations that cost us very little.

The one constant about Christmas that has remained throughout history is that Jesus made a statement to mankind. We all get a chance to interpret it with our own thoughts and judgements. There seems to more of an uneasiness about the birth of Christ in America. We have changed. We want everybodys religion to be okay and sometimes at the expense of abandoning our own and so we drift more to the Santa Claus side of Christmas. It's easier. I have to admit, it is becoming more and more difficult to view Christmas as a religious holiday. It can be particularly perplexing if you are trying to make this one day out of the 365 a day devoted to God and the birth of His son. It's a hard thing to do in one day with all the stuff that we have going on.

We can always rest assure that Jesus made an everlasting impression on this world and so we should really be at peace during Christmas. We don't have to do anything. We can't add to what He did anyway. The story is beautiful and far reaching. The world recognizes that something significant happened when Jesus was born. He made His mark in about 3 Years and the world is still wrestling with what actually happened. There are some things in life that you can explain or prove scientifically. The birth of Christ is not one of them. His coming was a profound message to the world. His birth was a statement of the divine providence and Holy will of God. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and we are left to deal with that.

When Jesus walked the earth, He seemed to relish in asking those around Him questions. The questions that He often asked were explosive and far reaching with eternal implications. The toughest questions seemed revolve around who He was and the same questioning is going on today. No other man in history has caused so much investigation into His life. Yes, He made His mark. If we are at peace with Jesus and know who He is then we should understand the turmoil that folks have when they hear his name. His name makes a statement to mankind. His name demands a response from our heart because there was only one like Him.

Peace on earth and good will to all men.

I Meet Carlo

Our home had weekly gatherings with many young people. Our lives were captivated by our newly found relationship with the living God. He wasn't dead to any of us. He was leading us and moving in our heart. My phone was always ringing with requests for prayer or questions from those in our group. I was spending hours upon hours reading scripture. I even started paraphrasing the gospel of Matthew so that I could understand it better. I remember lying in my bed at night wondering what God was going to do next. The expectation was very high for all of us and we were so willing to embrace the world around us.

We heard of an older gentleman that owned a gas station on top of the hill in Follansbee. His name was Carlo. Apparently He had a gathering going on in his home of former church goers. His group was much older than ours. I remember Norma telling me that Carlo and his wife nancy were anxious to meet with me. I decided one day to introduce myself to Carlo and so I stopped into his gas station and ask for him. He was a very tall fellow about 6'4". He was in about his early 40's maybe. He started talking to me with a great deal of fervor. He seemed very passionate about what he was doing. He seemed very driven. I wasn't sure about Carlo. He seemed like he had a good heart and at the same time I felt like I was being recruited by him. It sounded like he didn't have enough young people in his group. That made us a target for him. That's what it felt like anyway. I was almost 20 years younger than Carlo and so he was an imposing figure to me. All I wanted to do that day was meet him but he seemed to drop every thing that he was doing to concentrate on me.

Eventually I broke from Carlo and headed home but my head was on overload. Was God speaking to me through this man? Was I supposed to help him with his need? Would it be a good idea for us to hang around with some mature Christians? All those thoughts were running rampant through my mind and yet all I intended to do that day was to stop by and say hello. I was confused some by the whole thing. I had these two feelings going on at the same time. I wanted to pursue the idea of getting together with Carlo's group and at the same time I wanted to stay away because I didn't want to interrupt the beautiful thing that God was doing with our fellowship. Uneasiness began to fill my heart for the first time since I came to the Lord. I couldn't see what was coming.The next part of my journey was going to be difficult and I had no idea. Lessons were soon to learned the hard way.

next up......

The Merger

Finding a Field to Work

The Workers Are Few- Matthew 9:35-38

Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field."

When I think of this scripture I begin to see wonderful possibilities. I begin to see my life differently. These verses clearly point out the compassion of Jesus and these verses also clearly identify the need for workers for the harvest. The fields that need worked are in the world around us. The church buildings that we sit in on Sunday are not the fields. The fields are out in our everyday life but too many of us are playing it safe within the framework of our American Church culture and so we do not have the time nor can we see the fields that we are to work.

The fields are hard and calloused and need turned over many times before they become fertile. The harvesters are called to break up the hard spots first. People are hardened to God because of sin and so the harvesters job is to love those around them but at the same time be prepared to dig deep when necessary. Could you imagine what would happen if we all worked our fields? The reason that we don't think in these terms is that we have transferred the callings and gifts of ministry to a chosen few. We think that church pastors along with their staff are the workers and that we are paying them to do the plowing.

One of the enemies of true harvesting is false conversions. I have recognized over the last 35 years that too many people have made what I call a "mental ascent" toward Christianity. They believe what they have read about God in the Bible and agree with all of its principles but have never been made alive in Christ. The act of of being saved is miraculous in nature. The old man dies and a new man is born. Their is a spiritual hunger in a newborn christian. That is a clear indicator of a real salvation experience. It's not played out in the mind. It's a change that occurs deep in the spirit.

We cannot go out into the world and work in the harvest without first being changed deep in our heart. If that has already happened to you then look at the world around you, where you work and where you play. The Lord will show you where you should begin to plow. Find some fellow workers and pray together before you go out into your fields so that you can rejoice together when the harvest comes.

He Is Who He Says He Is

When I think of all the words that people use to describe God, they never seem good enough or big enough. I guess that the bottom line for me is not how I would describe Him to others but rather how He has revealed himself to me. It takes quiet times and places for me to sense God's whisper. I know that He is able to speak above the crowd but it's my inability to focus amidst the noise that prevents me from hearing God in busy places. There has been a subtle moving in my heart over the years that God is foremost a father and that he speaks as a father would speak. He loves me like a father would love me. That really helps me. I cannot fathom what it would be like to relate to a religious idol that measures my rights and wrongs and then daily reports back to me on my performance. That's where many of us get him all wrong.

I really believe that God is who He says that He is. He is Love. He is faithful and true. He is holy. He is creator of heaven and earth. Jesus gave us a clear picture of the heart of God when He is visited earth on our behalf. Jesus loved people and hated the religion that was being imposed upon them. I don't think that God has changed. I still think that He loves us but isn't too keen about the religious substitutes that have been thrust upon us. Those things get in they way of our relationship with him.

It's better if I just humbly approach God and ask Him to come and reveal himself. He is waiting for humble hearts and requests just like that. He wants what He created to return to Him. If I do that, He will come and reveal Himself and I will begin to know Him as He is. He is a father in waiting. I know that I could never be satisfied with an imaginary relationship. It has to be real and it can't be had by being dutiful or attending church services. The Lord quiets my spirit and allows me to call on Him.

He is who he says he is, we just need to invite him in and let Him take up residence in our heart. Come Lord, Come and fill us with your love and grace. Wow! What a Christmas that would be!

The Gifts That I've Known

Christmas is fast approaching and I feel different this year. I feel kind of like an extended Thanksgiving is on the way. Our family is trying to dial down on the adult gift giving because we have grand children now. We even decided to pick one person in a drawing and make them a hand crafted gift. That can be a bit taxing for those of us that do not have that kind of crafty imagination and talent but the effort put forth is different. It's better. It asks something a little bit more of us than just going to the store and buying a gift. When I think about of all the wonderful people that I have met in my life, I see them as gifts. They are gifts from the Lord. Gifts are not gifts until they are given and unwrapped. So many people have opened themselves up to me like a wonderful gift from God.

When God created us He must have had this giving thing in mind. I have the sneaky suspicion that God gets a major kick out of us loving each other. That's why I love the Lord so much. We live and we give ourselves to certain people all the time. That's our nature. That's His nature in all of us. Yes, we are tarnished and not perfect like Him but we want to love and be loved and that came from God. I look at the people gifts I've known in life and they have all helped me to survive. That's why isolation is so damning for the soul and spirit of humanity.

When I see my children and my wife and my friends as gifts then I am more appreciative. I want to enjoy all these folks more and more as time passes. They are so valuable and besides that, they are God's gift to me. To all of you that read my blog, I thank you. You have great patience and that is your gift to me. I love you all dearly.

What if?

Have you ever played the game of what if. What if cows could fly and birds had to crawl? You certainly would have to watch out for those cows that fly too low and I can't imagine a bird having much to tweet about if it had to get around on it's belly. What if God isn't thinking what I am thinking at all? Sometimes I wonder if many of us really interpret Him right. I know the Bible is the written word of God and we use that as our guide but I can't believe that God decided to stop talking to us once the Bible was completed.

What if God wants to talk to me today? How do I know when it's Him? I know what it's like to be spiritually deaf. That all started when I went out on my own trying to dedicate my life to God. I started an all out effort to improve my lot in the kingdom. I did all the religious stuff like reading the Bible and attending church. I walked the walk and talked the talk. You would have thought that I was right in the center of God's will by the way I gave myself to things like church planting and serving as a men's pastor. What if God didn't want me to do all that stuff? What if God never intended me to be enslaved to such a dutiful religious life. What if He just wanted me to be His son? Is that possible? That's way too simple, isn't it? No one would recognize me just walking around the earth as one of God's sons. I'm more valuable to Him than that, aren't I?

I guess that what I am trying to say is that no matter how noble our intentions are to please God, no matter how good or dutiful we become, it will never satisfy the longing that God the Father has to unite with us as sons and daughters. That is paramount to Him. It is the only reason that he sent His son on our behalf. He wanted to be reunited with His family. He could not abide with us in our sinful state and so Jesus removed the greatest obstacle between us and the Father. He removed the partition of sin.

What if our returning to Him is the essence of Gods' will? What if God wants each and everyone of us to kneel before Him and admit to Him that we are clueless and that we need Him? What would happen? Maybe we would get to know Him as He really is? Maybe then He could set us on the right path. What if it was that simple?

What if?

In the World But Not of It?

There is a lot of room for error for every believer who understands that while we are in the world, we should never become like the world. Living in America is a real test for all who claim to be disciples of Jesus. I have often thought that America has to be one of the most difficult countries in the world to live a faith driven life. I know that we have a lot of churches but they are starting to look more and more like any other commercial enterprise. I know that a lot of folks have Bibles in their homes. I also know that the most dedicated in their walk with the Lord suffer from a wide variety of temptations and are often hindered by the business of American life.

I know that Jesus died for us because His Father loved this world but the Bible also admonishes us to not to love the world nor the things of the world. So here's the rub, how do you do that? I guess that we better start by asking the right questions. What is the world? What are the worldly things?

This scripture always helps me understand the aspect of "world" in terms of its relationship to Christ is John 1:10.

He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.

This scripture is a clear indicator that the world that God does not want us to become part of is the part of this world that does not recognize Christ.

Another scripture that helps me understand where I am in respect to my own relationship with the world is John 12:25,

The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.

When I am deeply rooted in the world and loving every minute of it then I am living like a non-believer. The non-believer does not recognize the worlds alienation from Christ because the non-believers heart is deeply hardened to the things of God. The believer on the other hand struggles with his life in this world. The believer is in a constant battle to separate himself from the world and all its temptations. I understand this more than any other time in my life. I feel better knowing that I struggle. That tells me that I have been touched deeply by God and that my conscience and appetite for the world will always be counter balanced by the convicting of the Holy Spirit. I know that I sometimes wander into the wrong places but I also know that there is a limit to how far away I can go because the struggle in my soul begins all over again.

For all of you believers who struggle with your walk in America, be encouraged. You should be struggling because you have recognized Jesus and become a part of his body in this world and because of that you will never be completely comfortable while on this earth. In the world but not of it will always be our battle.

The Lion of Judah

The Lion of Judah has its origins in the Book of Genesis where the Israelite tribe of Judah had the lion as its symbol. In Genesis 49:9, Jacob refers to his son Judah as "young lion" while blessing him. The tribe of Judah was the most dominant of all the Israelite tribes and so the Lion of Judah represents the powerful ancestry of Judah to the Jews. They associate the term Lion of Judah with their tribe.

Christians see the Lion of Judah as Jesus Christ.

Revelation 5:5; "And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof."

Christians and Jews obviously have a different spin on Jesus Christ. Judaism and Christianity appear to be inseparable partners in the mystery of Christ. They both have the same heritage until the Christ child event occured that we now call Christmas. The Jews rejected the claims that this new child was God in the flesh.

Jesus first addressed the Jews with these words.

John 10:30, “I and the Father are one.”

That really set off a fire storm. They wanted to stone him to death because of His claim to be God. Over 2000 years since the arrival of Christ this mystery is still unsolved. Is their Lion the Christian Lion? The Jews are God's chosen but the Gentiles have embraced the Son. There must be a link between the Jews and Christians that is yet to be revealed. We are constantly bombarded with the news of the current events in Iraq and Pakistan. It seems to me that the most noteworthy news to Christians as well as the Jews is the news which pertains to Israel. When I hear about Israeli conflicts I get a sense of uneasiness down deep inside. There is a lot of scripture pointing to the Jewish nation as the center of end time events.

I often feel that behind all of our everyday living that there is something being played out of much greater significance. The Lion of Judah is a key figure in all of this and the mystery is still unsolved for many whether Jew or Gentile and the mystery still hinges on these words from Jesus, "I and the Father are one".

Christmas Shopping the Jesus Way

Christmas is a little over three weeks away and I have to admit that my thoughts about Christmas have radically changed since I was a child. I still love the lights and the Christmas tree. I still love to hear the story about the baby Jesus. I still hear all the rants about how commercial Christmas has become and yet few of us do anything about it. The expectations are so high and the disappointments can be very low. There seems to be a polarizing of happiness and sadness during Christmas. I loved Christmas as a child. My parents really promoted Santa and they got a kick out of the whole thing. It's so easy as a child. You do nothing but wait with great expectancy and all the while you are totally oblivious to all the effort being exerted to make this one day so special.

Speed is really a big deal for us in America. That's why I feel so uncomfortable whenever I slow down. I think something is wrong or something is left undone if I stop too long. Christmas doesn't seem to let you stop and the speed seems to crank up another notch. It doesn't feel like peace on earth and good will to all men. It feels more like the Kentucky Derby and when the race is over you are waitng for someone to throw a garland over your head and announce you as the winner. It's as if you have run the race but you are still looking for the reward.

If I could change any one thing about Christmas I would only make one correction. I would learn how to stop. I read a good friends blog the other day and he pointed out how Jesus would always stop at whatever he was doing to give you his attention. In other words, what he was doing wasn't as important as you even if you interrupted him. That is a totally selfless existence. What a beautiful way to approach life. If Jesus was doing his Christmas shopping, He would always be available to talk to a frustrated shopper. He would focus on the clerks and the sales people. He would love them and encourage them while they assisted Him. The shopping would just be the activity that connects him with people. If I could stop to love and encourage and enjoy people like Jesus did then I would be right in the true spirit of Christmas. Jesus never seemed to be affected by the lifestyle of the people that he would meet. He just met them where they were and loved them where they were but first thing that He had to do was to stop. That's my prayer. Lord, help me stop and be like you.

For God So Loved.......

Faith is Beyond Me

You have heard folks admit defeat when they are completely stumped and just don't get it and you will often hear them say, "it's beyond me." There are a lot of things beyond us and that is what makes life such a thrilling adventure. Watching an airplane lift off the ground for the first time was way beyond me as a little boy. Actually, I'm still amazed at the sight of such a huge piece of metal rising from the ground and getting lost in the clouds. There is such a sense of amazement and discovery in life when we get beyond us. When something is beyond me and I know that I don't have the mental or emotional capacity to understand it then I am left with a decision. Do I trust what I see? I ride airplanes and so I have come to grips with the fact that I don't have to be a rocket scientist to ride an airplane. In essence, I have put my complete trust in the rocket scientists and the aviation experts to build a plane that will safely get me to where I want to go.

Trusting seems to be the mainstay of faith. If I couldn't trust then I would never be able to get through this life. Trusting the airplane is relatively easy to accept because I have tangible proof every day about air travel but faith experiences help me to grow. They are like energy bursts that thrust me forward. Kids that grow up without some one to trust have a difficult time in life because they haven't experienced what faith can do. I remember my kids jumping off the side of the swimming pool and into my arms the very first time. They had that look in their eyes like, "okay, here it goes, dad will catch me." Two significant things happened when they jumped into my arms. They learned a little bit about trust and faith. I learned how to impart trust and faith.

The Lord says that faith and trust in Him is better than our own understanding and so real faith has nothing to do with our comprehension.

Proverbs 3:5,6

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.

Now here's the rub. If I am trying to understand God so that I can believe in God then I am missing that energy burst that comes from trust and faith. The Lord created us with the need for relationship. Looking for a partner in life has become a desperate search for many because there is a real void that needs to filled by that special someone. There is risk and vulnerability involved when we pursue relationships. Risk and vulnerability have been my pathways to faith in God. I never realized until today how many people lack an adventurous relationship with the Lord. Many folks seem to place their faith in people pretty well but when it comes to God they are too often looking for a concept or a formula. If you stop and think about it, that really makes no sense at all. It's obvious by the way He has made us that He is a God that desires relationship.

I can only share from my own experience and I can honestly tell you that if you pursue Him with all your heart, mind and soul that you eventually find yourself in relationship with Him. He will reveal Himself and remove all doubt about His person. You will find yourself inside an adventure thriller and it will be nothing religious like you may have imagined. God isn't into religion, He's into you. Believing in Him is beyond me and you. Let's go back to my story about the two things that happened when my kids jumped into my arms at the swimming pool. God does the same thing when we leap into His arms. We go for it in faith and He doesn't disappoint. He supplies the energy burst. The adventure begins and a whole new world awaits us.

Now, if I could just have faith in the Steelers to get a win Sunday

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The Heart of a Lion

Whenever I think of a lion, I don't think of the one in the wizard of oz. I think of the one that you see on the nature channels. I see the big and powerful kind that can tear your head off. I guess the heart of a lion is big as well. Having the heart of a lion can mean many different things to many different folks.The heart of a lion provokes a lot of different images in my mind. I see the lion as all heart when he is on the hunt. He is completely dedicated to the task at hand and very calculating in his approach. It seems to me that the heart of the lion during the hunt is all about staying focused. The lion seems so innocent when you see pictures of him on T.V. lying in some long grassy field while playing with his young. I guess that he is big hearted there as well but you certainly don't want to disturb him.

Jesus was called both a lamb and a lion in the scriptures. I find that to be an amazing combination. Sheep are so quiet and un-assuming. They don't draw much attention to themselves. They need lead around by sheep dogs and shepherds. The more I think about Jesus as both Lion and Lamb the more I begin to see how Jesus lived his life and that maybe we are to live that way too. A simple life is one that is quiet and un-assuming. It's a life that doesn't draw attention to itself as well, but what about those times when Jesus became a lion. He seemed to be stirred at injustice and false religion. He turned over the tables of the money lenders and rebuked them publicly. That was the lion in him.

I don't think that it would be healthy to live your life constantly like the lion. You would always be on the hunt and using your power at will but there has to be a time when we become ferocious with our faith. I've had that happen to me many times especially when I hear people blame or de-value God and His love for us. Something rises up deep inside of me and I go on the attack because I know Him. I know His great love and long suffering for us.

I have concluded that the lifestyle of Jesus is the best one for me. I need to live a quiet and simple life so that I can live in peace and yet I must have a lions heart of conviction when the opportunity presents itself.

Sounds like a plan? Sounds like His plan.

My Baggage?

I love to analyze and find the root meanings for some of the cliches we all say with such regularity. I've heard people often say that some of us carry a lot of baggage. I get a mental picture when I think about someone that is carrying a lot of baggage. I see a person that is on their way to some particular destination but are being slowed down by this cumbersome load of travel bags and suitcases. They look frustrated and not at all in the mood to have a conversation with anyone because they are trying to manage the load they are carrying. The poor guy loaded down with all that baggage is just not able to enjoy his surroundings. That kind of person never seems to be able to relax after such a tortuous ordeal.

Now that I have sufficiently created the mental image of carrying baggage, I can clearly see the anguish in our soul when our lives are bogged down with excess baggage. What are we carrying in those bags anyway? Why are they so heavy and why are there so many? I can only comment on my baggage because I packed those bags myself. One of the bags that really bogs me down is my man-pleaser bag. Man, I stuff that bag full sometimes. That bag is full of my own self-imposed expectations that make it easier for me to make everybody happy. I also have this little guilt bag. The guilt bag is small but very weighty. It is full of all my failures.

I also have a "fear for all" suitcase. I hide all of my fears and uncertainties in that suit case. I don't want anybody to see what's inside that suitcase. It's just too embarrassing. My last piece of luggage is the "my way" travel bag. That bag gets me into so much trouble. It's loaded down with ego and strong willed stuff.

I think that I would throw those bags away if I could find another place to put the contents. I put all that stuff in those bags so that no one else can see them.

The Truth: No matter how hard I try to hide these things in my bags, I clearly show all what's in those bags by the way I travel.

I kind of relate this baggage story to a man trying to hide his hideous frustrations in darkness. What really needs to happen is that those frustrations need to be brought into the light. Jesus is often referred to as light in the scripture. Bringing our dark hidden things to Jesus would not be embarrassing. It would be liberating. He knows our weakness. He knows we are frustrated. He wants to rid us of all this weight. I know that it's difficult to comprehend the humility of God but consider this, He made himself small and human like us so that we could see him. He participated in our hunger and pain and at the same time was the God Almighty. He could have snuffed out every wrong doer in His wake but He stopped and gave us His time.

We need to make new travel plans. We need to empty our bags and travel light. You know what it's like to travel light. You feel free! You can stop and enjoy people. You can go to more places. You can love life when you are free. True freedom comes from knowing the Lord because within that relationship you will find plenty of light and you will be able to see where you are going. The dark places will soon vanish.

Now, if I could just prevent those bags under my eyes from showing up.

East Liverpool and Mars Hill

The title of this post will mean very little to you unless I explain some things. East Liverpool is a small town located in Ohio just across the river from the Weirton, West Virginia area. Mars Hill is located in Athens, Greece. The Apostle Paul made a journey to Mars Hill only to find an idolatrous nation. So what does that have to do with anything? Well, here's how the story goes from here.

We were gathering at my house weekly and throughout the week we were all looking for some action. Someone always seemed to invite a new person to our home every week and so there was always a possibility of a new birth in the Kingdom. I was still working in insurance while all this was going on when one day my sales manager ask me about my faith. He was a delightful man, very soft spoken and always seemed interested in what everybody had to say. He wanted to know what happened in my life that had me on this mission to tell the world about Jesus. I told him the whole story from Nashville to New Years Eve. He seemed very interested and the Holy Spirit seemed to have touched his heart. A week or so later he came to me with an invitation. He ask me if I would speak at his church in East Liverpool, Ohio. He apparently told the Pastor about me and got the green light to invite me to speak some Sunday. I was reluctant only because I had never done any public speaking. I was a rockin' roll musician. Had he ask me to do a gig then I would have felt real comfortable but he ask me to give my testimony and preach a sermon.

I accepted his invitation but not without a lot of concern. I had never been inside the walls of any church for more than a few minutes so I wasn't sure what all went on in church. This was a Methodist church that had 600 members. I prayed my heart out, begging the Lord to give me a word for these people. The word finally came. It was "Mars Hill". I read in the book of Acts about the apostle Paul visiting Athens and during his visit he came upon a place called Mars Hill. It was there that Paul saw a monument with an inscription that said "To the Unknown God". I felt that God wanted me to warn these folks about assembling on Sunday before a God that they did not really know. I didn't understand why God would have me speak on that subject to people who go to church. I was frightened to say the least and you should have seen the look on the Pastor's face when I told him what I was about to share with his congregation.

I was introduced to the congregation by my sales manager and led up to the pulpit by the Pastor. I started in prayer and then slowly began to bare my soul from Nashville to New Years eve. I sang one of my songs and then went right into the sermon. The air in the room was heavy. My heart was heavy as I begin to tell them the word that God wanted me to share with them. I remember warning them not to worship like the Athenians on Mars Hill and that they needed to know this God that they congregated around. I began to plead with them much like Paul did with the Athenians and then I quietly ended in prayer and at the end I ask if anyone would like to come to the front and join me in prayer. That was my biggest surprise. There were at least 150 people trying to gather around me at the pulpit. It was quite a sight. They were in tears with me and we were touching each other and repenting before God together. This lasted a long time and then folks started disbursing. I was drained when it was over. I have never experienced anything quite like that since that day. I was dumbfounded.

In His mercy and grace He spoke through me that day. That was another miracle in my life that I will never forget. The icing on the cake was that my sales manager re-dedicated his life to Jesus.

Next up....

I meet Carlo.....

If I Met God...

If I met God, my life would be radically changed. If I met God, He would help me with some of my questions. If I met God then I would know more about myself. If I met God, I would know what the real deal is instead of all my pre-conceived notions. When I say that I believe in God, that is different. Believing in God means that I think that He exists. It means that my mind has made a rational decision about God. So what! I don't want God to be a logical conclusion in my own mind. I don't want God to be something or someone that I can imagine. I want to know the real one. My imaginary God would be really dumb in comparison.

If I met God, then I would experience the love that God is supposed to have for me. I wouldn't have to walk around every day trying to drum up this imaginary love that God has for me. If I met God, I would never be the same. I would not think the same. I would know what life is all about and I could live it with Him. He would talk to me and I would talk to Him. How cool is that?

Some folks say they believe in God but they never talk about Him. That seems strange to me. If we really knew God then we couldn't help but talk about Him. I love many people. I don't think that I could love others if I wasn't created to love. God must know a lot about love because the whole human race is desperate for it probably because the Bible says that we were made in His likeness and that God is love. Well, if God is love, then I want to know Him and to be loved by Him. If I met God, then I would know real love. I don't think that anything can replace knowing God. I'm afraid that anything that I would drum up as a substitute would fall a bit short. After all, He is God. There is no one else like Him.

If I met God.....

Local Church Offers a $1,000 Shopping Spree!

I just received a personal invitation from a local church to come attend a special Christmas service. This service would give me an opportunity to win a $1,000 shopping spree. There are give aways for the kids also. The invitation suggests that only the visitors that attend will get the chance to register for the $1,000 gift. There is one $1,000 gift card given at each of the three services. That could really tick off some of the members who feel entitled to a piece of the action.

I really don't know whether to laugh or cry. I can see the Pastor and his wife on the post card. They look like a lovely couple and I'm sure that they are well intentioned doing this gimmicky solicitation. In my heart of hearts, I really don't want to come down hard on them. I actually feel for them. This whole thing is so very sad. I don't even know how to comment on this. Maybe someone out there can help me.

For God So Loved

Hey! You Turkey!

Has anybody ever called you a Turkey? Why do they say that anyway? Are you a turkey because you waddle when you walk? Nah, that can't be right. Did you know that Big Bird's costume was made with four thousand turkey feathers.

Anyway, back to the Turkey thing. When I see a Turkey, he looks to me like he's struttin' his stuff and so I don't think that how you walk has anything to do with being called a Turkey.

The more I think of it the more I think it has to do with mental capacity. Turkey's are really dumb. That's it! Folks are calling you dumb when they call you a Turkey. I hear that the Turkey's are bred into profound stupidity. That causes me to really think twice if someone ever calls me a Turkey again. Oh well, enough of this Monday morning revelation.

Have a good time eating your dumb turkey this week!

Fool On The Hill

The Fool on The Hill was largely Paul McCartney's composition.

It turns out that the fool on the hill was the guy on the right.

His name is Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. He founded and developed the Transcendental Meditation technique. The Beatles were exploring eastern religion in the late 60's and paid a visit to the Maharishi. It turned out to be a very bad experience for those four lads and they were extremely disappointed with their visit.

There was a controversy over the visit and the details were never completely divulged but the Beatles apparently found the Maharishi in a very compromising situation considering his religious influence and so the Boys viewed him as hypocritical after their visit. The lyrics to Fool on The Hill are representative of all the foolish religious leaders that prey on humanity for their own devices. The Beatles were searching. Their music is a reflection of that search. The Lyrics below clearly describe their feelings of the Maharishi.

Fool On The Hill
(The Beatles)

Day after day, alone on the hill,

The man with the foolish grin is keeping perfectly still.

But nobody wants to know him,They can see that he's just a fool.

And he never gives an answer .....

But the fool on the hill,Sees the sun going down.

And the eyes in his head, See the world spinning around.

Well on his way, his head in a cloud,The man of a thousand voices, talking perfectly loud.

But nobody ever hears him,Or the sound he appears to make.

And he never seems to notice .....

But the fool on the hill, Sees the sun going down.And the eyes in his head, See the world spinning around.

And nobody seems to like him,They can tell what he wants to do. And he never shows his feelings,

But the fool on the hill, Sees the sun going down. And the eyes in his head, See the world spinning around.

We find these fools in Christianity as well.

Romans 16:17,18

Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.

For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.

The Journey

Several of you have sent me e-mails commenting on some of my articles. I really appreciate the encouragement and insight. I want to say thanks! After all, it is that time of the year. I also want to re-emphasize the intent of my blog writing. I am writing from my experiences over the last 35 years including the present so that you might have the opportunity to glean some things from my journey that may help you on yours. I made plenty of mistakes through the years and so I had a lot of things that needed correcting along the way but I now understand that the process of correction is how we gain wisdom in our decision making. Life is a whole bunch of sowing and reaping.

I am not writing to convince you of anything but rather to share what I have experienced and how I have come to my own conclusions. We all look at life through our own lens and yet many of us read books and watch movies to gain knowledge and inspiration. We can relate to a good book and be touched deeply by the right movie. You can set the book down when you are finished and walk away from the movie when it is over and hopefully you have added a little more enjoyment to your life as well as a little more insight. That's what this blog is all about. It's just a place to hang out once in awhile.

I have to remind myself from time to time that someone gave me the privilege to have this journey. I didn't plan for my life. It was given to me by the creator of life. I know that most of you that read this blog already acknowledge God as that creator. I am chief among you, as Paul would say, to outwardly profess what I believe and yet that belief does not always appear evident in the way that I live. I have wandered through life at times as if God never existed and I have reaped from that kind of life accordingly. Life is moving way too fast and the speed of it can prove to be dangerous if we choose to live it without Him. When someone says that life is too short they have really said a mouthful and that statement rings true to all of us sooner or later.

We are all writing our own history. The pages in our book are our own. We may still have time to edit some of the typos and mistakes out of our manuscript and so we should give attention to those things while we can. Our lives are like a novel or a movie that communicate something to the world around us. What are we communicating? There were a lot of years that I communicated absolutely nothing of any value because I wasn't a man of convictions. I have finally come to some peace over many of the things that I have struggled with over the years and I can honestly say that real peace is much better than I thought it to be. Thank you for allowing me to enter your world with my thoughts. I consider it a privilege.

Here we go Steelers!

Sorry, I just couldn't resist.
It felt like a black and gold moment.

Davey Buhl

Real Community

It's obvious to me and most everybody else on the face of the earth that most of us love friendships. Friendships are incredible. It's interesting to see how natural friendships seem to develop especially when we are young. Common goals and hobbies bring a lot of folks together. Dar and I ran into an old friend last week. He and I coached baseball together. Our families hung out together bouncing from game to game and so it was only natural to extend that relationship beyond the baseball games. We would often get together during the holidays. As the years passed by and the kids got older our getting together became less frequent. I have to admit it was great to see this old friend and it has really got me thinking since that night.

I struggled to have that kind of friendship in the institutionalized church. It didn't seem real. People would always put on a happy face at church but you knew down deep inside that most of their real friends probably were elsewhere. I was a staff Pastor at a very large non-denominational church for a couple of years and the Senior Pastor had this passion to get everyone into home groups. There was pressure from him all the time to get people into home groups so that they could experience community. I really believe that he was well intentioned and that he knew that real community doesn't really occur on Sunday but it became obvious that the home group development was forced and it just wasn't working. The only place that it was working was with the original groups that founded the church. They were friends to begin with and so community for them was natural. Here again the failure of institutionalized control.

I am starting to get really psyched over the opportunity to experience real community once again and my heart of hearts tells me that it won't be an organized thing at all. It will be more of a happening. I have a hunch that this has been God's design for us all along. The controls and organizational aspect was all our idea. God's idea is relationship. Real life giving relationship and real friendship. Where you see real friendship you see the image of God in all of it.

Don't you see how difficult it can be to recognize real community when we are involved in all these man made organized models. We think that if we organize these things in the name of the Lord that we are doing the right thing. What we are being is presumptuous. We are presuming that we know what is best for us and God. It's subtle but it's our ball game. We want control.

The Lord created us differently. He created a family. He views our life as our Heavenly Father not as our Heavenly Chief Executive Officer. Breaking the religious mold is tough but if you look at your life's history you will see real friendships and you will see pseudo friendships. You have real community with people that really know you. That's God's plan. He just wants included. It sounds too simple but we have really complicated this whole thing. We are made in God's image and yes we are tarnished and flawed but we really do love the things that God loves because He made us to love that way. God is closer to our heart than we think. He also has a community of friendships for each and every one of us if we look in the right places.

The fellow that I coached baseball with knows all about my love for Jesus. He had me pray for the boys before and after the game. I was accepted by him and I loved him for that. He thought it was a privelege to be my friend and he respected my view of life. I never imposed my view on him. I just loved him and his family. Whenever he had a question or two about spritual things he would come to me because it was easy for him to talk to me.

Yes folks, I'm getting excited about the possibilities for real community. I wish the same for you. It's out there if we look in the right places.

For God So Loved....

Your Life is About to Change

Last Friday I took a ride down to Robinson township to meet the guy that I am partnering with in the opening of a new Sports Card and Memorabilia Shop. I have been pondering for awhile about what direction the Lord would take me after leaving the institutionalized church. It never once dawned on me that maybe the Lord would reveal His purposes right where I am. It's very difficult to see the Lord in life's natural setting after living a religious life style of church attendance, home group meetings, seminars, etc. Anyway, my partner and I visited an indoor flea market and I ended up buying a couple of jewlery show cases. They were perfect for me to display my sports cards. I met some of the guys that run the flea market and they are an interesting group. I have grown to really love the collectibles culture. There are so many people interested in collecting relics of the past. Most of the collectibles actually appreciate in value over time. Things of the past can end up being treasures of the future.

I started realizing how important my own past is in regard to my future. I also have begun to see the value of having some history. That's a nice way of saying that I am getting older but at least history gives me some patterns that I can examine and learn from. I have been living daily with great expectation of where all of this sports card stuff is really leading me. Again, living my life without a religious crutch makes me a bit uneasy. It does cause me to seek God more about my every day life. I feel a bit like Abraham. The Bible says in Hebrews that Abrahm when sent by God went out not knowing where he was going. He was just obeying the Lord and trusting Him every step of the way.

I've had this feeling for awhile that God is preparing the way when something happened on the way back from the indoor flea market that removed all doubt. My partner looked over at me and said, "David, your life is about to change". I know that he was referring to the sports card shop but when he said those words they resonated loud and clear in my spirit. I heard the Lord in that announcement. I honestly felt a bit shaken. I believe that this new venture has been orchestrated by the Lord and that there is something special on the horizon. I'm seeing God in life for the first time in many years. I am thrilled that I don't know what the plan is. I don't have any control over it and it is causing me to rely on Him. I just want to be available when the Lord says go and how cool is that, "Go" was His last great command.

Music in The Air

After Marilyn met the Master things really started to cook. We had three couples that just had their lives completely changed by coming to Christ. I felt like I was actually living in an adventure thriller kind of a movie only I didn't know the script. The Lord was the writer and director of this saga and I loved it. We found ourselves getting together immediately. Now that I look back, I wouldn't call our getting together a meeting. It was more of a necessity. We were excited. I was totally immersed into the scriptures and was awe inspired by the Holy Spirit to write songs. I was known for my music and so it was a natural for me to continue my rockin' roll music style while serving the Lord. Back then there was no such thing as "Contemporary Christian Music". Nothing was packaged and commercialized like it is today. I started writing songs about Jesus and it had nothing to do with a "career". It had everything to do with singing and writing about the love He put in my heart.

Norma and Jimmie Joe had powerful voices. They sang in a choir and took voice lessons. We started gathering at our house in Follansbee. We had this huge living room that was just about empty. It had a couch and a TV and that was it and so there was plenty of room for people. I started writing songs and we began to sing them when we got together and the vocals were awesome because of Jimmie Jo and Norma. Our gatherings started to include others almost immediately. The music was front and center and yet almost every gathering that included an unsaved participant ended up as an opportunity for another new birth into the kingdom.

Eventually we gathered at least once a week. There were folks coming from Pittsburgh as well. People were coming to Christ and His music was in the air. Here are some of the song titles. I Cannot Live Without My Sweet Jesus. Resolutions of My Mind. I Can't Do Nothin' Without You Lord. I'm Gettin' Ready.

Here's some of the Lyrics to "I Cannot Live Without My Sweet Jesus"

Please read them. This song clearly reveals the understanding that God gave us about life's spiritual battle while we were yet babies in the Lord.

Look all around you and what do you see
Millions of people struggling for peace

We ain't got the courage to settle it all
and just like the Romans we're startin' to fall

Chorus:

That's why!
I cannot Live without my sweet Jesus
He bought and paid for the things that I did

I cannot Live without my sweet Jesus
He holds the power that makes me live

Not many people are happy and free
They're bound by old satan's demonic disease

He's makes you uptight and hateful inside
He puff's up your head and fills you with pride

Repeat Chorus

The Lord was present. His power and grace prevailed as we learned to seek Him and understand His ways. We were united in Him. We knew it and we were riding the waves the best we could. A fellowship of new young believers was birthed by the Holy Spirit. It was something to behold.

Next Up

East Liverpool and Mars Hill

Time

How precious of a commodity is time? I don't know about the rest of the world but in America time is the currency that supports our busy lifestyles. We are on the move constantly. We think that we are making good time and yet some of us are oblivious about the direction we are traveling. That's what happens when you are moving too fast. You just don't have time to adjust. Most of us just keep moving along anyway. We'll know when we get there. That's how we sub-consciously approach things.

Have you ever wondered about the affect that this is having on all of us? I really don't think that we understand the implications. I have more time now than I used to because I am semi-retired but I still find myself immersed in things that prevent me from partaking in more meaningful activities. The way we spend our time is a clear indicator of where we are investing our soul, our spirit, and our energy. When you think of it in those terms you begin to wonder about what is happening to us as people.

When I read the Bible I begin to see that life is about relationships. It's not about do's and don'ts and religious duty. It's about our relationship with God and one another. Most of us can reminisce about the days of our youth when our relationships were paramount to us and that made life exciting. There was adventure.

Our life style in America has cut into the relational aspect of living. We are often forced to compartmentalize relationships. We join clubs and churches. We have to set aside specific times to have fun because the rest of our time is filled with enormous responsibility. Most of us as we grow older are still living off the relationships that we formed in high school and college. It's harder to develop meaningful relationships when you are raising a family.

Having said that, no wonder we have such a difficult time getting close to God and His purposes. We are hoping that the sermon on Sunday or the weekly home group will take care of that part. That is not the way it is supposed to work. No wonder we cannot see God in our daily lives. We have to set aside time for Him, in all due respect so that we can get our stuff done. Don't you see how insane that sounds? We are really fooling ourselves and missing the real fun in life. I am just now seeing the benefits having a bit more time. I'm starting to seek God more and I am starting to enjoy people more.

The time issue has caused us all to lean heavily on the institutional church to fill our "God" time slot. Giving our God time over to the institutions has created a huge economic empire and millions of leaner's. It's been so subtle. Inadvertently to many we have caused this to happen. The good news is that there is a solution. We can re-arrange some things so that God can have His way in our life. We don't have to quit our jobs and go live in seclusion. I can tell you this much. I have learned through a lot of trial and error that God is more interested in your life outside of the institutional church. I really think that this is the rub with God. He watches us do the Sunday thing on His behalf supposedly and then never hears from us the rest of the week. This is what we have created. We have put distance between us and Him because we have placed our own time controls on our relationship with God our father. How sad is that.

When Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, they know not what they do", He addressed our ignorance with His loving grace. Jesus understands what we are capable of and He understands the dilemma that we have in America. We need to go to Him and ask Him for forgiveness and in doing so we will receive guidance from the Holy Spirit. Life can be good. We just need to give it all back to Him.

He's Setting The Table

I have been watching things develop recently that are very encouraging. I sense a momentum toward something that I haven't felt in years. It seems like the the Lord is preparing the way for what He wants me to do in particular. I am very encouraged about what I believe is about to happen.

About a week ago I wrote in this blog about a guy named Rick. His wife left him 25 years ago for a Pentecostal minister who later became an alcoholic. Rick also has a bi-polar son and he is a major concern to Rick. Rick calls me every week now on Sunday morning about getting together. He's still selling off his baseball card collection and he likes doing business with me. Last Sunday we were to meet at a flea market in the Bridgeville area. On the way down to meet Rick, I sensed the Lord wanting me to pray for Rick and to continue to offer him encouragement. You can imagine the jaded view of Christianity that Rick might have after his wife left him for a preacher.

When I arrived at the flea market I approached Rick and he quickly offered me a book of baseball cards. Rick has recently torn his Achilles tendon and wears a cast. I started our conversation by asking Rick how the foot was coming along. Eventually I had Rick's full attention and I told him that I had been thinking about his situation a lot lately and that I had been praying for him. I also gave him a little assignment. I ask him to keep me informed of any significant change in his life especially in regard to his son and ex wife so that I could pray accordingly. He didn't say much at the time but later on Rick told me that he thought the Lord sent me into his path for a reason. I was a bit stunned by that comment because I haven't really heard anybody outside the institutional church say something like that to me since my early days in the Lord. It felt good to hear him say that. I felt a sense of real purpose and more importantly I believe that the Lord is orchestrating these events.

It seems like this fraternity of sports minded chaps just might be the field that God may have me work. I don't think that I would have ever seen this as a possibility while connected to institutionalized Christianity. The picture is starting to develop right before my eyes. God wants to work with me and through me in every day life. That's how it was at my beginning with the Lord. He's setting the table right where I am and so I am now living day to day with great expectations. I feel like I'm in a new chapter now. I don't want to read to far ahead. That spoils everything. As they say in the blogging world, I'll keep you posted!

God's Patience With Our Towers

After the great flood the descendants of Noah were to scatter themselves about the earth. This was God's original intent and design. A large number of these descendants settled in a fruitful plain called the land of Shinar. As time went by the sons of men that were the descendants of Noah didn't want to follow God's plan for disbursement. They loved the fruited plain and became closely knit and just like before the flood these men and their families wanted to direct their own lives and not obey God and their forefather Noah. Noah and his sons had planned on dividing the population into different tribes and then to go in different directions so that the whole earth would be inhabited according to God's plan.

The people decided to build a city with brick and mortar and the Bible says that they wanted to make a name for themselves. They also wanted to build a tower that would reach the heavens like the most High. You know the rest of the story I'm sure. Their language kept them unified in purpose and so God put an end to the whole escapade by confusing their speech by giving them all different languages.

The part that amazes me is that if you read the whole chapter of Genesis 11 you will see that God let them go pretty far into their building process before He blew the whistle. God's long suffering and patience is much more extravagant than any of us can imagine. Most of us would have destroyed these self serving people long before they built the tower. This is just another indicator of how God longs for us to see the error of our ways and turn to Him. The tower was another way of separating Him from all that He loved. He loved these people and wanted them to follow His plan but just like a loving father He waited patiently to see if they would eventually give up their desire for self control.

This chapter has a whole new meaning to me now. I know that God sees the error in the church but His patience and long suffering keep us a float for sure. There will come a time when we travel too far away from him and when that happens God will cause something to occur in the earth to alter our direction. God is in control. We must never be mistaken about His Sovereign rule of this Earth. I see changes occuring in the hearts of christians all accross America. I see God pulling on their heart strings. Some of us will respond to that call. Someone once said that God draws while men push. There is no greater example of that than the death of Jesus. He even spoke about it before His time came to die.

Jesus said these words.

John12:31-33

Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.

And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.

A Personal Realization

I have had an interesting week thinking about how each of us have traveled on our spiritual journeys. I began to realize for the first time the real difference in my experience as compared to many others. I have sometimes convinced myself that maybe I was young and very impressionable at the time. I was lonely and so I was a perfect candidate to become a bonifide Jesus freak. The Lord really opened my eyes this week about what really occurred and why it had such an impact on my life.

When I came to Jesus at that New Years Eve Party I was void of any concept of a religious life in church. I never attended church. I never went to Sunday School. I never read the Bible. As a youngster I would watch T.V. shows on the crucifixion during Easter and that's the only information that I received about the Gospel. After watching those shows I remember asking my mom and dad why the people were killing Jesus but they never gave me an answer.

I also remember in grade school praying the Lords prayer with the other kids before classes started. I was always at awe of that prayer time. That was the only time that I prayed with people. I made a big mistake in 5th grade though. I had to write a book report on any book that I wanted to read. I waited until the night before it was due and then came up with a great idea. I would do a book report on the Bible. The teacher couldn't give me a bad grade for that and so I cut up all these religious pictures and pasted them into a scrap book and then wrote a short essay and turned it in the next day. The english teacher, Mrs McElroy, called me up after class and looked me square in the eyes and asked, "David, do you mean to tell me that you read the whole Bible?" I replied, "Sure did and it took me almost two weeks". Obviously she didn't buy my story. She reluctantly gave me a c- but my conscious got a real workout on that one. I sometimes wonder if God used that foolish event to catch my attention later.

You have just read the extent of my spritual life prior to coming to the Lord. I had no other religious bias or church background. I was left all my life wondering about God but never once did I have the religious alternatives that most of the other kids experienced. When I came to Christ there wasn't a religious bone in my body. I really think that it helped me to receive all that He had for me. It doesn't sound like a safe path if you are depending on a religious system to get you through. Without the religious counterpart to rely on I reached out to God Himself and that is exactly what I got. Little old me met the great "I AM" in person.

Later on in life I tried to commit to the institutionalized church and I lost my first love for Jesus. There is no comparison. I realize now why so many church goers have a difficult time personally finding God. I attended many types of churches over the years and more often than not I would never hear the name of Jesus spoken by the folks attending. I never understood that but now I understand and it is oh so very sad.

I can speak from experience. When we are un-encumbered by religion then our chances of making a real connection with the Lord increase dramatically. I don't take pride in what happened to me. I am just so grateful. That's why I am doing all this writing. I want you to know that there is a difference and that God is into us and not religion. He proved to us that we were worth everything on the cross. Not everyone that attends church is into religion but I'm afraid that the institutionalized church is not producing disciples of Jesus. It is building its own empire.

For the sake of all those that read this, I pray that you will see Him as He really is some day and soon if you have not already. Don't worry about attendance and tithing. That is man putting his controls on your time and God's money for the sake of the institution. As well intentioned as it may seem, the institutionalized church will never be able to replace a loving and living relationship with our Father in heaven and His son Jesus Christ.

The Walls Came Tumbling Down

The weeks after John's meeting with the Lord were something to behold. He seemed to have a sense of urgency about him. We spent a great deal of time together praying and reading the Bible. We made a transition from a musical brotherhood to brothers in Christ. It was deeper. It was real and we were excited. John's wife Marilyn was visibly upset with me. She always had a look of disgust when she saw me coming but I shrugged it off. I knew that her time would come and that the Lord would set her free from all that was troubling her. The barriers were there with Marilyn. She was up tight. She was about to explode and one day she did.

I visited Marilyn one day early in the morning. John had not yet gotten out of bed. She was sitting at the kitchen table with her head down when I walked into the room. She wasn't very happy about my arrival. I looked at Marilyn closely and saw that she was staring at the table and so I asked, "Marilyn, what's so interesting about your kitchen table?" She said, "I see a bunch of little Davey Buhls on the table and I want to smash them all to pieces." She went on to say that she was upset with me and that I wasn't the same anymore. She wanted the old Davey Buhl back.

I sat down beside Marilyn and looked her right in the eyes. Her eyes were full of tears. I said, "Marilyn, you are not mad at me." "You are mad because you don't have what I have and you don't have what John has now and the Lord wants to give you that today.""He wants you to give your life over to Him." The Holy Spirit began to shake her very being. Marilyn's head hit the table and she weeped for the longest time. She couldn't even say any words. She was just bawling like a baby. I then ask her, "Are you ready?" The look on her face was so different than the look that I saw when I first came into the room. The walls were tumbling down around Marilyn. All the barriers were being removed. The Holy Spirit was doing a masterful job of preparing her heart. She looked at me like some lost little girl and so I assisted her in prayer. She was guilt ridden over so many things and she let the Lord know. She began to pray on her own and the Spirit touched her deeply. Marilyn was drained completely and yet so at peace. We awoke John from his slumber and we celebrated another new birth. It was time to party and we did. John and Marilyn were now one in Christ.

The gang was starting to grow. John, Marilyn, Jimmie Joe, Norma, Darlene and I became the core of a new community and the Lord orchestrated the whole thing all the way back to Nashville. We knew that God was leading and that we had to follow. We had no idea where He was going with this but we were all so glad to be along for the ride. It was sweet. We couldn't wait to see what was next. We all had great expectations. After all, if the Lord could get through to us, we knew that He could get through to others.

Up Next......

"Music in the Air"

Biblical View of Beatle Music

I grew up in the 60's and very much a Beatle fan. My perspective of those four lads has changed quite a bit since those early days. I still love the music. The likes of Lennon-McCartney compositions may never be heard of again. I have been on a bit of a roller coaster ride in determining what their music really accomplished that no bands seem to have accomplished before or since their arrival into pop music. If I lay aside the musical arrangements and really listen to the lyrics then I get a better idea of why they had such great impact. They really stirred the pot. They had a whole generation of young people ecstatic and at the same time they had the church and the establishment going absolutely bonkers. The only thing different about them at the beginning was their mop top hair styles. Their songs were innocent and pure in comparison to today."I Want to Hold Your Hand" was not very suggestive and neither was "Do You Want to Know A Secret". The Beatles seemed to enrage the adult population because of the devotion that they received from their children.

At first their music was melodic Rockin Roll with plenty of beautiful love songs and ballads. These four young British pups were constantly harrassed and challenged by the media about their hair style and popularity. I really think that in some sort of way the media attack from the church and establishment started a new kind of songwriting by the Beatles. John and Paul began writing about life beyond romance. The famous Sargent Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band Album was probably the first move into deeper ideas and thinking by Paul and John.
"Within You Without You" was one of the song titles on Sgt Pepper as well as "When I'm 64".
That is quite a departure from "She Loves You, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah".

It appears to me in retrospect that the Beatles were asking a lot of good questions in their music. They were a bit older now and started to think more about life in a deeper sense. They also began to recall their childhood experiences with people and religion and they weren't buying into all that they saw. I'm sure that this was disturbing to those setting the pace and in control.

In the days ahead, I will occaisionally post about a Beatle song just to see what kind of questions they were asking as well as their world view. I believe God is active in the world and often times uses public figures for His own purposes. There are many accounts of that in the Bible. The Lord is involved with the world more than we will ever know. I remember a prophecy about the Beatles in the late 70's. It was quite astounding. It spoke about God having His hand on them at the beginning but that His hand lifted when they moved toward eastern religion. I took that prophecy with a grain of salt back then. Now, I'm not so sure.

Is God a player in this World? You betcha! Let's see if there was anything that we can learn from the questions the Beatles were asking in their latter years. Were their questions mirroring the questions that we are still asking today? Lets' take a look and let's hope that none of us become "Fools on a Hill" in the process.

Enjoying the Present

Someone once said that the future is nothing more than a series of today's. If you think about that statement it is jam pack full of implications as to how we live our life. If we are somehow in a state of depression or discontent over a long period of time then we are setting ourselves on a downward slope and a not so bright future. Each day presents an opportunity to start fresh. That's what I love about our existence. God has given us plenty of opportunity to rebound. It's really up to us though. Have you ever thought about it in those terms?

While I was involved as a Men's pastor I read a book by Pat Morley called Man in the Mirror. Pat claims that the average American guy haplessly wanders through life like a money machine and never stops to examine why he does anything that he does and therefore lives a very responsible but unfulfilled life. There are many executives at the end of their careers asking, "Is this all there is?"

What we do have under our control is our decision making. That is exciting. We have the God-given ability to set ourselves on the right course. The first step in a change of direction is to stop. Yes, stop the music. Quit playing the same song. It's getting old. Look at the present. What do you see? What is it that needs to be changed? Is there anybody that you can talk with about this? Your future hinges on your daily decision making. Better decisions and right thinking can change your whole future. Just because you have always done things the same way doesn't mean that those ways are right or that there aren't adjustments that need to be me made.

God wants our life. He really does. He wants to be involved in it every day. I'm sure that this kind of talk may sound like a fairy tale to some of you but believe me He can guide us daily. The reason we get squeamish about it may be because we have never really experienced His presence in the first place. Guess what? That can be changed as well.

James 4: 8

Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you.

That's a great way to start!

Enjoy the present with Him first and see where He leads you.

Does God Like Baseball?

Did you ever wonder about what God thinks about all the stuff we are into? The World series is about to start and that's a big deal to American sports fans. The Colorado Rockies are going to face the big bad Boston Red Sox. I know that God is not a Rockies fan or a Red Sox fan. I think He likes the Pirates because the Pirates need a miracle right now and that's God's specialty. Does God like our computers? How about American Idol? Do you think He watches? I can't wait to find out what the Lord really thinks about all the things that we do thanks to Him.

Until then I have a hunch. Whenever I get stuck trying to understand the Lord I always go back to one very important aspect of His nature. He is our father who art in heaven. God is dad of the human race. I can now understand a bit how he feels about our stuff because I'm a dad. I loved to see my kids get involved. I liked watching my boys play sports and my daughter do her dance recital and cheer leading. I got to see them use their talents and abilities. It was enjoyable. All I wanted was their love and respect while they participated in all those activities. I let my kids try a lot of things because I knew that in the trying they would find success somewhere along the line. That's the nature of fatherhood.

So, does God love Baseball? I'm not sure. I do know this. He loves the baseball players. He loves their wives and families. He loves the umpires and coaches. He loves the fans. All He wants is their love and respect. He wants acknowledged. He's not out to stifle us but He wants to be involved in everything that we do. So pull up a chair during the series. Grab yourself a beverage and some goodies and ask the Lord to come watch the game with you. Sounds silly? It's really not. I guess it doesn't sound religious and so it doesn't seem to fit. That's the problem with our thinking. God isn't into religion. He's into you! He's your Heavenly Father!

His Joy is Our Strength...

Are you having any fun yet? Is your faith boring? Are you tired of the same old stuff? Do you feel weak when you think about your life in Christ? Have you really experienced the love of Jesus? All the doubt, all the fear, all the boredom is a result of not having real joy. The reality of a Christ centered life is nothing at all like religion. Religion is a downer. It doesn't have any life. It's all contrived by us and we don't have the answers. It's really dumb.

There is no high like the one you get from the Holy Spirit. I remember the day that I got water baptized. A fellow elder in our old church was annointing my forehead with oil and praying for me before the baptism. The Holy Spirit flatened me. I lost my legs and rolled down an embankment and I was laughing uncontrollably. I didn't feel a thing. I just could not stop laughing. I don't ever remember that happening again but I will never forget that moment. God was playful with me that day. He tickled my belly and I couldn't stop laughing. I was the true definition of a "holy roller" that day.

Nehemiah said it best.

Nehemiah said, "Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is sacred to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.

Very few folks ever experience the real joy of the Lord. It's not about rolling down embankments and laughing your head off (although that was pretty cool). It's more about knowing His presence and walking with Him daily. It gives you strength. It really does. I like feeling strong. Little guys like that in general because the big folks can be intimidating. I like it because it gets me out of myself. The Kingdom life is different than church life. It's exciting and all encompassing. Your in the real battle and guess what? We win in the end!

For God so Loved.......

For God So Loved.....

For God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten son. God loves the world. I don't think that we really get it. If we really knew what the world means to God we would not be doing the things that we do in the American church. We have made an honest and dedicated effort to separate ourselves from what is really going on around us. We have built our sanitary sanctuaries and have maintained them to our delight while the rest of our country is being destroyed by sin and iniquity. I really think that we like our safe havens that keep us tidy and secure. I have enjoyed them myself. I can relax there. It costs me very little. I can attend a couple of hours on Sunday, pay my dues and then go home and watch the ball game.

For God so loved the World. That has been heavy on my heart lately. When I was attending church and doing the religious thing I didn't really give the world much thought. I was too busy with stuff. Yeah, I was a member of the inward hearts club. I was oblivious to the pain and suffering in the world.

Jesus didn't live that way when He was on the earth. He spent time with people. He also enlisted his disciples on short notice and sent them packing right away. Jesus saw the harvest as something we go out into. Jesus never once instructed His disciples to build a Sunday morning theater with box seats and peanut galleries for the viewing audience.

None of this was God's intention. God has an extravagant love for the human race. He sees the ravages of sin on all that He loved and created and His heart is to heal and restore the lost and hurting. Our view of God's mission for us is skewed by the comfort of organized religion. I know the difference. My spiritual senses have been dulled over the years by organized church whether it be denominational or non-denominational. Even home groups can be institutionalized and religious.

When we become like Jesus our heart begins to care about what He cares about. That is the clearest indicator of where we are in the maturing process. I am slowly but surely coming around. I decided to abandon all forms of organized religion about 18 months ago. It's kind of scary because it kind of leaves you out there hanging. You start to search your heart and self-examine again. The substitutes have been removed. No more relgious activity to hang my hat on. I have some brothers in the Lord that are on this journey as well. The Lord is starting to dig down deep. He now has my attention. No more substitutes. No more man made religion and more of Him. He is gentle. He draws. He doesn't push. It's un-mistakenly Him.

For God So Loved