The Dawghowse is a place inside the head of husband, father and Pastor Darrell Garrett. It's the place where the real me lurks.
Be forewarned: It's probably not what you expect. Sometimes it's a serious place... sometimes it's not. Sometimes my thoughts are deep... and sometimes they are just plain weird.
Welcome to my world!
Just laying here thinking for a few minutes before we get on the road back to Illinois, and as we look to the New Year, and looking back on the past year, and the first decade of this millennium, I have to say life as we know it has changed drastically in the past 10 years. Life here in the U.S.A. is changing right before our eyes with the sweeping changes being made. We spoke with a man who grew up in Argentina last week and he spoke of his fears for the United States because he see's the same mistakes being made here in America that were made in his homeland that ripped his country to pieces. Yeah, life is changing, and the fact is, with the runaway congress and political structure we have, there is little we can do to change any of it. Just buckle up, we are in for a wild ride. As I was thinking on all this, I was thinking how grateful I am to have the Lord to lean on, and I find comfort in the fact, that he is God, and He does not change. I found myself singing this old song, and I wanted to share it again. I still love you Lord, in the same old fashioned way... and I am thankful that I have you, that I am safe in your care and that one thing will never change!
"'For who has despised the day of small things?...'"Zechariah 4:10 NKJVD.L. Moody became a spokesman for God and a changer of nations. But if you'd met him early in life you wouldn't have thought it was possible. Although he was raised in church, he was spiritually ignorant. When he moved to Boston he began attending a Bible-preaching church. In April of 1855, a Sunday school teacher came to the shoe shop where he worked and led him to Christ. A month later, when he applied to become a member of that church, it was clear that he knew nothing about the Bible. One of his Sunday school teachers later wrote, 'I've never met anyone who seemed less likely to become a Christian of clear and decided views, much less fill any place of public usefulness.' So they asked him to take a year of Bible study. During his interview with the membership committee a year later, his answers were only slightly improved. He was barely literate and used atrocious grammar. Nobody on that church committee thought God would ever use him. But they were wrong.
And the people who say you will never amount to anything for God are wrong too!Every oak tree starts as an acorn. Jesus began in a stable but He didn't stay there. David was a shepherd boy with a slingshot but he became Israel's greatest king. Joseph was a prisoner but he became prime minister.
Understand this: you are a seed capable of producing a harvest for God. So take all that you have and all that you are, place it into God's hands and be willing to start small.
The above post is adapted from my daily devotional, "The Word for Today" and I wanted to share this for all my readers.
You know, there is just something about the beginning of a new year that causes us to examine our lives, reflect, evaluate and look to the future. The funny thing is that in reality, New Years Day is no different than the day before or the day to follow. Still, somehow, being the first day in a new calendar year gives it an almost supernatural quality, making it a portal into a new world. With this day we see the possibility for change, renewal and breakthroughs. New Years Day presents us with the opportunity to close the door on a chapter of our lives and the prospect for new exploits, new victories are endless.
I’m not usually one for making the conventional resolutions. I don’t really like making a list of things I want to accomplish in the coming year. Face it, a year can be a long time, and resolutions fade quickly as the days slip by. Most of those resolutions and lists are lost or forgotten or abandoned usually within the first 2-6 weeks. This year, I am making one resolution... one thing that I want to accomplish. With a list of one, it should be pretty easy to hold on to and to pursue. My resolution, my intent is that in the year 2010 I am resolved to focus on who I am in Christ.
In truth, there are two sides to who we are: there is STATUS, or where we stand in regard to God, and IDENTITY, or who we are inside. I am a man of covenant, and living breathing child of God. He calls me his son. I have been grafted into the vine, adopted into the family of God. In church circles, we call this being Born Again. This is my status or standing. However that is just the beginning of it. I desire to really see who I am. Now to someone who is religious, that may sound pretty unreligious, especially when I so often preach against “I”. (When I comes first, we push God out of the way and we fall into sin.) But the New Testament tells us to put on the new man, created in the image of Christ. In a sense, that requires some focus on “I”. I guess it is kind of a paradox, because it also requires focus on Christ, since the new me is created in His image. The Lord showed me something a long time ago about mirrors that taught me how to look at myself. Sometimes I forget to do it, and that’s when I lose sight. This year I am going to keep my focus on the image I see in the mirror. 1 Corinthians 3:18 But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.
What do you see when you look into a mirror? Of course, you see your reflection. You see what you look like. Now, imagine a man blind from birth. He may have an idea from feeling what his appearance is, but he has never seen his own face. On the other hand, that same blind man would recognize someone he knew by their voice and their manner.
The mirror of God reflects the nature and character, rather than the external appearance “as beholding in a glass the glory of the Lord.” Now that gets really good when you look up the meaning of glory.
Most of the time when we talk about New Year’s resolutions, our focus is on changing ourselves. This is different, because what I’m talking about is releasing the changed or New Man that is within me because of the blood of Calvary.
This Year, more than ever before, I am intent on looking into the mirror of God.
In the past couple of days I've noticed that a particular blog entry from the past has been visited several times as people searched Google and this one blog has been hit several times in those searches. I went back to read it, because honestly, I did not remember it. It was more than 4 years ago, after all. When I read it, I just felt prompted to re-post it for the readers I have on board today. I hope it helps someone.
Those that know me well know that I was involved in a very serious car accident back when I was in college that has left me with a lot of back and neck trouble. One of the things most people do not know is that in that same accident the muscles and tendons in my right hand were torn as well. With therapy, I regained most of the use of that hand with only some cracking and popping in my wrist. The doctor and therapist told me back then that the real problem with this hand would come as I aged, with significant problems coming in about 15 years. Well, that accident took place 17 years ago tomorrow, and their words bring loud and clear in my ears. I don't like to admit it, and I try hard to hide the complications, but the fact is I am losing the strength and my grip in my right hand. I struggle greatly to open a jar and sometimes cannot even get the cap off of a soda bottle without quite a struggle. My handshake is not as firm as it used to be, which is a sign of weakness or lack of concern to many people, so I am often even hesitant to shake hands. I have a hard time admitting it, but I am weak in that hand. While I struggle with telling people this, I also am beginning to find it liberating to admit it, because hopefully I will not have to try so hard to compensate for this weakness in order to hide it.
Does anyone see a spiritual parallel?
I woke up at 4:05 this morning with my hand and back hurting so bad that I could not sleep. I got up for about an hour and finally lay back down. As I lay there, I kept thinking about how this accident has affected my life... and kind of had a pity party for a bit. But then the thought hit me how there are so many people struggling with life because they cannot admit their weaknesses and/or short-comings. They work long hours; put themselves deeper and deeper into debt trying to find that elusive "thing" that will bring fulfillment to their lives. But it somehow just never comes. What they don't realize is that what is missing is Jesus. They refuse to admit that, because they perceive that need for Jesus to be a weakness, and they will never admit their weakness.
There are people I have met who arrogantly spout off that they don't need the crutch of religion. Yet their lives grow more and more miserable with every car, boat or home they buy. Many of these people scream out at the Christians as being intolerant and they want our "religion" banned. I believe that the real problem is that they resent that we can find happiness, contentment and joy in our lives without all the trappings they have, yet they remain miserable. They simply refuse to admit that they have a weakness. But we all have the same weakness... and it is called sin. The Bible tells us that "all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." It also tells us that we were created to have fellowship with God. Therein lays the problem with so many. They are miserable because they are failing in their created purpose. What is missing is not another new toy or more stuff; but a relationship with the God of creation through his son, Jesus.
Weakness? We all are born with the same weakness, regardless of the color of our skin, the country we are born in or our economic status. It is called sin, which separates us from God. Trying to build your life without God is the real weakness. It is like trying to erect a building without first laying the cornerstone. You may erect a great looking building, and may look marvelous, but it is weak, and will never be right until that stone is put in its place. The Bible tells us that Jesus is that cornerstone. Your life without Jesus is just incomplete.
Church this morning, the final presentation of the play tonight, and then we are off to Orlando. I always look forward to vacation, but this year it is really different. I've been so mentally and spiritually exhausted the past couple of weeks that I just feel like I've got nothing left in me. This break could not come at a better time. I'm looking forward to some time with the family, some time to unwind and some time to let the Lord pour back into me.
To Harvest Church... we love you, and we will miss you while we are gone. I ask you to pray for your pastor and family that this is a time of refreshment and renewal. We will see you in a few days.
All of the folks who worked to put on the Galesburg Christian Theater production of "Three Wisemen and a Baby" hosted at our church, deserve a lot of credit and thanks, and we do thank you. There is one young man however, who has made some tremendous personal sacrifices in order to uphold his commitment to be in this production, which has caused him other problems, but in order to be a man of integrity, he has paid the price. He does not even know that I know of these sacrifices, and I don't believe Amber knows of them, but I wanted him to know, it has been noticed, and so very much appreciated. Jordan, I have always thought a lot of you, but your stock went way up in my book this past week. You are quite a young man, and I am very proud of you and thankful for you! Thank you more than words can say!
I don't have to tell anyone that the Christmas season is a rushed, hectic and stressful time of year. It is amazing what we (as a society) have turned Christmas into. I'd dare say that for most people, Christmas really has nothing to do with Jesus anymore. This fact is pretty obvious, but the harshness of this reality hit me like a bat upside the head a couple of nights ago. I was sitting listening to the school choir that my daughter sings in perform their Christmas concert. They were singing a Christmas song that speaks clearly about the birth of Jesus. As I scanned over the choir, my eyes happened upon one young lady who is a professing atheist who will confront Christians in a heartbeat trying to bait them into an argument over the existence of God. Her face was just beaming as she sang this song, so I just had to ask her about. The next day I found the opportunity and asked her about that song (and others) and what it meant to her. She said it was nothing, just some beautiful music, nothing more. She had to get her dig in and she made a comment as to how sad it is that "you people" have to depend on such a crutch. I refused to get into the debate at that moment and told her we'd make that dance another day. I walked away feeling so heart broken for her. It's a terrible thing being lost, but it is even worse to be lost and not know it. That's where she and her family are. As I got back in my van, I looked at the others around me and I realized that odds were that the vast majority of those that I could see at that moment were lost, wandering aimlessly and without hope. Most of them were and are so excited that Christmas time is here, but they are missing the meaning for the whole thing. They are celebrating Christmas... but leaving out the Christ... the Messiah, the Savior. What a terrible waste of time, money... and life. They are ignoring or oblivious to the answer to all of life's questions... exchanging it for parties, fancy paper and gifts that will be mostly forgotten a month from now.
I pray that some how, some way, they discover the Christ child during this holiday season and they find out just why he came... to seek and to save that which is lost.
I just sat and watched a TV show of a couple preachers from a nearby town where for 30 minutes they trash talked Bill Hybels, Rick Warren, Billy Graham as well as others and spewed out crap about how these men are preaching a false gospel and that they are not (and I quote) "not even Christians." Wait a minute... I believe I even talked about this today in my sermon... the term "Gospel" means "Good News." What is the "Good News"? It is a message of hope, deliverance and life! Yet all these men did was run down these ministers and speak curses upon them and those who follow them. Now, based on just this little information that I have given you, let me ask you: "Who do you think is preaching 'the gospel' and who is spewing a false 'gospel'." I can't speak for anyone else, but I'll take the message of hope! Jesus always spoke life... abundant life... not curses and death. I'm just wondering, can't these guys find enough in the Bible to preach without spending all their time, energy and money to tear down these ministries?
Earlier this week I was having a conversation with someone who has been struggling, and who had fallen out of church. (I hate that terminology, because no one "falls" out, they walk out... but that's for another blog.) Anyway, this person was talking about the need to make some changes in their life, but said that they just could not seem to figure out how to make those changes. This got me to start thinking about how I make real changes in my own life. Not just any change, but the kind that changes my life, that really change me. As I reflect back on my life, I realize that whenever I have made changes that really took, I have had to change what i believe. One thing that I have learned is that just repeating concepts that other people have written about or spoke of has never worked to change what I think, because it doesn't change what i believe. News Flash: You and I just can't talk ourselves into accepting a thought that we have no basis for believing.
Those that have known me longest know that toward the end of the 70's and into the early 80's, when I was teen going into my early adult years I had some serious meltdowns. The truth is, I never had much confidence in myself and as a product of my insecurity and lack of self worth, I had never really learned to relate with others. I found my confidence in a bottle of Southern Comfort or Vodka, smoking pot, and various other drugs I used as my problem grew deeper. I reached the place that I could not even function in life without chemical "assistance." In high school I always had a bottle in my locker, another in my car, stashed in my room, at work (I worked at Pizza Hut while in school) and always had plenty of pot stashed as well. Few of my friends new just how much I was drinking. Some actually saw me do a pinch hitter sitting in the back corner of the class room or bathroom, but they saw it as my being funny or trying to draw attention... I don't think anyone saw the dependence.
A really strange pattern developed in my life in my teen years. It's really weird. I never had any sense of self worth, so I was always seeking for approval of someone else. I constantly had to have a girl friend, because that meant I was accepted. I know, many folks do that. Where it really got weird was that I never would let anyone get too close to me. For one, if someone got too close, they might really discover just how much I was drinking, smoking and popping pills. Another thing was that after losing my parents and my brother at a young age, I made up my mind that I just would not let anyone get inside of me. It hurt too much when they were gone, so I pushed them away. I hurt a lot of people over the years because I'd let someone get just so close to me and then abruptly end a relationship for absolutely no reason that they could see. A really strange twist was that if the young lady ended the relationship with me, I would feel so rejected that I would have an absolute meltdown and frequently became suicidal.
Ironically, I grew up in church, and come from a family with a strong relationship with Christ. Several times over the years I would pray and ask Jesus into my life. My thinking was that because I asked Jesus into my life that things would change all by themselves. I found out that this is not how things work. I got to the place that church and religion was a place to go and appease my guilty conscience and make me feel better for awhile, before I slipped right back into my "normal" way of doing life. This became a regular pattern for me, running back to God every now and then when I was suffering another of my meltdowns, until finally I began to feel that God was rejecting me too. This was primarily because my image of God was that of a God who was really pissed off at the world (and me) most of the time. God was a God who would "get you" if you did not serve Him. I now know that I never really wanted to know God, but in fact, most of the times I had come to an altar to pray, it was usually because some one had preached a message on Hell and once again, how God was ticked off and was going to punish me.
This pattern, this vicious cycle continued on and on, with each cycle taking me deeper into depression, anxiety, feeling useless and the drinking and drug use escalated, pulling me more and more into a pit of despair. I began looking for new highs and rushes in my life, and my exploration took me into a life of crime. I really did not need the money as I had a good job and was making a lot more dealing drugs to my co-workers. It was simply the "rush" that I felt when I stuck a gun in someones face and demanded their money or whatever.
Everything in my life began to unravel on December 17, 1980 when I was arrested on murder charges along with a host of others. In the course of the legal wrangling, it was found that I had not been involved in the murder, but a "friend" who I had brought into my criminal ways, had gotten out of control and killed a woman and then told the police that I had done it. By the time they finished with him, the detectives had enough evidence against me on other charges that I was facing a long, long time in prison. I became more suicidal at that time than ever before, and nearly killed myself several times between December 1980 and June 1981.
Oh yeah, I tried the "religion" angle during that time too, but I was looking for a way out of my trouble, not a change of life.
Then, on June 12, 1981, I had a real, personal encounter with Jesus Christ. I have to admit, even then I thought things would change by themselves. It still did not happen. My circumstances did not automatically get better. In fact, I went to prison. But being born again made me a new creature on the inside. What I discovered is that my new birth gave me a brand new nature, and gave me access to everything God is and has. But being born again didn't automatically change my mind, the part of me that connects to this world. It took me awhile, but I discovered that my mind wasn't the part of me that was born again.
The bible says in several places to put on the new man, made in the image of God. It took me some time to grasp why that is necessary, and how that is done. Like so many new believers, I thought changes would just take me over. But the mind has to be renewed before the changes are evident.
In the book of James it is described like a man who looks at himself in a mirror, and then goes away and forgets what he looks like. The man who continues to renew his mind with the Word of God is like a man who continually looks into a mirror, sees the image of God there, and begins to believe that that is what he looks like too.
The key that began a life long change took place laying in a hospital room in Menard Penitentiary in January 1982, when a priest challenged me to forget everything I had ever heard about God, church, religion and the Bible, and to read the Bible for myself and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal the true nature of God to me. I was so tired of stumbling in the dark, and I accepted his challenge. I asked the Holy Spirit to be my teacher, and He lead me to a scripture that launched me into many changes ever since that time.
1 John 4:16, “and we have known and believed the love that God hath to us …”
It was like the light came on! It was not that God was pissed off or angry with me... God loved me!
Some of you are going, "Duh!?!" But this was brand new to me! It changed me... and it will change you!
I now know God loves me. Understand this... I KNOW... I BELIEVE that God loves me... and it is NOT because i feel like He loves me, because to be quite honest, there are times when I don't FEEL like He is even paying attention, let alone that he loves me. But I KNOW that He loves me, and my friends... knowledge is power!
My faith is built on what I know the Word says, which never changes. My feelings are the reactions of everything I think, experience, and believe. It is easier to walk on water than to build on my feelings! Why? Because they are always changing!
So when I saw this verse, I knew what to do. I had to begin to choose to believe. Understand, NOT just believe whatever sounded good, or whatever people told me. I had to choose to believe what God was telling me. He reveals what His Word is saying to my heart, and I choose to believe it. Then I stand on it and speak it to myself – the same way people do when they're worrying about something and continually say what they're afraid is going to happen.
I began to apply this to all the scriptures that describe who and what i am in Christ. And you know what? I began to renew my mind! And as my mind was renewed, I began to walk in newness of life. It was like being a warrior, and finally beginning to put on my armor. It was like being a child of the King, and finally holding my head up, not because of who I am, but because of whose I am.
You know, the fact is that in the 28 years since I met Jesus, this world hasn't changed, except maybe to have gotten worse. There will always be things to contend with. There will be difficult people who will hurt me. There will be losses, pain and yes, there will be storms. But I have changed. I will still make mistakes, and sometimes do the wrong thing out of anger. I still have many changes to make.
But these things, and the world, don't tell me who I am anymore. I know who I am. At times I still do struggle with having a personal identity, but I know I am a man who is in covenant with God. Today, I really know Who I am in covenant with and that makes me strong.
OK, since Gibbs says climate change is no longer debatable, I guess we are just supposed to accept that fact and bow down to those who want to rape our wallets and steal our freedoms in the name of a global farce that has now been proven to have been created by a bunch of knuckleheads. Notice that it has gone from "Global Warming" to "Climate Change." Duh... of course the climate is changing! It always has changed and gone through cycles. When I was in high school all the "experts" were telling us we were on the threshold of an ice age. Then they told us we were creating holes in the ozone layer and the temps were going to continue to rise. Now that the cycle is changing again and the temps have dropped over the past year or more, they are altering their hypothesis yet again. Has anyone noticed that the people spewing this rhetoric are getting rich off of it? Hello? Yeah, the climate is changing... it does it four times a year, and they are called seasons.
The Marines Show You How .... There's a 'message' in this video. You've got to take two minutes to watch this comparison between George Bush's visit with the Marines vs. Obama's recent trip. It is incredible.
I'm sure I will get blasted for this post, but hey, I'm used to it. The thing is, that "Christianity" is changing. Today's breed of Christian feels no need to be committed to church, no need to tithe, no need to live a life of holiness... it's all about them and how God accepts them just as they are. The thing is, God DOES accept us into the family of God just as we are, but then there is supposed to be a change. Seems like I read somewhere something about not being conformed to the this world. In fact, that verse in Romans 12:2 reads this way in the New Living Translation: "Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think." This new breed of Christian thinks that they can show how cool they are and how cool God is by using profane speech and shock value in their behavior. God's not interested in being "cool." You see, cool today is lame tomorrow. God is who He is. We are to conform to the image of His son, not try to conform to the image of the world. Oh... relevant? Yes, we do need to present the Gospel in a relevant way, but that NEVER means compromising our standard (of holiness) nor the integrity of the Gospel or our Lord. Today we have people sitting in our church singing praises to God, raising their hands and shouting... then going out and having illicit sex, drinking with their buds and acting exactly like the world. Call me judgmental, but I'm saying God is not having a part of this! God demands that we be a holy people. God demands that we come out from among them and be separate. This "new breed" of Christianity is NOT Christianity at all. To be a "Christian" means to be Christ-like." Somehow, I just do not believe that Jesus would be using the language and doing the things that so called Christians are doing today. Nope... Not buying it.
Whenever people tell me that they are upset, not feeling good, or just about anything negative, I am notorious for saying, "Stop it!" It dawned on me a few days ago that many people around me have no clue why I say this, and I promised one of my church members earlier this week I would post the reason for it on my blog. I forgot about it until just a few minutes ago I again told someone, "Stop it!"
So... here's the reason why Pastor D says, "Stop it!" so much:
I wanted to share this from my online devotion (The Word For Today)
"'Can anything...separate us from Christ's love?...'" Romans 8:35 NLT
Our limited minds can't comprehend God's love because it comes with no strings attached. He doesn't love us 'if,' but 'in spite of.' As a parent you may not approve of your child's behaviour, but you always love and accept them. Paul asks, 'Can anything ever separate us from Christ's love?'(Romans 8:35 NLT) Then he answers, '...I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God's love...'(Romans 8:38) Doesn't that blow your mind? We have just enough ego to believe there are certain sins God can't get over; like the ones we never commit. Do you remember the Pharisee in the temple who prayed, '...God, I thank You that I am not like other men; extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or...this tax collector [standing next to me].' (Luke 18:11 NKJV) Understand this: God's standard is perfection, and you couldn't reach it in a thousand lifetimes! Grace is the only hope any of us have. Our love for God relates to the level of the forgiveness we've received from Him. The Pharisees were shocked that Jesus would allow a woman with a bad reputation to kneel at His feet, bathing them with her tears and drying them with her hair. They thought, '...If Jesus were a prophet, He would know that the woman...is a sinner!' (Luke 7:39 NCV) No, it wasn't that Jesus didn't know, it was that He didn't care. 'Then He said to her, 'Your sins are forgiven.'' (Luke 7:48 NKJV) Then He gives us the bottom line: '...to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.' (Luke 7:47 NKJV) And what should our response to God's love be? 'This is love for God: to obey his commands...' (1 John 5:3 NIV)
I've been writing this blog now for just over 4 years, and I still find myself amazed and humbled at the fact that people want to read what I have to say. I actually publish this through Blogger, Facebook and Myspace, and there are a number of readers from each site. I started blogging, really, more for me than anything. I have found it theraputic to vent my thoughts. It was never really about others reading in the beginning. Now, I find that I have regular readers from around the world. In fact, about 1 of every 4 readers is outside the United States. It just blows mymind. This picture is a screen shot of a map showing where my readers have logged on from today. This is just the readers on Blogger. I just think it is so cool to see this every day.
Haven't been feeling well, so this morning I've just been resting and watching TV. Found one of my favorite old shows on, "The Beverly Hillbillies" on. (After 44 years, this show still holds up.) Anyway, in this episode, Jed is feeling useless and decides to start doing handiman work for people free of charge, just so that he feels like he is useful and doing something. Mr. Drysdale decides that what Jed needs is a hobby, and he sets out trying to find something that Jed will enjoy doing. He shows him a ship in a bottle that it took Mr. Cushman 3 years to build. Jed see's this as wasting a ship and a bottle, not to mention a waste of 3 years. He presents him with the idea of stamp collecting and he thinks it's entirely too expensive to write letters at that price. Then he shows him a coin collection and a dime that the owner paid $12,000 for. Jed says, "Your friend got snookered!" Mr. Drysdale explains that the dime was very old, very rare and worth the price. Jed says, "If you put that dime into one of those candy machines, would it give you $12,000 worth of candy?" Drysdale tells him that it would only give a dimes worth. Jed tells him that he needs to go help his friend because he needs help because he got snookered.
As I'm watching this, the thought hit me how many people have been "snookered" in life. They have things that they value, even treasure and they've placed their trust in these things or activities.
I've often said that I think the idea of paying the prices that people pay for diamonds, pearls, so called "precious stones" and so on is just stupid. It's a rock! It's a piece of sand that got into a clam that was unwanted. The only reason a diamond is worth that much is because someone, somewhere decided they could charge that much for it. Tomorrow we could wake up to find that someone has decided diamonds are worthless and they would be. We could be told that now our money is worthless, and it would be. Don't think so? Hold on awhile and you will find out. I remember just a few years ago when Germany went to the Euro and those who had chosen to hold on to Marks found out that they were no longer of value. Just like that, it was not worth the price of the paper it was printed on. Right now, people are being advised to buy gold. The price of gold has sky rocketed. But what will that gold buy you if gold is declared illegal to own once again? Having all the gold in the world would mean nothing if you could not trade it. People are putting their trust in gold, silver, diamonds, stock and bonds... and they are being snookered. No, I'm not saying that we should not prepare for the future financially, but I'm thinking of the big picture. What about the real future? What about eternity? The reality is that a man may be a billionaire and own houses and lands, jewels and gold, and still be absolutely without hope. They may be the most famous person in the world; someone whose face is known around the world... but if they are not known by Jesus, then they've been snookered!
Let me finish this with the words to one of my favorite old songs:
I’d rather have Jesus than silver or gold; I’d rather be His than have riches untold; I’d rather have Jesus than houses or lands, I’d rather be led by His nail pierced hand.
Than to be a king of a vast domain Or be held in sin’s dread sway, I’d rather have Jesus than anything This world affords today.
I’d rather have Jesus than men’s applause; I’d rather be faithful to His dear cause; I’d rather have Jesus than world-wide fame, I’d rather be true to His holy name.
He’s fairer than lilies of rarest bloom; He’s sweeter than honey from out of the comb; He’s all that my hungering spirit needs, I’d rather have Jesus and let Him lead.
Just a little while ago I was driving home and heard a spot on the radio about a woman who was role playing with her young daughter about the angel telling Mary that she would be the mother of the Son of God. She said that she said her part. "Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end." Without pausing to think about it, the little girl said, "Sorry angel, I'm too busy, you'll have to find someone else."
Wow... I wonder where she heard that?!
This little girl spoke a tremendous sermon in that one short sentence. One of the biggest blights on the Body of Christ in America is that very few seem to have time to do anything for God. They will come to church on Sunday if they happen to get in bed early enough on Saturday, and if there is nothing that comes up to draw them away on Sunday morning. Wednesday night? Yeah, right. Precious few make it for mid-week service anymore, and some who do are always looking for a reason to miss. Even the leadership of the churches cannot seem to find time to come to midweek service. Is it any wonder attendance is shrinking? The people are simply doing what they see their leaders doing! We've got our priorities completely upside down and inside out. Thank God He is not too busy for us!
