The Dawg Recommends...

If you live in the 'Burg area, you have got to take the Dawg at his word and take the short drive out to Abingdon and try LaRoma's Pizza. I promise you, you will not be disappointed. If you are the type who thinks Pizza Hut is good stuff... go out and find out what a real pizza is supposed to taste! And if you are adventurous and what to try something spectacular, try the bruschetta pizza! It is to die for. While you are at it, get to know the owners, pictured above from left to right: Caterina, Gianni and Vincenzo (Vinny) Vitale. They are some really great folks with whom we are fastly becoming friends. LaRoma's is tucked away in the old downtown area of Abingdon at 207 S. Main. When you go, tell them that Pastor Garrett sent you to try their pies.

Does God Ever Annoy You (part 10)

For those who are newer readers, this is part of an on going series that I started in February of 2006. If you want to check out the other parts, follow this link and you will find the other nine in reverse order. Does God Ever Annoy You?

I've not added to my "Does God Ever Annoy You?" series for about a year and a half, but today I just have to. God's really been messing with me (read "dealing with me") about my attitude. Today's annoyance is that God is concerned more about my attitude in life than he is about what is causing my attitude. (Ticks me off too!)

I'd love to go into all the details, but I just can't without getting myself into a whole lot of trouble. Suffice it to say I've got an attitude today. It's one of those times in life. First, I've not felt well for over a week, and the past 3 days have just felt awful. Add to that the fact that the weather stinks, and one thing after another has happened, and then I got one piece of bad news after another, then another... and then the biggie hit me... and my attitude is just in the crapper. I mean, you really don't want to be around me type attitude. I'm sure you know what I mean.

Well, a couple of hours ago I start feeling the Holy Spirit nudging at me at me, and God is giving me that, "Come sit with me awhile" thing, and I'm knowing all the while that I can't, because if I do He is going to start dealing with me about my bad attitude. Opps.. too late! He already is!

So, I try to ignore God. Fat chance of that. The Holy Spirit kept poking me, whispering, "Come over here awhile." Try as I might, He would not leave me alone, and I could not ignore the voice of God... and believe me, I tried! (Ever wonder why we try something so foolish?) I mean, I know I'm wrong already, but I'm like, "Come on God. I've got a good reason to be angry and upset. You know what so and so said, and you know about this and about that... and the weather just sucks, and my laptop is broken, and my head hurts, my back hurts and... (yada, yada, yada)." I mean, I'm just throwing out a litany of excuses for my bad attitude, and I'm laying on thick when I hear God say, "Are you about ready to get off that pity pot yet?" I'm like, "Are you even listening to me Lord? I've got a boat load of stuff happening all at once and you don't seem to care?" And I hear God say, "I know all that, but what I am interested in is how are you going to deal with it? How are you going to act?"
I KNEW it would come back to me... that's why I did not want to talk to God about it in the first place! Kind of reminds me of what God said to Cain in Genesis 4 when Cain had a bit of a 'tude... "God spoke to Cain: "Why this tantrum? Why the sulking? If you do well, won't you be accepted? And if you don't do well, sin is lying in wait for you, ready to pounce; it's out to get you, you've got to master it." (The Message)

Of course, I know that it's me, that I'm completely wrong and that I've been failing the test... but it's one of those times when God annoys me, because even when I'm feeling justified within myself for my attitude, he demands that I confront that part of my flesh sooner, rather than later and bring it unto subjection. You win Lord. I'm trying...

Closing the Gap

I have not posted in awhile, been pretty busy with other things, and really have not felt the greatest either. This morning one of my devotionals that I use, by Ed Young, was a thought I wanted to share. Hope you get something from it too.

1 Peter 5:8 (New International Version)

⁸Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

Have you ever seen a video of a lion stalking its prey? The moves are quite precise as it sneaks up as close as possible to the unsuspecting mark. It is able to stalk with its body low to the ground to prevent from being seen. And during the approach, the lion makes note of every weakness and has no problem exploiting them for the purpose of a tasty meal. Then, when the prey least expects it, the lion pounces.

The Bible says that Satan is just like that lion. He watches from a distance noticing each weakness and area of temptation. He sneaks into our lives in ways we do not detect, and camouflages his actions so that we mistake his deception for fulfilling opportunities. But the difference between Satan and a lion is that Satan does not always have to run after us; many times Satan leads us to a place where we render ourselves helpless and defeated.

Not every opportunity is from God. Satan can open doors as well. In fact, he loves to consume our time with good opportunities so we miss the great opportunities God has for us. God wants us to enjoy a full, abundant life of freedom. But we will never experience that fullness as long as there is a gap between our priorities and commitments.

God desires to help us close that gap. Arranging our priorities based on God's Word will help to keep us out of the bondage of Satan's grasp and in the freedom of Christ's plan for our lives.

Another Look Back

I've just been doing a lot of thinking this morning, especially about recent conversations with people and I had this thought about people always wanting something they don't have. No matter what they have, they always want something different. They get that thing and they want what they gave up to in order to get what they now possess. It reminded me of something I'd written before. Took me awhile but I finally found it. I couldn't believe it had been 3 and a half years ago!

Thursday, September 01, 2005

You Always Want What You Haven't Got

I was listening to a CD this morning and part of a particular song got my attention and made me think. The title of the song is "You Always Want What You Haven't Got."
It begins like this:

It's like I got up one morning,
Looked at the way that we live
Thought things could be so much better
There must be better than this.
And if I relocated, to where the grass is greener
Maybe I'd be happy again
But I'm a little bit disappointed 'cause now I've got my freedom
But I'm still looking over the fence.
It's always the same, at the end of the day
You always want what you haven't got.

Man, how true, how true.
How many breakups and divorces, how many church splits, how many problems we encounter in life are brought on because we are always looking over the fence and wanting what is over there instead of finding contentment in where we are and what we are blessed with?
I think this can go back to the message I preached last week, where I talked about a God shaped hole in all of us that only He can fill. So many feel empty or unfulfilled because they are trying to fill that void with all the wrong things.

The Matter of Prayer

I've come to realize that most people in America think prayer time is about themselves and getting their needs/wishes met. It's like "Hello God, nice to talk to you... now give me this and give me that... I need this, I want that. Fix this situation, please get me out of that one... thank you God... in Jesus Name. Amen." We are a society of consumers, and it has invaded our prayer life, such as it is. That's the way it is in our society... "it's all about me."

I've got a news flash. Prayer has far less to do with you and much more to do with God.
Prayer is about bringing glory and honor to the God of all creation.
Take a look at the so-called, "Lord's Prayer."
I believe this is not supposed to be something we recite to make us feel all religious, and good about ourselves. Rather, Jesus was giving us a pattern for prayer. When you look at it as a pattern or model for prayer, take a look at what he is showing us.

"Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not unto temptation but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, and the power and the glory, for ever."

If you notice, this "model" shows us that prayer is much more about magnifying God. It is about giving him glory. Recognizing his power and authority and will for our lives. Prayer is much more about us lifting up God than it is us trying to "get things" from him.

Just thinking out loud today.

So You Want to Go Back to Yesterday

Have you ever noticed how people tend to romanticize the past? When they think about or talk about the past, everything always seems so great... and they often want to go back and do it again. We hear it all the time in the church world. People talk about the "glory days" and are always want to go back to what they did "back in the day." I find it particularly funny that my generation has always criticized the "older" folks for this, but if we'd be honest enough to open our eyes and ears, we are doing the same thing ourselves. We want to do what we saw work 20 years ago, or 10 years ago or even 5 years ago. It's natural, because there were good times and we want to do it again. But we need to stop looking back and see what God is trying to do in our lives today. We so often hinder what God is trying to do today because we are wanting to relive want was enjoyable, what God was doing then. But we've moved on. We are in a new time, a new place and what worked then is not necessarily the answer. We must seek God for what he is doing today. And besides... I really question were things as great as we thought they were anyway?

A few days ago I was talking with a friend from my own youth who was in our youth group. He was telling me how he wanted so bad for the youth choir to start up again, and do the carnivals and various other things we did back then. He talked about how powerful it was and how life-transforming it was and that today's youth at our old church need to experience what we did. I listened to him go on for over 20 minutes, and I have to admit, the trip down memory lane was fun. But when he finished, I asked him; "Do you really think it was THAT powerful?" He could not believe what I asked him. Then I said, "How many of that youth group are in church today?" We sat and counted up and of more than 70 that we could come up with who were in that group at one time or another, less than 20 are serving Christ today. So the question is not whether or not we had a lot of fun, but was it really "powerful"? Was it life-transforming. Somewhere, I believe we missed it. And I'm convinced it is not a phenomenon that only took place in my church, but it is repeated over and over and over in churches. I've witnessed this over and over. Someone is always wanting to do "what we used to do." Ever wonder why so many churches change youth pastors every 2 to 4 years? I believe it is because if they do not, they are in danger of falling into the "rinse and repeat" habit. You CANNOT do God's work with a "rinse and repeat" method of operation. We must stay fresh, stay in tune with the voice of the Holy Spirit and what He is wanting us to do today.

The danger is there. We fall prey to it so easily. We must guard ourselves of this and of trying to push our young folks down the same path we walked. Do we really understand that to go down the same path, it means we have to back track and take this generation back to where we were, instead of giving to them the benefit of our experience and knowledge and helping them to soar further than we ever did. Let's be honest, it really is about our wanting to relive our experiences more than anything; isn't it? I want to take the shackles off of this generation, point them in the right direction and let them soar, rather than trying to force them into the same things we did.

A Word from David Wilkerson

David Wilkerson posted this on his blog today and I felt it is so important that I want to relay it to others and I hope you will do the same.
You can find Wilkerson's blog at: http://davidwilkersontoday.blogspot.com

March 7, 2009 AN URGENT MESSAGE

I am compelled by the Holy Spirit to send out an urgent message to all on our mailing list, and to friends and to bishops we have met all over the world.

AN EARTH-SHATTERING CALAMITY IS ABOUT TO HAPPEN. IT IS GOING TO BE SO FRIGHTENING, WE ARE ALL GOING TO TREMBLE - EVEN THE GODLIEST AMONG US.

For ten years I have been warning about a thousand fires coming to New York City. It will engulf the whole megaplex, including areas of New Jersey and Connecticut. Major cities all across America will experience riots and blazing fires—such as we saw in Watts, Los Angeles, years ago. There will be riots and fires in cities worldwide. There will be looting—including Times Square, New York City. What we are experiencing now is not a recession, not even a depression. We are under God’s wrath. In Psalm 11 it is written, “If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?” (v. 3).

God is judging the raging sins of America and the nations. He is destroying the secular foundations. The prophet Jeremiah pleaded with wicked Israel, “God is fashioning a calamity against you and devising a plan against you. Oh, turn back each of you from your evil way, and reform your ways and deeds. But they will say, It’s hopeless! For we are going to follow our own plans, and each of us will act according to the stubbornness of his evil heart” (Jeremiah 18:11-12). In Psalm 11:6, David warns, “Upon the wicked he will rain snares (coals of fire)…fire…burning wind…will be the portion of their cup.” Why? David answered, “Because the Lord is righteous” (v. 7). This is a righteous judgment—just as in the judgments of Sodom and in Noah’s generation.

WHAT SHALL THE RIGHTEOUS DO? WHAT ABOUT GOD’S PEOPLE?

First, I give you a practical word I received for my own direction. If possible lay in store a thirty-day supply of non-perishable food, toiletries and other essentials. In major cities, grocery stores are emptied in an hour at the sign of an impending disaster.

As for our spiritual reaction, we have but two options. This is outlined in Psalm 11. We “flee like a bird to a mountain.” Or, as David says, “He fixed his eyes on the Lord on his throne in heaven—his eyes beholding, his eyelids testing the sons of men” (v. 4). “In the Lord I take refuge” (v. 1).

I will say to my soul: No need to run...no need to hide. This is God’s righteous work. I will behold our Lord on his throne, with his eye of tender, loving kindness watching over every step I take—trusting that he will deliver his people even through floods, fires, calamities, tests, trials of all kinds.

Note: I do not know when these things will come to pass, but I know it is not far off. I have unburdened my soul to you. Do with the message as you choose.

God bless and keep you,

In Christ,

DAVID WILKERSON
Posted by David Wilkerson on 3/07/2009

A Freindly Reminder

Just wanted to remind everyone that Daylight Savings Time begins Sunday, so before you go to bed tonight, set your clocks forward one hour.

A Lesson From the Dogs

I happen to live in a historic part of town with big old houses on a wide brick street with nice sidewalks. Because it is a fairly nice and safe area, we have a lot of people from town who choose to walk through our neighborhood, including those who like to walk their dogs. This morning is one of the nicer mornings we have had in quite awhile, so I took my coffee and sat out on the porch swing for awhile. As I sat there there were many people walking by, several with their dogs. It was interesting watching the people and their dogs. One of my neighbors who walks her dog every morning came by and stopped to say hello. Her dog walked along side her and when she stopped to say hello, he stopped and stood at her feet. When she began to walk again, without a word her dog got into step and walked with her. Then there was this man who came by with his dog, and I had to laugh and wonder, "who is walking who?" I'm sure we've all witnessed that scene before, where someone is walking a dog on a leash when the dog doesn't want to go where its owner is going. You know, where the owner is constantly tugging on the leash, pulling the dog this way then that way and barking orders at the dog to "get over here" or "get out of that." Watching this scenario today several different times, it hit me that this is how a lot of us live our religious lives. It's as if we are on a leash called "the Law." For so many their lives consist of "Stop that; don't do that; do this; you can't; you must" (and so on). The way this unfolds in our life is more like: "Read your Bible; pray; go to church; pay your tithes; witness". Don't misunderstand me, these are certainly the things we should be doing, but I don't believe that God ever meant us to do them at the end of a leash. Go back to the scene of my neighbor and her dog. What makes the difference? Relationship! The dog doesn't really need a leash to go for a walk. Its owner can just speak a word and the dog responds. In fact, the dog knows her so well that when she begins to move, he moved. I'm not meaning to compare us to dogs, but rather I'm trying to compare performance-based Christian living to relationship-based Christian living. There is such a huge difference!
In 2 Corinthians 3:5-6, Paul wrote: "Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves, but our sufficiency is of God; who also has made us able ministers of the new covenant; not of the letter, but of the spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit makes alive." We need to fully comprehend that when God redeemed us, He wrote His law in our heart and mind. (See Heb 10:16) What that means to us is that God wants to relate to you and I from the inside. We really should not need to look to an external system of rules to keep us in line, because we have God's Word written in our hearts and as we develop a deep relationship with the Lord, we have an inner desire to obey and please Him.

Back to the illustration of the dogs for a moment. The dog who was constantly pulling this way and that way was looking for freedom from the leash. The one who stood obediently and patiently at his master's side has discovered that freedom is not in running, it is in staying close to and obeying the master. I have two dogs. I will take them out on their leashes and they are exact opposites. One dog, "Copper" is constantly pulling and tugging at his leash. Let him off of his leash and he is gone in a flash. We really have to watch him because we live on a street with heavy traffic and he will always bolt for the street. The other dog, "Rowdy" stays within the limits of the leash without struggling. I can let him outside without a leash and he never leaves my eye sight. Call him, and he comes running. When I bring them back inside, Copper will invariably always do the same thing. He comes in the door, goes to his food and water bowl, not to eat, but just to check and see that they are there, and then he bolts across the kitchen headed for the dining room... until he hits the end of his leash and literally flips himself, snapping his neck. (You'd think he'd learn.) Rowdy on the other hand, comes in the door and stands at my feet waiting for me to remove the leash and rub his head. After I pet on him, he will depart to do what ever it is that he does. I really believe he longs for that few seconds of "loving" that he gets and he waits for it. Copper loves to be held and petted too, but he wants to run free until such a time as he wants that interaction between us. I've learned that often times Copper comes for "loving" when he wants more food or water.

In my mind, this reminds me of how so many of us are with our relationship with God. Some are always pushing the limits to see just how far they can go, always looking for some sense of freedom, oblivious to the fact that danger is out there beyond the "leash". Some only want to draw near to God when they want something from him. When we discover that staying close to the Master and recognizing that He knows what is best for us and that the deeper our relationship, the greater the reward, we will find the joy and contentment of living in harmony with the Lord instead of always trying to go our own way.

May we learn the lesson from the dogs today.

Burn In Me

For the last several weeks the Holy Spirit has been pulling me away to be alone more and more. God is challenging me, shaping me... changing me. If you've ever been there, you know that while these times are needed and exciting, they are also painful and lonely... they have to be out of necessity. It is in these times where the Holy Spirit confronts us with who we are in the light of God's Word. It is here were the ugliness of our lives are revealed. It is here were we see clearly the carnal nature that still lurks beneath the surface. I'm here to tell you that it hurts to see what is still there... and it is so humbling to realize that despite my short-comings and failures, God still loves me and I realize that He is not pulling me in and showing me these areas if my life to condemn me, but to mold me more and more into the image of Christ that I spoke of in my last blog entry. The most painful thing for me is to see just how much of that old man is still alive. As the light of the Holy Spirit shines in me, I realize more and more that the selfish heart still lurks and in some ways is still thriving. I'm on a journey and although it hurts so bad I am asking the Holy Ghost to burn in me... not with a shout, but with a consuming fire that will burn out those areas. The struggle is that there are areas and things in my life that when I see them in the light of God's Word, I know they need to go... but I like those things too much! I don't want to let go! So there is battle taking place between my flesh and my spirit and I am piece by piece doing away with some ideas, notions, mindsets and habits that are holding me back from being what my destiny really is in Christ. While it is a painful time of breaking and cleaning house, I am thankful and I am asking God to pour it on and in me; to burn in me and cause me to be more of the man that he'd have me to be.

I share this today for two reasons:
1) If I seem distant, unapproachable, even moody... understand it is a season that I need go through and I will come through better... so be patient with me.

2) I believe God is calling many in His church to a time of purging... and I wanted to ask some folks to recognize that what is happening in your life is for good... that God is taking you on a journey, and that it is a good thing. You'll come out better for it.

Burn in me, Lord... even when I don't like it, burn.

A Two Headed Coin

One of the biggest problems that I see within the church today is that of a Body that refuses to grow up, or mature. I'm not referring to what we see in one another when we are gathered together corporately within the church building, but rather what is revealed in our lives Monday through Saturday. You see, the true us, our "character" is revealed not by how we can behave when the camera is on us (so to speak) but rather how we act, how we speak when we are not aware that anyone is watching. The fact is, our character should be that of Jesus Christ. Character has many different meanings in our time. For example if someone is really funny we will call them a "character." We'll do the same if someone has very questionable, even shady behavior. No wonder we really don't grasp the depth of meaning when we speak of having "Godly character." The fact is, Biblically, when we speak "character" it carries the thought of image, likeness or being stamped as a coin would be stamped. When we speak of having Godly character, what we are speaking of is being the exact duplicate of Christ. God is looking for men and women of maturity and beauty of character.

In Matthew 4:19 Jesus said, "Follow me and I will make you fishers of men." There are two things we need to notice in this. First, God's calling. He is calling, inviting us to follow, to walk with him... which leads to the second point that is crucial, and we have missed it so often. He says, "I will make..." Notice, it is God who makes, or conforms us, not we ourselves. We must yield ourselves completely to the hands of the Master Potter whose desire it is to mold us into the image of Christ. The problem revolves around one issue... SELF. Self rises up and resists the pressure, the shaping and forming that the Holy Spirit is trying to mold us into. The Holy Spirit whispers to us to withdraw from the activities and habits of our former life, but self is not willing to let go. God calls us to deny ourselves, but self says, "go for the gusto... you can have it your way" mindset of this world we live in. We cannot live for self and be submissive to God at the same time. The two are at odds with one another and the growth of the Christ character (image) is stymied.

I speak often of how few are fulfilling the "go" part of the Gospel message. We should all be involved in ministry. I am absolutely convinced that the thing that is hindering the vast majority of Christians from becoming involved in the work of the church has nothing to do with satan at all, but rather is rooted in our own selfishness. We simply are not willing to deny ourselves of our time, our talents, our money... it is ours and no one is going to take it away from us. It sure is a good thing that Jesus did not feel that way, or we would all be up a creek without a paddle! We within the Body of Christ have got to learn that it is time to lay down our lives and allow the Holy Spirit to "stamp us" into the image of Christ. God has a goal for each of us. Paul wrote about it in Ephesians 4:13-16:
"We all come to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in the things into Him who is the head, Christ, from who the whole body joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love."

The problem is, many of those who sit in church are like a two sided coin. They look good, but they are good for one thing only... deception.
They show forth the side of Christ at times... but other times reveal that they still have another side to them. It is time for Godly character to arise, and to allow the image of Christ to be revealed fully in us. The world is not fooled. They see us for what we are. Unless and until we are conformed to the image Christ... unless we grow up, our lives and labors for the Lord will be incomplete and ultimately disappointing in the light of eternity.