Thank You for 5 Years

 The Dawg Howse was born 5 years ago today.

It has been amazing how fast these 5 years have gone by,

and I am still humbled at the thought that people from literally all around the

world would actually care about the thoughts of a crazy preacher

in a small town in Illinois.

Thank you one and all.

Is This Really A Good Thing?

An article in the Galesburg Register Mail, written by Jay Redfern in his blog which is attached to the RM, points to a recent story in The Huffington Post which reported on "Best Kept Secrets: 10 Colleges You Should Know About."  Personally, I don't see this article as all that flattering to Knox College or even Galesburg for that matter. Here is a quote from the article, which quotes the Huffington Post:


"Knox College is for the intellectual, liberal, passionate student who avoided the popular/jock high school scene."   Then it quotes a student: "We are a quirky school with a long history of unique traditions."  The article goes on to say, "Knox isn't worried about fitting in as it is eager to stand out with it's small, tight knit community of intellectually curious, offbeat personalities." Quoting a student it says, "At Knox, I have always felt free to be myself, however weird and wacky that might be." Yet another student adds, "A large percentage of the student body comes from the outcast school role, so there are a bunch of 'oddballs' here. And we all get along famously." The article goes on to say that the college attracts those who desire to be "movers and shakers who will make a difference in the world."


So, let me get this straight, the movers and shakers who will make a difference in the world are liberal outcasts, the oddballs and the quirky?  Isn't this exactly what the Huffington Post is saying in this article? Doesn't it say that the "movers and shakers" are people who are not interested in fitting in with the world around them?  Could this possibly be a very strong indicator of exactly what is wrong with our political system right now? People from both sides of the political system are now screaming that the Obama administration is "out of touch" with the populace, which is why his approval numbers are plummeting. Hey, if you know me, I am all about individuality and about being real and being yourself... but all the while being relevant to the society around us, not trying to make that world conform to our belief.  We Christians are constantly attacked and accused of being "intolerant" of others. In fact this week, on four separate occasions I've been attacked for speaking my mind, saying that as a pastor I have an obligation to keep my mouth shut on these issues. So tell me: who is being intolerant? The far left wants a free run to scream their liberal agenda... even from the pulpit (hello? Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, Jeremiah Wright and countless others.) but they want to demand that the conservative voice of the church be silenced.  Something is wrong with this picture!


Anyway... back to my point of this article. 
I don't see this article as a very flattering picture of Knox College unless that is their target crowd... which it apparently is.  But it also goes on to say something about Galesburg that I find very derogatory. Here is the quote, speaking of why students may do well in their studies:
"It also helps that Galesburg, Illinois, the town that Knox calls home, offerers few escape options. 'Galesburg is in the middle of nowhere, and the campus is not situated in the safest of neighborhoods. There really isn't anywhere to go even if you do leave campus."


Yeah, that ought to make a lot of people want to come here. I'm floored that people would see this article in the Huffington Post as a positive thing, either for Knox or Galesburg.

The Yoke of Christ

As I continue with the week of looking back, this has to be one of my favorite posts, and one of those that has drawn the most hits through Google searches over the years. 


From March 12, 2007

The Yoke of Christ

Do you ever find it difficult to follow Christ?

Why is it so hard to follow Jesus sometimes?
Do you ever get tired?
Do you ever find yourself in need of rest? 
How can I find rest while following Jesus?

Matthew 11:28-30 MKJV

28) Come to Me all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

29) Take My yoke on you and learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you shall find rest to your souls.

30) For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.

Notice what Jesus doesn’t say.
He doesn’t say, “Come to me, for I have no burden!" 
Nor does he say "Come to me, for I don’t make any demands!” 

Hey, let's be honest... Wouldn’t that have been more appealing?
But a yoke involves subjection to a master. 

There are more than 50 references to "yoke" in the Bible that speak of the wooden bar or frame used to join animals to enable them to pull a load. It is an image of subjection, service or bondage, just as a yoked ox is subject to its owner. A yoke is usually a negative thing—something a person would do virtually anything to avoid. Sin is described as a yoke around a person’s neck.
But when Jesus talks of his yoke, the imagery has a positive meaning of good subjection to him.

For those of us in the individualistic and permissive West, talk of surrender, submission, and radical obedience may be difficult for us to swallow. We tend to want to have our cake and eat it too. But when Scripture pays honor again and again to Jesus as “Lord,” it is clear that this term refers to a master who owns and controls servants or slaves.
Paul understood himself to be Christ’s slave (doulos), who is compelled and controlled by his master to do his master’s bidding and to serve his purposes. Most English translations of the Greek NT tend to use the more socially acceptable term “servant” instead of “slave” in translating some 190 words that refer to slavery (because of our collective shame over the history of slavery in the West).
But one of Paul’s most common self-designations is “slave of Christ.”
Paul makes it clear that using the image of slavery to understand one’s relationship with Christ has to do with obedience. 
For Paul, the issue is clear: everybody obeys something, and whatever or whomever you obey, you are enslaved to.

We wear a yoke. But is it on you alone?
In the scripture text I mentioned above, Jesus invites us to take his yoke upon ourselves and he will give us rest. 
That sounds like quite a paradox, doesn’t it? To put on a yoke, which symbolizes work or labor, and expect to find rest there.
But the truth of this test is that we find rest when we discover that the yoke’s also on him (29b) Jesus’ generous invitation is to the broken and the burdened. It is grounded in his own gentleness and humility. He was not simply a powerful lord who ruthlessly crushed all opposition, but one who sought the good of others and promised rest for their souls.

There is a famous study that was done on two horses. The first one could pull 10,000 lbs on a sled while the second could pull 14,000 lbs.
What would you think they could pull when yoked together in the same direction?
Most people would guess something like 24,000 lbs, but the answer is 49,000 lbs! The sum is greater than a combination of the parts.

Like many of the "crazy" things Jesus said, this truth is paradoxical.
We lay down our burdens, our agendas, and take on God’s yoke, “easy” and “light.” Even though his is a burden, it is easy compared with ours because we are joining Jesus in his work. On the other side of the yoke pulling with us is the powerful and almighty resurrected One, carrying the weight of the world. It feels easier and lighter because of who is helping carry the load. 

Imagine two men in boats; one a row boat, the other a sail boat.

A rower gets to a destination by personal strain, struggle, and effort. A sailor arrives under the wind’s power. Rowing is a good way to keep in shape but a lousy way to travel. Sailing on the other hand, taps the power of the wind and allows us to go much farther, much faster, with far less human effort than rowing. 

The scary thing is, I often try minister like I’m rowing a boat—out of my strength, in my wisdom, by my power. When I do that, my ministry lacks powerand I grow quite weary. God may still use me, graciously, but sailing is a far better way to go. 

Jesus makes it clear that following him is a slave to master relationship, which involves submission and obedience. The yoke’s on us. But that means the power comes from the One who directs our lives.
Christ offers a liberating enslavement. The yoke’s really on him.

The great preacher, Charles Spurgeon once said: “The heaviest end of the cross lies ever on His shoulders. If He bids us carry a burden, He carries it also.”
The yoke’s on us, but the yoke’s really on him.

But what about that rest we’re looking for?
We find rest when we realize that no one gets tired of a really good yoke.
The New Living Translation of this text says: “For my yoke fits perfectly, and the burden I give you is light.”

If I put a flat, uncarved piece of wood on an ox’s neck and use it to pull a cart, very quickly pressure sores will break out on that animal’s neck, and he will be useless.

A good yoke must be formed to the shape of an ox’s neck. It should cover a large area of skin to distribute the stresses widely. It should also be smooth, rounded, and polished with no sharp edges, so that no one point will endure unduly high stress. If I succeed in my workshop, the yoke I make will fit snugly around the ox’s neck and cause him no discomfort.The animal can haul heavy loads every day for years, and his skin will remain perfectly healthy, with no pressure sores.

Can I tell you that Jesus offers each of us a well-fitted yoke, of custom design. He does not call us to the kind of rest that means inactivity or laziness--that would lead to spiritual atrophy. Instead, he promises a burden designed to fit my frame, my individual needs, strengths, and capabilities. The problem so often is that we try to wear a yoke of our own design, or that someone else wants to put on us, rather than the one that Christ has designed for us. When we do that, we get weary, or hurt, and render ourselves useless. We have to allow the Holy Spirit to direct us and put on us the yoke, or labor that he designs for us, not man.

Here’s the picture that we must see: We come to him weary and heavy-laden. He removes those crushing burdens that would destroy any human being, and replaces them with a yoke of appropriate stress designed specifically for you and me.

"Take my yoke upon you and learn from me," he says, "for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

Wally World Woes

OK, two years later I can laugh, but I was NOT in a laughing mood on this day!

08 May, 2008

Wally World Woes

Yesterday I had some photos printed at Wally World. I really needed them pronto, so I ordered the one hour service, which I normally would never do. I was having my oil changed in my van and asked them to change a light bulb that was burned out. Meanwhile I went up to the Subway and had lunch. While I was sitting there, two women came up by the table where I was seated, and asked me if they could bring their shopping carts into the Subway. (Do I look like Mr. Subway?) I told them that I really did not know how they felt about it, however I pointed out that there was not that much room in this small store and that most people generally park their shopping carts right outside the door. One woman said to the other that she did not like that idea. I was finishing up and ready to leave but I offered to sit there for a couple of minutes while they placed their order and watch their carts. The woman, very hatefully, said, "Oh, I just bet you would!" I told her that I was truly sorry for trying to show her an act of kindness, and reminded her that she was the one who initiated the conversation with me. Man, I'd hate to be such a miserable and untrusting person.

Upon leaving the Subway, I went back to get my pictures. It had been about 55 minutes and I thought they could be ready. The woman behind the counter spoke to me like I was insane for asking. I told her that it was no problem, that I'd come back in a bit. So I wandered back to see if the van was finished. I peaked into the bay area and it was empty, so I rang for the cashier and told her I wanted to pick up my van. "What van?" she asked. I pointed at it out in the lot. She asked my name, and checked her computer and said, "Oh, we are swamped right now, it will be awhile." I said, "Ma'am, there is not a single car out there in the bay area and all your employees are standing outside smoking. Is this what you call busy?" She said, "I guess we forgot we had another car to do. Give us 20 minutes." So, I wandered back to the photo processing. They were still working on my order. It's now been about 75 minutes for the "one hour" service.

I decided to walk around the store for a bit, then I found a book that looked interesting and took it back to the photo processing area and I could see they were still working on my order, so I sat down on a bench and began reading the book. After about 10 minutes I overheard the woman working on my order say to another employee, "Would you help me get this order done, this jerks breathing down my neck trying to rush me." I started to let it slide, but I'd just about had enough on this day, so I walked up to the counter and said, "Lady, this jerk is paying for one hour service and you have now been well over an hour and a half and I am still waiting while the 3 of you are laughing and carrying on as if there is not a care in the world." With that, two other employees began helping her and about 15 minutes later she calls out my name and tells me my order is finished. I asked her if there was a discount since my one hour service had taken almost 2 hours. Of course, there was not.

I took my pictures and my book and went back to the auto department to pickup my van and pay for everything. I actually thought it seemed a little high, but I was in a huge hurry because I was supposed to be meeting someone across town in 10 minutes, so I just swiped my card and left. After my meeting, I pulled my receipt and sure enough, they had charged me for 180 prints when I had ordered 120. So I headed back to Wally World. On the way there, I turned on my right turn signal, and it was not working. This was the bulb they were supposed to change. I looked at the receipt and it showed a $1 charge for installing a new bulb, but no charge for the bulb. I scanned the receipt further and at the bottom of the page was a note saying that they did not carry the particular bulb I needed. But they charged me $1 to change it. Hmmm?

When I arrived at Wally World, I went to the service desk and told them I had been over charged. I showed the receipt where I placed my order for photos. It read, "60 wallets (2)" meaning that each sheet had 2 wallets. The woman said, "Sir, here's the problem, and explained to me how 60 times 2 was 180. I said, "No, that would be 120." She looked at me as if were the dumbest man on the face of the earth and said, "You don't understand. There are 2 photos per sheet, so you got 180." I half wanted to laugh, and I asked her how she arrived at 180. She was getting angry and called another lady over to help her explain to me the situation. The other woman looked at it and explained exactly the same thing to me. I stood there dumb founded for a minute and I said, "Can either of you tell me what 6 plus 6 equals?" The both answered "12", and one of them said, "what does that have to do with anything?" I said add a zero to that. The first woman called yet another woman over and said, "Can you help this guy? We cannot make him understand." So I went through the whole thing with this third woman and believe it or not, she too came up with 180.

OK, I am really getting frustrated now and the first woman sensing this said that I should go back to the photo processing center and see if they could explain it better to me. So I took my receipts and headed back to the photo area, and who do I find there? Of course, the woman who called me a jerk. I began explaining the whole thing to her and she looks over the receipts and... tada... she says, "Sir, you ordered 60, but each sheet has 2 photos on it. That's where you get the 180." OK, I am livid now but I tried my best to keep calm. Once again I asked how much was 6 times 2. It did not work, and now this woman is getting very loud with me. About that time a young man, looked to be high school or early college age walked up and asked me to say what I said again. I did, he looked at the receipt and said, "We over-charged you by 60 photos." I raised my arms above my head and shouted out (literally) "there is a brain to be found in Wal Mart!" He cracked a big smile and told me to go up to the service department and they'd fix it. I laughed and told him that I had already danced that number, so he agreed to walk up to the service desk with me and explain it to them.

You really don't believe that he had any more success than I did, do you? It took him several minutes of explaining, and they never did get it, but agreed to give me the refund. One of the women said in a very hateful tone, "I don't see what all the fuss is about anyway. It is 29 cents!" I told her that it was 29 cents times 60 and she said, "So we are talking a buck, buck and a half?" I said "Lady, why don't you just punch the numbers into the machine there and let it do the thinking for you." She did and said, "Oh, it's $17.40." I added, "plus tax." Then I showed her the $1 and she said, "I can't believe you are going to make a fuss over $1." I said, "Plus tax. And lady, it is MY dollar, and you can do what you want with your money, but I refuse to be cheated out of any more of MY money!" I told her that they had over-charged me by almost $20 and I wanted it back. She said, "Oh, I did not realize it was that much money when you added it all up." I'd like to say that I was good and that I behaved myself. I'd like to... but I can't. I said, "What more can I expect from someone who cannot multiply 2 times 60 and get a correct answer?"

I'm a BAAADDD boy.

They Told Us What They Were Going To Do!

OK, Can We All Say, "We Were Warned?"

Kind of amazing looking back at it all.

12 January, 2007

A New Direction For America

I received this and thought it was worth sharing... and thinking about!


The Democrats now promise "A New Direction For America."

The stock market is at a new all-time high and America 's 4 01 K's are back.
A new direction from there means, what?

Unemployment is at 25 year lows.
A new direction from there means, what?

Taxes are at 20 year lows.
A new direction from there means, what?

Federal tax revenues are at all-time highs.
A new direction from there means, what?

The Federal deficit is down almost 50%, just as predicted over last year.
A new direction from there means. what?

Home valuations are up 200% over the past 3.5 years.
A new direction from there means, what?

Inflation is in check, hovering at 20 year lows.
A new direction from there means, what?

Not a single terrorist attack on US soil since 9/11/ 01 .
A new direction from there means, what?

Osama bin Laden is living under a rock in a dark cave, having not
surfaced in years, if he's alive at all, while 95% of Al Queda's top dogs are
either dead or in custody, cooperating with US Intel.
A new direction from there means, what?

Several major terrorist attacks already thwarted by US and British
Intel, including the recent planned attack involving 10 Jumbo Jets being
exploded in mid-air over major US cities in order to celebrate the
anniversary of the 9/11/ 01 attacks.
A new direction from there means, what?

Just as President Bush foretold us on a number of occasions, Iraq was
to be made "ground zero" for the war on terrorism -- and just as President
Bush said they would, terrorist cells from all over the region are arriving from
the shadows of their hiding places and flooding into Iraq in order to get
their faces blown off by US Marines rather than boarding planes and
heading to the United State s to wage war on us here.
A new direction from there means, what?

Now let me see, do I have this right? I can expect:
The economy to go South
Illegals to go North
Taxes to go Up
Employment to go Down
Terrorism to come In
Tax breaks to go Out
Social Security to go Away
Health Care to go the same way gas prices have gone
But what the heck!

I can gain comfort by knowing that Nancy P, Hillary C, John K, Edward K,
Howard D, Harry R and Obama have worked hard to create a comprehensive
National Security Plan, Health Care Plan, Immigration Reform Plan, Gay
Rights Plan, Same Sex Marriage Plan, Abortion On Demand Plan, Tolerance of
Everyone and Everything Plan, How to Return all Troops to the U. S. in The
Next Six Months Plan, A Get Tough Plan, adapted from the French Plan by the
same name and a How Everyone Can Become as Wealthy as We Are Plan.

I forgot the No More Katrina Storm Plan.

Now I know why I feel good after the elections. I am going to be able to
sleep so much better at nights knowing these dedicated politicians are
thinking of me and my welfare.

Please pass this good news along to all of your friends so they can feel
better also.

Did I Call It, Or What?

Check this one out and tell me if I did not call this one.

08 November, 2006

OK America, You Asked For It

America got what it wanted yesterday as they went to the polls (or not) and voted (or not). We now have a House controlled by the Democrats and the speaker of the House is now Nancy Pelosi. Pause and let that sink in for a few minutes. I don't know about you but that just scares me. Pelosi as the Speaker? Oh man, are we in trouble. It's not the fact that she is a Democrat, it is who SHE is. I am not the type who votes down the party line. I vote for the person and what they represent. In fact, in this election I voted a split ticket. But I fear that America has just made a choice to jump the tracks and we are in for a bumpy ride. I predict that the economy will begin to sour, taxes will rise and the blame will fall at the feet of George W. Bush. Most certainly, our taxes will rise. That much we can be assured of.
Hey, I hope they prove me wrong. I really do. But I doubt it.
I want to see how they "fix" this whole thing in Iraq now that they have the House, and possibly the Senate as well. Wanna bet that for 2 years all we hear is that it can't be done while Bush is in the White House, setting the stage to try to put a Dem back at the helm.
I really hope they are foolish enough to run Clinton, but I'm thinking Obama rises from the crop of wannabe's and gets the nod.

We shall see, but no matter what, something tells me that we'd better buckle up for a wild ride.

Questioning God

Another blast from the past... 

15 September, 2006

Questioning God

Have you ever had the occasion where you questioned God? Okay, dumb question. We all have. Maybe some of us won’t admit to it, but we have all not only questioned God, but even questioned if He knew what he was doing. I can see people reading this right now saying, “Not me, I would never question God like that.”

Well, let me be the first to just say it, “I have.”

Growing up with the knowledge that my parents, who had given their lives to the ministry, both died by the time I was six… well, that left some questions in my mind about God.
When my brother died in his sleep at the age of 22… it left some questions in my mind.
Event after event after event in my life left me with questions about God and if he really knew what he was doing. I grew up a very angry young man; and my anger was directed toward God, but I was always taught that you never questioned God, so the anger built silently inside of me.

When I was 22 years old, I found myself lying in a hospital bed at Menard Penitentiary in southern Illinois. The anger in me was burning, as I felt like life (God) had dealt me some unfair blows, and I did not “get” God at all. I mean, I was ticked. I was ready to throw the whole God/church thing out the window and go back to the drugs, because there I found escape.

Then I had one of those “set up” moments that come our way.

I was in that hospital bed, in isolation and had not spoken a word other than to the doctor or an occasional nurse that happened into my room for three days. There was a big picture window in my room where the staff could observe me, and I could observe them… but no one came into that room to talk with me. In those three days, my anger grew and my questions became more intense. All of a sudden, this little old priest appears in the window. He waves at me and smiles and begins to walk away. I yelled for him to come back, but he began to move on. I threw the only thing I could reach at that window; which happened to be the Bible that my pastor had given to me on the occasion of my preaching my first sermon. When the priest saw what I had done, he got the guard to open my door and he came into my room.

As he entered the room, he picked up the Bible and began to look at all the signatures and things written in it by the people of my home church. He didn’t say anything at all for a couple of minutes. When he finally did speak, a very soft voice said, “You are a very angry young man, aren’t you?” I just glared at him, and before I could speak he said, “You’ve got a lot of questions that you’d like to ask God, don’t you?” I told him that I did, but that I was taught that it was wrong to question God. He then uttered the first of two things that he would say that would change my life forever. He said, “Don’t you think the God who created you, who created this world and all is in it; who created the moon and the stars; don’t you think this God is big enough to handle the questions of someone such as you or I?”
I was dumbfounded. No one had ever told me that it was ok to question God before! Then he said the second thing that would impact my life. He said, “I see by looking at this book that you have known God before, but I wonder, have you really known Him, or have you known about Him?" He said, "I dare you young man to forget everything you have ever heard about God. Forget everything you think you know about Him, and open this book and read it, asking the Holy Spirit to show you who He really is. I dare you to do that. Do you have the guts?”
I simply nodded at him and he placed the Bible on my chest and turned and walked out of the room.

I’ve never seen that man again, but he changed my life.

I lay in that bed for hours thinking about what he had said. All of a sudden, it came out of me. I began to throw every question, every accusation and all of my anger at God. The nurses and the prison guards stared at me through that window like I was a mad man as I screamed at God and let out all the years of questions and resentment. When I was finally done, I just collapsed onto that bed and cried like I had never cried before.
I felt the Holy Spirit sweep into that room and it felt as if I were sitting in the lap of God and I heard him whisper into my heart, “It’s alright… give it all to me.” 

After some time, I picked up that Bible, and I found myself reading in the book of Job. As I read, I began to find myself thinking, “See, here’s another guy getting the short end of the stick!” And then I read chapter 38… and my heart began to change.

Let me share a couple of these verses from The Message translation:

Job 38:1-4 MSG

1) And now, finally, GOD answered Job from the eye of a violent storm. He said: "Why do you confuse the issue? Why do you talk without knowing what you're talking about? Pull yourself together, Job! Up on your feet! Stand tall! I have some questions for you, and I want some straight answers.Where were you when I created the earth? Tell me, since you know so much!

As I read these words, and the remainder of that chapter, and the next couple of chapters, I found myself beginning to realize how selfishly and one-sided I had been looking at everything. As I started reading chapter 40, I began to hear and feel the firm, yet gentle correction of God on my soul.

In the beginning of that chapter, God says: “Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him?”
Then God begins to question Job, which concludes with Job speaking in chapter 42, saying: “I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted….
Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know…. My ears had heard of you, but now my eyes have seen you. I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.”

Got some questions for God? Go ahead and ask. He is big enough to handle your questions. But then stay tuned, because God is going to answer you, and He is going to teach you a thing or two!

Facing the Unknown

Continuing my look back... From June 3, 2006...  I was thinking today after re-reading this, about how that when God shuts the door, we are always looking for the next door to open... but sometimes there is a delay, or no new open door. Sometimes God is simply saying "NO!"  Sometimes he is saying, "Stand still! This is where I want you!"  We can kick open doors that God has shut, and when we do, we reap the mess that we have brought on ourselves!

Facing the Unknown

This week my role as Pastor put me into a situation with a young lady that has had me thinking ever since. In an instant, this young woman found her life turned upside down and inside out and feeling so alone and afraid.
One minute she was looking at the prospect of being a bride in less than 2 weeks. She was beginning a new job in just a few days. But then a whirlwind of events took place and the wedding is off, the relationship severed, the job is out of reach, and what appeared to be smooth sailing had left her in a heap, crying in my arms, sobbing, "What will I do? Where will I go? I have nothing?"
Words I could offer at that time were not going to help. In her mind, life was over. We know that it really isn't over, but I am quite certain that is how she saw things.

We've proabably all been at a few crossroads in our lives where it seemed life as we knew it was over. When all of a sudden we are faced with the uncertain or unknown.
The unknowns of life can be quite scary and challenging.
They can also be quite rewarding. 
This morning I was praying for this young lady and then I began to do some reading and I found myself reading from the seven chapter of Genesis... the account of Noah and the ark, and God began to speak to me about this woman; about all of us, facing the uncertain or the unknown.
I know this is a strange correlation, but stay with me.

Picture yourself for a moment as Noah or one of his family members who watched the animals all board the ark, and then you entered the ark and suddenly, the door is closed.
Notice that you did not close the door.
The Bible says that God closed the door. And now you suddenly find yourself inside this big, box. You really don't have any idea what is going to happen next or even what the end result is going to be. God has not told you that. These people had no idea what was going to happen. They have never seen rain before. They knew they trust God, but something tells me that a bit of fear and doubt might have entered their minds about this time. They are filled with uncertainty and unknowns. Suddenly they were trapped inside this giant box with a bunch of stinking animals and they had no control over their lives whatsoever. Again, they were trusting that God had a plan, but they had no clue what that plan was.

Can you imagine how they felt as the rain came and they felt the ark begin to float out of control; all the while hearing the screams from people they had known on the outside and there was nothing they could do to help them?
I imagine that their time on the ark was a very busy time with all those animals to care for, still I reckon their minds raced with questions of "What will we do now? Where will we go? What is going to happen?"
Their future was a vast unknown.

We all face unknowns. We wonder if the new job will work out, or if the old job is going to hold out. We wonder and fill our minds with "what ifs" and we can find ourselves slipping into doubts for our lives if we are not careful. Or, we can make the decision to know that God is in control and that He is guiding us in our present circumstances and situations too, and simply trust him and get on with life.

Life is filled with unknowns, but it does not have to be uncertain.
I may not know what tomorrow holds... but I am certain about who holds tomorrow.
I may not know how I will get there... but I do know that my God will get me to the place he has promised.
We need to rest in this fact: God has saved us for a reason... and it was not to sit and watch us fail or die on another day. We need to trust him that he knows what He wants to accomplish in our lives.

Remember, he shut the door on Noah and his family... but when it was time, He also opened the door to a whole new life.
He will do the same for us if we will trust Him and not try to kick open doors that He has closed.

Lonely People

As I continue my look back, this one has to be included, as it is one of the entries that still, almost a year later, has some of the most hits every day on my blog, as people search Google for "loneliness" or "lonely people."

I never found those young people, but that day changed me in a major way.

18 September, 2009

Lonely People

This is for all the lonely people...

Lonely people, stuck in a crowd, but lonely just the same. They are all around us... but do we see them? Do we care?

I've been kicking myself since last night because I failed to be Jesus to someone who desperately needed to see him.

My wife and I were sitting in a restaurant last night where there was only two other people eating; a couple of college kids enjoying a rare night of indulgence of eating out. I know this because in the small restaurant I could not help but overhear their conversation. The young man told his female companion how tight his budget is and how he only has so many meals on his meal plan and how he tries to eat as much as he can when he does get to eat so that it will carry him through until the next day when he gets to eat again. She commented how she has more meals on her plan but that she only has a very limited amount of money to get her through this semester, and how she needs a blow dryer but that she is afraid to spend any money at this point. The young man talked about how this meal was far more than he really could afford, but that he was just so hungry that he could not say no to the offer. They continued to speak on about coming to college and both expressed their fear and loneliness that they have battled since coming to school two weeks ago. I felt a tugging inside to go speak with them, to give them my name and number and my offer of friendship and help... but I talked myself out of it, thinking that these "kids" did not want a 50 year old friend. I left that restaurant without reaching out... and I have felt awful ever since. I failed this round. I'm going to go back down to the college campus today and see if by chance I can run into them. Slim chance, but I'll try. I won't fail if given another opportunity.

Later last night, around 9:30 I received a phone call from a woman asking about our church. She had many questions... and to brutally honest, I found myself getting annoyed at them all, thinking to myself, "did she have to call this late?"
Then she asked me, "Does your church allow black people?" I laughed without thinking about it, and said, "Of course we do!" She wanted to know if we had any black people who attended. I told her that we do, but I honestly tried not to distinguish between who was black, white, Latino... I tried to only see people. She said to me, "you laugh, but you don't understand how lonely it can feel to be a single black woman walking into a white church that really does not want me there." I felt like someone cut my heart out of my chest with that comment. My mind again flashed back to those kids in the restaurant. Both happened to be of a different ethnicity than I am, and I questioned how much more this added to their loneliness and fear. I thought back over the past few days... how many people I have seen all alone, and how many opportunities I let slip through my fingers. That young lady sitting alone in the corner of Kaldi's Coffee. The elderly man sitting alone in the back corner of McDonald's. He had even spoke to me, and I responded, but only a brief, to the point, answer. He was reaching out for conversation, and I let another opportunity slip through my grasp, because I was too busy working on my Bible study for that night. (Rather ironic, don't you think?) Sitting here today the tears are streaming down my face because I can think of a dozen or so opportunities to just reach out and be a friendly voice or ear to someone... and I failed... miserably.
God help me to learn and to do better.
God help us all.

We Were Warned Long Beforehand, But Did Not Listen

Back in the 2004 Senate race in Illinois, Alan Keyes exposed Barak Obama clearly. Listen to not only the words of Keyes, but Obama. He showed his true colors in his statements. I've said it for years... people were never listening to what he had to say. They heard what they wanted to hear, left traditional and Christian values completely out of the mix and they were deceived. Note in particular Obama's comments about his own pastor, his own prayer and his own Bible reading. Of course since then, he has denounced that same pastor because Wright was exposed to be a bigot and pretty radical in his thinking and doctrine. We are paying a very costly price as a nation for our unwillingness to listen to what is really being said, and even more for not listening to the voice of God. I hope we learn.

Divine Discontent

I continue my look back. This one fills me with a lot of mixed emotions as I look back over the 4 1/2 years since it was written. We gone through a major turn over in the church since then. I miss some folks, but I believe it had to be. Today, the church is still in transition, but it has come a long way. There is an excitement in the air and I believe we are looking over... getting ready to cross over into a new place.

February 22, 2006

Divine Discontent

I was reading a friend’s blog and trying to comment on his post when all of a sudden I realized my comment was taking on a life of it’s own, so I moved it here. You may want to check out Neil’s blog here:http://neilshead.blogspot.com

I have had a stirring, a restlessness in me for the longest time. I know of no other way to say it but to call what I am feeling "divine discontentment." It's hard to put it into words and it sometimes just frustrates me to no end because I can't express this feeling well.

I sense God calling me to deeper place; not only me, but my church. It's a place we must go to, because I hear the voice of God calling, but the thing is... I don't know exactly where we are heading! I just know God is saying, "Come on! Follow me!"

It's hard saying this with several of my folks reading this blog, but I think they will know what I mean when I say it. The frustrating thing, or maybe I should say, the thing that wearies me, is that while there are a few who are packed and ready to go after God, most are not.
I feel somewhat like a father trying to get the kids together to get in the car for a trip, but they are off doing other things and I have to keep going after them. You finally get one rounded up and ready to go, only to find that the other that was in the car waiting has wandered off somewhere. And all the while I hear the voice of God calling... "follow me." While I don't know exactly where God is taking us, I have an idea, and I have seen glimpses, and I'm like, "If you people could just see what God is wanting to do, and where he is wanting to take us, you'd get on board and follow!"
Like I said, there are those who I believe sense it. They are ready to go, and they are pursuing God themselves, but the corporate journey is staggeringly slow.

I often find myself wondering if this was how Moses felt as they wandered the wilderness all those years. Ijust know that somewhere in the back of his mind he was thinking, “If you all had gotten it together and followed, we would have been in the Promised Land a LONG time ago! But still, day after day, week after week, year after year, he led them, knowing that while they should have already been there, the Promise was still out there.
Don’t you know that Moses wanted to just pack up in the middle of the night and cut across the desert and go on into the Promised Land? But he could not do that… he was called to lead the others there.Sometimes, I think “Lord, if they don’t want to come along… let me go!” But it does not work that way. Sometimes I think pastors and leaders get tired of the struggle or journey and they settle where they are… but this is where the “divine discontentment” comes into play. The Holy Spirit is stirring something in me, and I know there is greatness ahead if we will not settle. I refuse to stay where we are, because I know God has something amazing ahead that he is calling us to. I’m going on. The one thing that really troubles me is that I remember that many people died and were left behind in the wilderness, having never made it to the promise. I realize that this is going to happen in my church as well. It already has... for many people refused to follow after the promise, because they liked it just fine the way they currently were. Anytime we get at ease, or comfortable, we are at risk of settling short of the promise. Not me... I am going on.

What Have You Been Eating?

This was another of my favorite blog entries from over the past 5 years, and one that we probably do need to revisit from time to time.

25 January, 2006

What Have You Been Eating?

I want to borrow part of a message I preached a couple of weeks ago for today’s topic.
The message was titled: “Getting Hungry For God.”

In the message, I posed the question: “How can we get, and stay hungry for more of God?”
I want to focus on just the first point of that message, because it seems as if the Holy Ghost just keeps bringing it up before me, and tonight I felt prompted to use it here in the Dawghowse as refresher for my church and hopefully some of you other folks out there can get something from it too.

It seems rather paradoxical, but the fact is, one way to get hungry is to eat right.
It is a fact that if you eat junk food a lot, you will crave more junk food. But if you begin to eat a proper balance of healthy foods, you will hunger for, even crave those foods.
With that in mind for our physical bodies, I am convinced that the same thing is true of our spiritual hunger. We need to eat right!
As I have talked with people over the past couple of weeks since preaching this message, I have been keenly aware of what people are telling me they are feasting on.
I have had people telling me about the books they are reading/studying, or the movies they are watching, the television shows they have seen,… but almost NOBODY has mentioned something they read in the Word of God! 
The problem is, so many Christians today fill up on “spiritual junk food” that we aren’t hungry for God!
We’ll talk for hours to a friend via e-mail or the telephone but we don’t have time to pray. 
We’ll read the latest romance novel cover-to-cover or the entire sports section of the USA Today.
We’ll sit for hours in front of the TV set with never a complaint but it’s too much effort to get up and go sit in church for an hour and a half on Sunday morning. 

I used this Illustration in my sermon. I talked about cookbooks… I have a whole slew of them. Betty Crocker, Better Homes and Garden, International, Mexican, German, Italian… I have a shelf full of them.
And yet… I find myself going to McDonald’s!

We’ve got all the recipes for spiritual growth right here with us in the Bible but we’re not hungry because we keep snacking on worldly junk food.

The Psalmist said, “O taste and see that the Lord is good.” – Psalm 34:8.
For the healthy Christian, there’s no substitute for the Word and prayer. 
There are no shortcuts for those two things if you want to stay hungry. 
But many of us have no room left over for God in our spiritual bellies because we’ve gorged ourselves on things like gossip magazines and daytime soap operas. 
We know more about the latest websites than we do about the Word. 
Or we listen to the latest, hottest “fad” preacher; the one everyone else says to listen to or to read, but we never get into the Word for ourselves.

Everyday God spreads out a smorgasbord before us but we’re not hungry because we’ve been stuffing ourselves with spiritual cotton candy. 
We have no appetite left for God. 
Our lives are filled with so many things and yet, many Christians know full well that they are spiritually malnourished. 
The sinful condition of their private lives is proof.

Ask yourself this question: Have you given as much attention to the Word of God today as you have reading this blog? (OUCH!)

Again… If you want to develop a hunger for the good stuff, you have to make yourself start eating it. It takes some real effort at first, but once you do, and you start getting it into you, and letting it become a part of you…
You’ll find yourself craving for more!

Just a suggestion… If you want to have a radically changed life… try studying the books of 1,2, and 3 John. You will find them to be packed with love and practical power for daily living.

In A Reflective Mood

Apparently I ate something I am allergic to for lunch today, so I'm feeling pretty rough and not going to set out to do too much today. As  a result of this, I've found myself sitting here in the living room messing around on the computer and was talking with a new Facebook friend I connected with from here in town. She stumbled upon my blog and sought me out to talk about it. She made some comments about somethings I wrote in the first few months of my blogging journey, which in turn got me to thinking about it, and I went back looking at some things from the early days. In the process, I discovered that next weekend will mark 5 years since the birth of The Dawg Howse.  Amazing how time flies.


Anyway, I've decided that over the next week I am going to pull from the archives some of my favorite or most controversial blog entries from over years to revisit them. My first "re-post" is the one that triggered my new friend searching me out. When I went back and read it again, I can just see the face of Sister Bessie beaming. I miss her so much. She was such a precious saint of God. I am going to include one of the comments made from that post, because it adds so much to what I was saying.

16 September, 2005

I Love the Way the Lord Works

The Lord never ceases to amaze me. We tend to put God in a box pertaining to how he can work, when he can work and to whom he can work. But more and more I am learning that some of the most important "ministry" that is done is not behind the pulpit. In fact, it is not even in the church house. In recent months God has opened my eyes to let me see the "unintentional ministry" that takes place in the every day activities of life, if we will just be vessel that he can use. I want to share a couple of things that have happened recently to illustrate this. By no means do I mean this to elevate me, so I apologize in advance if it comes across that way.

Let me start with something that happened last night. I have been struggling with pain in my back and neck and extreme headaches for the past 2 weeks. A friend in another state sent an email to ask how I was yesterday, and I responded by telling her that I was still hurting, but was so much better than I had been the day before. I told her about how God was teaching me something through all of this about giving him praise even in the times of pain. She sent an email right back telling me how that when she read my email, she began to cry and she knew that the Lord was speaking directly to her through my email. It is funny because it was not meant that way… but God used the opportunity of my pain to minister to the needs of a woman several states away. Cool!

Another thing that happened this week that I just have to laugh about God and his timing, took place in the hospital ER. I went to see about an elderly woman who had just been taken in by ambulance. It was one of those “I have to go” times, because that day I was in so much pain that I could hardly stand it. When I got to the hospital, they were doing some x-rays and I had to wait. I found one of my members there talking with the sister to the patient. I stood and talked with them for about 30 minutes and then went in to see her. When I went in, I could see the loneliness in her eyes, and I simply leaned over gave her a kiss on the forehead and took her by the hand. Some time later I had to step out to make a couple of quick phone calls, and a nurse stopped me and asked if that was my mother. I smiled and told her that I was her pastor. She said, “Wow… I never would have guessed it!” I must have looked puzzled; because she explained herself by saying that she just happened to be looking in when I kissed this woman. She said, “Her face just beamed and her countenance changed after you came in. I thought surely you must be her son.” She went on to tell me that she didn’t go to church anymore, because she had lost faith in the ministry. She added that she always thought it was “a game” and the preachers really did not care. I tried to defend that… but she told me she had to leave. Later in the week, I received a phone call from that same woman. She was weeping and told me that she could not get the image out of her mind that she had witnessed that morning. Then she said to me, “For the first time in a long time, I saw Jesus in action and I know he is real, and I just want to thank you for helping me to believe again.” Wow… talk about a humbling experience.

There are so many things I could talk about, but suffice it to say that we would all do well to remember that the words from an old song are true, “You’re the only Jesus some will ever see.”   It is often not the intentional things we do to win the lost that matter, but rather the un-intentional things that just happen as a result of walking in the spirit.

***The Comment, made by Sarah***
I am constantly amazed how one moment can touch the lives of many in the same and different ways. In that instant you made a move that impacted both women in the hospital for days following the event. Both women needed to know someone cared. The one kissed, in her lonliness, needed to know that someone cared for her specifically. The one who viewed the kiss needed to know that there are preachers who genuinely care about their church body. Preachers who show love and kindness when there is no one viewing them. The one kissed recalled days later, "Did I tell you what Pastor did?" and the one who viewed made that call.

Keith Green - Asleep In The Light (live)

Judge Not...

In the past week, this topic has come up on Facebook a couple of times and become rather heated as people try to use the "Judge not lest you be judged" passage to defend their argument for inappropriate behavior. I'm sure it has always been so, but it seems to me in the last 10 years the use of this scripture has been twisted and abused more and more, as people seek to turn the tables on anyone who 
confronts sinful behavior. 


So, the question is, "What does the Bible mean? Is it saying that we are not to judge others?"


As I said, this is an issue that has confused many people, and abused by others. On one hand, we are commanded by Jesus, in Matthew 7:1 "Do not judge, or you too will be judged."  While on the other hand, the Bible also exhorts us to beware of evildoers and false prophets and to avoid those who practice all kinds of evil. Well, here's a question for you to ponder. How are we to discern who these people are if we do not make some kind of judgment about them? 
When you come up with an answer for that one, make sure and let me know.


The sad fact is that Christians are often accused of "judging" whenever they speak out against a sinful activity.  People sure love to use that passage. I'm of the mind that more sinners know that particular verse of scripture than any other Bible verse. "Judge not, lest ye be judged."  Now let me clue you in to something important: THAT is not the meaning of the scripture verses that state, "Do not judge." 


It is plainly obvious that there is a righteous kind of judgment we are supposed to exercise—with careful discernment.  John 7:24 says: "Stop judging by mere appearances, and make a right judgment."


Here it is in a nutshell... When Jesus told us not to judge, He was telling us not to judge hypocritically. 


Matthew 7:2-5 says to us, "For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye." 


What Jesus was condemning here was hypocritical, self-righteous judgments of others.


In  this passage Jesus warns against judging someone else for his sin when you yourself are sinning even worse. 
THAT, my friends, is the kind of judging Jesus commanded us not to do. The truth, according to God's Word, is that if a believer sees another believer sinning, it is his Christian DUTY to lovingly and respectfully confront the person with his sin.
Matthew 18:15-17...  "If your brother sins against you,  go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. 
16But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that 'every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses. 
17If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector.


This is not judging, but rather it is pointing out the truth in a hope of bringing the other person to a place of repentance and restoration to the fellowship of believers. 
Biblically, this is spelled out for us in James 5:20  “Remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins.”


Understand, this is not to but done harshly, but rather we are to speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15). 
Neither should this be about our "opinion," but based solely from the Word of God and what it says about sin. 
Paul instructs us in 2 Timothy 4:2 instructs us, "Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage — with great patience and careful instruction." 


We are to "judge" sin, but always with the goal of presenting the solution for sin and its consequences... and that solution is Jesus Christ alone.