Things Are Not Always As They Seem

The picture to the right is pretty awesome, depicting some sidewalk art that creates quite an illusion. It reminds me of a story which I heard a man use as an illustration while preaching some years ago that I will relate to the best of my ability.

He told how when he and his future wife were still working their way through college, they both worked at the same restaurant and he usually drove her home at night after work. She lived in the country and one night while driving her home they hit a rabbit. It did not bother him, but his girl friend was very upset and crying still when they arrived at her house. Her father wanted to know why she was upset when he saw her, and when they explained to him what had happened, her father gave them advice on how to prevent this from happening. He explained that car head lights caused animals to freeze in their tracks. He told them that next time they see an animal on the road, they should slow down, turn off the lights and honk the horn, as this would cause the animal to run off the road.

Just a few nights later, they were again coming home after work when the man spotted the eyes of a rabbit staring at the lights in the road up ahead. He took his foot off the gas, turned off the lights, and started to honk the horn. Suddenly he heard a huge bang and felt the car jerk violently and the car spun around and into a ditch. He got out of his car to discover his front tire blown out, and a huge dent smashed in under his door. He told his girl friend that had to be one tough animal,bigger than a rabbit, and that he wasn’t very certain if he wanted to go back and take a look at it. After all, with what it had done that to his car, what would it do to him? But he walked back to take a look anyway only to find that what he thought had been a rabbit was really a cement block laying in the middle of the road.

You know, a lot of times in our lives we see things that are not always what we think they are. Just because we believe something to be true does not necessarily mean it is true. By the same token, just because we do not believe something doesn’t mean that it is not true either. Some people believe that if they are good enough, if they do enough good things, if the good in their life out weighs the bad, then they will earn their way into Heaven. It sounds good and so very righteous, but it is not true. There are some who think that because they go to church and pay their tithe and offerings, they will go to Heaven. There are some who think that because they believe what the Bible says is true, that belief will earn them a ticket to heaven. The problem is, these things just are not true.

The real truth is, as Ephesians 2:8,9 says; "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast." The same Bible tells us believing is not enough, we must act on that Word and be doers of the word and not hearers only. The devil believes. Many believe. But they have not acted... by putting their trust in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. And then there are some people who believe that they have done too many bad hideous things to ever be able to be forgiven and accepted by God. This is not true either. The truth is this; 1John 1:9; "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." And also; Rms. 3:23,24; "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus."

It appeared to those who loved Jesus that He had died on the cross, only leaving behind good and moral teachings. But on that resurrection morning as they came to His tomb to mourn, they discovered the truth. An angel proclaimed this truth to them, "He is not here, He is arisen, just as He had said."

Jesus' death on the cross "appeared" to be the end, but praise God, Jesus defeated death and the grave, giving eternal life to all who believe on His name. Yes, it appeared Jesus was dead, but in reality, death was swallowed up in victory, and Jesus will give that victory to all who will call upon His name in faith.

Many believe that there are many paths up the mountain, that all "religions" lead to the same destination. But again, things are not as they appear. God's Word testifies that there is one truth that will set you free, which is; John 14:6; Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me."

Many are being deceived by appearances and illusions, but things are not as they appear. There is but one way... His Name is Jesus!

Love vs Tolerance

So, Are We Loving and Accepting People or Are We Just Tolerating Them?

It's been another cold, blustery day here in the Burg and now that the day is winding down, I find myself sitting here in our living room, reflecting over the day and in fact, the past couple of weeks.
Let me preface this by saying that our church has adopted a new motto, actually an old motto, from Jerry Cook's 1979 book, entitled, "Love, Acceptance and Forgiveness." I've been stressing in my teaching and preaching over the past few months that we must offer unconditional love to people, accept them for who they are and where they have been in life and give them unconditional forgiveness. So, I write this now, from the premise of offering Love, Accptance and Forgiveness to all... not just those whom we pick and choose.

So anyway, now I'm sitting here thinking about the past couple of weeks and some of the issues that have come into our church's realm of influence. Here we sit, with a goal of offering a fresh start to anyone and everyone. And as I think back about conversations I've had, things I have witnessed and I find the need to remind myself and other that as we approach this mission field which Jesus has commissioned us to serve in, that we are in fact going to encounter some really "messed up" people. I mean people with real issues, sometimes extraordianary issues. Let's face it, some have issues and things going on in their lives that are unpleasant to us and we really don't really want to deal with them. Some bring with them baggage that we have prejudices against. Some will have body odor or stinking breath. Some will have done things in their past that deeply offend us... and may even effect us personally. But we must still greet them with open arms and offer love, acceptance and forgiveness. If we are truly interested in seeing people delivered and having their lives changed, then we have to come to grips with the fact that some of these people are going to grate on our nerves and rub us the wrong way.

So, as I'm sitting here thinking, I'm wondering even as I type this, will we show the love of Christ and truly offer them love, acceptance and forgiveness... I mean, really LOVE people or will we tolerate them in order to fulfill the desires of our flesh by satisfying our need to feel good about ourselves and our church?

Just today, someone asked me, "how many times am I supposed to forgive them?" Well, Jesus told Peter 70 x 7. That's a whole lot of forgiving!
It is interesting to remember what was taking place here.
Remember, Peter has just blown it and denied Christ and that he knew him. As we come to this passage, Jesus has just reinstated Peter to his "inner circle." I find it amazing that there was no long trial period to see if Peter was worthy or "good to go" or to prove himself. There was no probation period for him or a time of restoration. No, a simple question and answer session was sufficient and Peter was back in. Unconditional love, acceptance and forgiveness in action!

So, my thinking is this... Are we really... I mean REALLY offering UNCONDITIONAL love, acceptance and forgiveness... or are we more or less tolerating some folks?
I think this is a question we should all ask ourselves: are we LOVING people or simply TOLERATING them?

What's the Grade Scale?

One of my newer readers to this blog sent me a message a few moments ago telling me that they have been going back and reading my blog from the beginning, and they suggested to me that I re-post the following post that I wrote on October 17, 2005. After going back and re-reading it for myself, I have to agree, it is pertinent to today. Thanks for the suggestion... and while I am at it, thanks for taking the time to read my thoughts accumulated over more than 4 years! I am honored!


What's the Grade Scale?
Everyone who has ever studied in college remembers this question: "What's the grade scale?"
It never failed, the first day of every class, someone was going to ask this question; and it usually would come within the first 3 minutes of the beginning of class.
The funny thing is that usually the one who asked this was the person who really wanted to know, "How bad can I do and still pass this class?"
What they really were really trying to discover was could they goof all semester, show up to class once in a while and still somehow manage to get a passing grade and credit for the class. Oh yes, in truth we were all wanting to know what the grade scale was so that we knew what was expected and were we stood, but we were going to give it our best, no matter what. But in every class there was always that one person (maybe more) that was trying to scrape by on the skin on their teeth. Funny how so many of those people dropped out of a lot of classes after that first day and somehow found themselves in Basket Weaving or Golf 101. I always found it amazing how people I had not seen for weeks showed up to class when ever test days rolled around. When they bombed the test, they would usually have a fit about how hard the test was, and they would either rush off to their advisor to drop the class, or they just might show up for the next week or two, hoping to do better on the next exam... but they would usually disappear again in a few days, only to reappear the next scheduled day for exams.

Isn't it odd how this same mentality is found in the church? You will find them in every church, although you may need to wait around for three to five weeks before they show up again, but I promise you, they are there in every church. They are the one who come in every now and then, usually when they are going through trials (tests). Or maybe they just happen to realize that they need to get the family back to church. They really mean well, and they want to make it to heaven, but they still have not discovered that it is not about going to church. They're the one's who had every intention of going to church on Sunday morning, but later tell the pastor, "But it sure is hard to get up on Sunday morning when I work the rest of the week."
They meant to come Sunday night... but since they slept in and missed the morning service, so they decided to make it a family day and by the time they went shopping, to the lake or some other place, "there just wasn't time to get ready... and we were too tired anyway."
They planned on coming Wednesday night, but "you know, there are just so many things going on all week... well, we've got to have ONE night for ourselves pastor!"
And so it goes, one service missed... a week, two... now three... and it hits them, "Oh, maybe we should go to church tomorrow." And they come, they enjoy the worship, are fed by the Word and feel good about themselves, and they think, "Let’s do this again!" They come for couple of weeks in a row, but once they have been revved up a bit they begin to think, "I deserve a day off" and the cycle begins again and they disappear again for a few more weeks. You would never convince them of this, but they are just like that person who asked, "What's the grading scale?" Their action (or in-action) speaks clearly. It says, "How little can I do and still get into heaven?" Some get really bold about it and insist on trying to convince the pastor and anyone else who will listen that you really don't need to be there every week. They want others to know that everything is just fine in their lives and there is nothing to worry about. They might even go so far as to convince others just how spiritual they are with their liberty to not be "bound to the church."

Call me silly, or maybe even legalistic... some might even say my faith is weak.. but I need to be in church on a regular basis.
Truthfully, I WANT to be in church more often.
It is not just a need to thing, but I have a burning desire to be in the house of worship.
Take away my opportunity to be in the House of God on Sunday and my whole life is out of sync that week.
Take away the fellowship of my brothers and sisters in Christ, and I feel isolated and lonely.
Take away the corporate worship, and I notice that my private worship begins to falter before long.
Take away the spiritual manna that I receive and feed on and I notice that I begin to get spiritually weak, all of a sudden and thoughts, ideas, attitudes and words creep into my life that don't belong and I get frustrated at what I find myself becoming.
We were made to worship God, and when you take that out of the equation, there is a void, with a vacuum created that will suck something else into the place that belongs to God and we find ourselves in a miserable state of being.

What is the grading scale?
Well, fortunately, I don't set it. Only the Lord gives the grade.
But we all need to be aware that there are no A's or B's... it is either pass or fail. There is nothing in-between. You either make it, or don't.
Just because you make every service does not mean you pass, no more than missing every service means you fail. You don't get points for good service or extra credit for some good deed. It all boils down to one factor: Did you make Jesus the Lord of your life? That doesn't mean you said a prayer or cried some tears, but rather that you surrendered your life over to Christ completely.
His will, his ways, his desires... all the time.
Nothing more... Nothing less will do.
Posted by Darrell at Monday, October 17, 2005

Signs of Famine

2 Kings 6:24- 7:5

The king of Syria had "besieged" Samaria. Cut them off. There was nothing going into Samaria, nor coming out.

This lead to a famine that overtook the land.

When Satan sets a besiege against us and our church, it is not a frontal assault, but he has set up camp around us, to cut us off. This speaks of separating you from your source, where things start drying up. It stops both the inflow and the outflow.There is nothing flowing in or out. The Holy Spirit is not getting in, there is no ministry going out. This leads to a spiritual famine.

There are signs, indications of famine in the natural that parallel in the spiritual realm.

In this story, the famine was so great that they began to sell and eat unthinkable items.

One was a donkey’s head, which sold for 80 pieces of silver.

The donkey is a stubborn animal, and they were eating a donkey’s head. One of the things that people develop in times of spiritual deprivation and famine is a stubborn mentality.

In fact, as was the case here, that’s what they were feasting on.

But, it always costs you when you have a stubborn mentality.

One of the worst things that could possibly happen is for you to develop a spirit of stubbornness.

The second sign is seen in their selling, buying and eating doves dung. The dove is a symbol of the Holy Spirit.

Dove's dung is not where the dove is, but where the dove WAS.

A sign of spiritual famine is people seeking dove's dung... where the Holy Spirit WAS, not where he is. Always looking backward... looking at the past, instead of seeking to be where the Holy Spirit is moving today. Living off of yesterday's blessing or move of God.

The third sign of famine is seen when the king is walking on the wall and a woman cries out for help. She and her neighbor made a pact in which they would eat one another's children. They had eaten this woman's child already and now her neighbor had hidden her son.

The kings response was: " If the Lord do not help you, how can I help you?"

What I see here is that when there is a spiritual famine, there is a sense of desperation that leaves those in leadership feeling helpless.

How many church leaders and pastors do we see discouraged and quitting because the inflow of life has been cut off, leaving them stressed and depressed with a feeling of helplessness?

Another aspect seen here is that in times of famine, "spiritual cannibalism." People begin to chew on one another, to devour them.

Yet another aspect is seen in the covenant between these two women. They promised to work together to survive, to provide for one another. Yet, one was willing to eat her neighbors son, but not to give up her own.

When there is spiritual famine, people want YOU to be responsible, but THEY ARE NOT WILLING. They want others to get the out of the mess, but they are not willing to do their part.

This is a huge sign of famine in the church today.

They want you to give, to work, to sacrifice... but they are unwilling to do their part to bring the famine to an end.

They will vote "yes" to certain activities, but they will back out.

They want you (or others) to do, what they themselves are not willing to do.

The last sign is seen in chapter 7, verse 2.

When the man of God says that the famine would end tomorrow... the kings right hand man said, "even if the windows of heaven were to open, this thing you speak could not happen."

This speaks of the unbelief that God's people have.

One of the most troubling things I see in this passage is that in the famine, it is not recorded that one person sought God. Not one prayer is offered. No one calls for a prayer meeting or a fast. The people were content to live in the condition of famine.

How often we see this in the church today! When an individual or a church are in a state of spiritual famine, they become inward focused... concerned with self, our church, not others... there is no outflow of what has been given to us. No ministry!

And when we become inward focused, we become upset with God because we don't see him moving... but God is still moving... we just cannot see it because we are focusing on "our house" and not looking outwardly. Notice in this story, the move of God, the provision was taking place outside the city gates... in the camp of the enemy!

This speaks clearly to me that to get out of the spirit of famine, we must get outside of ourselves and reach beyond our walls! God is already working out the answer, the deliverance... but it will become ours when we believe enough to leave our camp and go into the camp of the enemy!

Part Time Christian

I ran into an acquaintance a recently who was dressed, let's say "differently" than I would normally see or think of him. His garb indicated he was working for a particular business. I found it kind of strange, knowing this fellow and I guess he could see the startled look on me. He said, laughing nervously, "This is not who I really am, I still have my other job, but I do this on a part-time basis." (Please note: I'm not belittling this person. I respect them for taking a second job to help out their family in times that are challenging them economically.) Right after that, when I climbed into my van, I just sat there for a few minutes as the Holy Spirit spoke to me, saying, "That is much of those who sit in the church today." What God was saying to me is that there are many who put on "the garb" of a Christian on a part-time Christian, but most of the time they have another "profession" or confession. What an indictment!

I have been thinking on this for a few weeks now, and I have been more keenly in tune with observing myself and others around me. I've noticed people who are "praise God and hallelujah" in church and all day on Sunday, but then throughout the week their life takes on a different tone. I see people griping and complaining about church and God. I have observed people who post all over Facebook about their love for God, yet come through the checkout lane with beer and vodka. I've heard people whose lips praised God on Sunday and Wednesday, dropping the "F bomb" from those same lips. I've witnessed people say they will trust God one day, accusing Him of failing them a few days later. Seems to me some have taken on the role of "part-time Christian." Who do they think they are fooling? Don't get me wrong; it is not my intent to sit in judgment and criticize today. Rather, I hope to maybe wake a few people up.

This morning I was surfing the net and I came across a page entitled, "Lukewarm Christians." On it, the write wrote:
"Are you a lukewarm Christian? Do you go to church on Sunday and Wednesday and then put your Bible and God on a shelf the rest of the week? Or do you just use God when you're in a crisis or need something that just can't wait? Do you knot that God see's the very depths of your heart? 'If we have forgotten the name of our God, or stretched out our hands to a strange god, shall not God search this out? for he knows the secrets of our heart.' Psalm 44:20-21"

I'm searching my own heart. I pray others search their own. There really is no such thing as a "part-time" Christian. You either are, or you are not. You can pretend. You can be a wanna-be", but with God, it is all or nothing.

Let me conclude with this video I found last week.

The Quest for Immortality

Wrote this 4 years ago and it came to mind today. After reading it again, I thought it needed to be re-visited. From Oct. 11, 2005

The Quest for Immortality

This morning shortly after awakening, I looked into the mirror, turned to my wife and said, "Ooh, scary looking guy in there." She said, "I am not afraid," and turned and walked away. I said under my breath, "now that's love," and I looked back into the mirror at the bags under my eyes, the hair that once was shiny black now a lighter shade with a lot of gray wove throughout, and the sagging chin and jaw line. I thought to myself, "Why in God's name would anyone want to live forever?"

You young folks reading this are not going to understand this as much as those of us in the over 40 crowd. Something happens to you along the way, that one day you will experience, and you will know it when it hits you. One day you wake up, look in the mirror and say, "What happened?" It is just like one day a switch gets flipped and you realize, horror of horrors that you are getting older. You can do all the exercise, take all the vitamins and supplements, do all the right things, but it is still going to hit you. It is just a fact of life.
Deal with it!
What is so funny to me now is, I remember when I was 20 years old and the depressing thought hit me, "Man, I am getting old."
Yes, I really thought that at 20. In my ripe old age and wisdom, 20 was just ancient. I figured that I was not a teenager any longer, and in just weeks, I was going to be "an adult"! Life was passing me by!
Now, here I am some 26 years later... and I find myself thinking, "Man, where did the years go?"
Am I getting ready to cash in my chips? Hardly!
I tell my wife all the time that she better take good care of herself, because I plan on living to be 103, and that is too old to be chasing after a new wife, so she'd better plan on staying with me.

What is it that makes us seek immortality?
I remember a line from a book that Susan Ertz wrote where she says,
"Millions long for immortality who don't know what to do with themselves on a rainy Sunday afternoon."
Man, how true is that statement?
After my recent heart scare, I find myself looking at life in a different way. Rather than worrying about how long I will be on this earth, or even if I will be here tomorrow, I am trying to live each day to make it count. I am trying to spend more time with my kids, even though that is getting harder and harder with their hectic schedules, and the ever ensuing battle to get my son to emerge from his cave.
Yesterday, there was a lot of work to be done, but my kids were out of school, so I said to myself, "the work will always be there... they won't." So I took them out for pizza, played some football with them and took them to play mini-golf.
Yes, I am behind in my work today, but I am a richer man for it.
I won't live forever. They will be gone from my home in just a few short years.
I made an important decision yesterday to live my life rather than let my life live me.
None of us are immortal. We will all face death one day.
Make your life count. Make each day matter.
And most of all, if you haven't done it yet... make sure you invite Jesus into your life. He will make this journey a whole lot more appealing, and trust me, the final destination is one you do not want to miss!

What Are You Committed To?

When Jesus was asked, 'Which is the greatest commandment?' He answered, '...Love the Lord...and...Love your neighbor as yourself.' (Matthew 22:37-39 NIV) I really think that our greatest commitments should be based on the two greatest commandments. I mean, if these two things are the things that Jesus says are the greatest commandments, would it not reason that this is where our strongest, most pertinent commitments should lie? Makes sense to me.
The problem is we get so wrapped up in life that we find ourselves getting involved with things that keep us from doing this. The Bible says: 'No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs-he wants to please his commanding officer.' (2 Timothy 2:4 NIV) In other words, be careful what you commit to.

So, I find myself this morning thinking about things that I, as well as others, find themselves committed to. As a pastor, I find it difficult at times to not allow myself to become committed to things that will hinder my walk with the Lord or hinder my ability to best minister in the area where God has placed me as shepherd. Just yesterday I found myself in a situation where I had to ask myself, "just what am I committed to?" Without going into great detail, a particular family called me wanting me to come over to help them deal with their "crisis." Now understand, this same "crisis" arises in this group of people about once ever two to three weeks. I've been over to supposedly help them work through this exact same "crisis" more times in the past six months than I can count. Same thing, over and over and over. As I was talking to this person on the phone I realized that I was once again about to get sucked into and committed to something that I knew would eat up 6 to 10 hours of my time over the next week, and I decided, "not now, not ever again." I said to the person, "If I commit my time, prayer and energy to you and your family in this, are you going to actually follow my advice this time, or are you going to ignore my advice and continue to do the same thing you've done over and over and over?" The response was less than positive, in fact the person was furious that I'd say such a thing to them. I quoted to them the definition of insanity that Albert Einstein coined, " doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." I told the person that they could stay on that merry-go-round if they choose to, but that I was finished. I said that if they would actually follow my advice, I'd come, but if they were not going to commit to try what I had suggested to them literally dozens of times, then I was not going to bother coming over. Some would say that is harsh, but I've come to a place that I refuse to commit to anything anymore that is going to be a drain on me and pull me away from my life's calling and more importantly, my time with God.

So, let me ask you: What are YOU committed to? I have to be honest that I am just stunned at the commitments I see people make. May I just be bold enough to say that if your commitments are continually pulling you away from the House of Worship, from prayer, from Bible reading and meditation on God's Word... you are completely out of line with your commitments. I've probably already made someone mad, so I might as well finish it. We give a very small amount of our time to corporate worship and sitting under the teaching and preaching of the Word of God. In my own church, we have a total of 3 and a half hours a week. But countless people cannot give God this much time on a regular basis. Then there are many who come on Sunday morning, and regularly have to leave after an hour or so because they have made other commitments. When you cannot sit through a two hour worship service without having to leave for other things, then your commitments are misplaced. Their actions are saying that that thing that they have to leave for is more important than worshiping God. There is an old saying that really rings true here: "Actions speak louder than words."

What are YOU committed to? Many are committed more to breakfast (or lunch) with friends. Many are committed to a football game. Many are committed to the television. In fact, what really triggered this blog was someone telling me that they (and I quote) "hate that I missed church last night, but I am committed to watching American Idol." Wow. How would you like to stand before Jesus one day and hear yourself saying that you were committed to ANYTHING more than you were the Lord, Jesus Christ?

Again, I ask you... What are you committed to?

Say So!

I just flat out dig this song!





What does it mean to be saved?
Isn't it more than just a prayer to pray?
More than just a way to heaven?
What does it mean to be His?
To be formed in His likeness
Know that we have a purpose

To be salt and light in the world (in the world)
To be salt and light in the world

Let the redeemed of the Lord say so
Let the redeemed of the Lord say so
Let the redeemed of the Lord say so
Say So! Say So!

Oh that the Church will arise
Oh that we would see with Jesus eyes
We could show the world heaven
Show what it means to be His
To be formed in His likeness
Show them they have a purpose

I am redeemed (6x)
To be salt and light in the world (6x)

Let the redeemed of the Lord rise up
Let the redeemed of the Lord rise up
Let the redeemed of the Lord rise up
Rise Up! Rise Up!

There is Hope

In recent days my family has been in a very strange place for us, dealing with some issues and things that we've never really had to deal with before. When you get to a place like this, it feels like the world is just spinning faster and faster and everything is getting out of control. Emotionally, we're on a roller coaster, literally going from extreme anger, to tears of a broken heart, then back to rage in a matter of minutes. As a husband and father, I want to just "fix it" but things just don't work that way in real life. I have found myself feeling so helpless and that frustrates me to no end. There really is nothing I can do about this situation, only to try to help change the future. All I can do is help give clarity to the situation so that future decisions might be better made, but the bottom line is, even that is completely out of my hands.

This morning I was reading my devotional and it struck a chord in my heart, and I wanted to share it here for others. There is hope, but it requires tough love.

The following is from "The Word for Today" Devotions:

"'...Arise and walk'?"
Matthew 9:5 NKJV

Misguided sympathy is dangerous because: (

1) It enables someone to feel sorry for themselves, yet take no action to change things.

(2) it digs the hole deeper, so they've less chance of getting out of it. (

3) it creates a 'learned helplessness' guaranteeing they'll feel even more hopeless.

Sometimes tough love is what's needed. Although Jesus had compassion for hurting people, He never merely felt sorry for them. Whenever possible He helped them to help themselves. Before He worked on their behalf, He often asked them to do something. And sometimes His instructions seemed radical.

To a paralysed man, he said, '...Arise, take up your bed, and go...' (Matthew 9:6 NKJV)

To the ruler of the synagogue who had been told his daughter was dead, he said, 'Do not be afraid; only believe.' (Mark 5:35-36 NKJV)

For a blind man, '...He spat on the ground and made clay...anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay...He said... 'Go, wash in the pool of Siloam.' So he went...and came back seeing.' (John 9:1-7NKJV)

How could a crippled man rise and walk? How could a man who had just received the report of his daughter's death be expected to stay calm? How could a blind man even see to get to a certain pool of water?

Instead of merely feeling sorry for people, Jesus moved them to action. He helped them to get their minds off their problems, and motivated them to do something about them. At times we feel like we're being unkind if we confront people who have problems, when in reality 'tough love' is what they need.

Wake Up Call

One of my best friends in this life, Neil Smith, had a heart attack yesterday while preaching. It was a very close call, and the doctors said that just a few more minutes and he would not be with us any more. I'm so thankful that there was a nurse in the congregation and they were able to get him help immediately. He has some surgery to face in the coming weeks but the prognosis is very good for him. For that, I'm so very thankful. I'd ask that you all keep him and his wife and girls in your prayers.

The news of Neil having this heart attack shook me hard. Neil is a few years younger than me, and to be truthful, he is much more conscious of his health than I am. He limits his caffeine, walks and is much more trim than I am. I was on my way home from Florida when I received the message that Park was being taken to the hospital by ambulance. We were in Paducah, KY and the remaining 400 miles home, not only was he on my mind and in my prayers, but I was reflecting on my own life. I started thinking about how a little over 4 years ago I had my own brush with heart trouble. God touched me in a miraculous way then, and I did make a few changes, and dropped more than 30 pounds after that. However, in the past couple of years, I've let old habits come back in, and I've gained back half the weight I'd lost. I'm out of shape, I'm tired and don't feel good much of the time. Add to that the fact that in 6 weeks I will turn 51 and I have come to the realization that it is time for me to make some life changes. I'm not talking New Year's resolutions that I throw off in a few days... it's time to change. I'm determined that I'm not going to be another statistic of ministers who died young. I'm not going on a crash diet, but I am going to change my diet. I know it is pretty unrealistic for me to say I will give up coffee, but it is time to cut my caffeine drastically. Most important of all, it is time for me to quit using pain as an excuse not to exercise, and I am going to begin to make some changes. I make a pledge to myself, not to others, but to me... that next year at this time I will be a transformed man in my physical body. I owe it to myself, my wife, my kids and family and my church. I pledge to take care of me. Those around me, I'm asking you... begging you! Hold me accountable. Don't dog me if I have one hot dog or slice of cheese cake, but lower the boom when you see me slipping! Deal?