Open Book!

I just read the story of Jesus's disciples promising to stay with him no matter what, and when the guards came to seize Jesus the disciples fled. A random thought came to mind...

If someone was writing our life down and making it a story, how would we do? I mean there are so many stories in the Bible that we have read and been like that is awesome, and others that we have read and wondered why this Bible character acted in this way when he/she knew what they needed to do. That is just where we get it wrong. So many times we forget that these "characters" in the bible are not characters at all. They are real people. Their stories, their life stories have been jotted down for all the world to see. We know how they ended so it's easy for us to judge them or celebrate them. So that's my question to you. If your story, your life story, was written down for all the world to see, would those reading celebrate with the choices you've made or would they judge you for the decisions you have/are made/making. Whoever wants to save their life will lose it (Mark 8:35). I also take this to mean whoever wants to save their reputation will lose it. Let us live giving God our lives, our reputations, and let's remember our promises we have made to Him.

Moral of the story: Your life is an open book, what part does your "character" play in the story?

Paying Bills...

Just paid my monthly balance for my American Express Delta Sky Miles Credit Card... ouch... You all know what I mean. Bills are never fun to pay. But as I was clicking the submit button for the payment a thought came to mind...

For the wages  of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. That's what the Bible says in Romans 6:23, but sometimes our reality of that scripture is not the same reality that it depicts. You see a gift is of no cost to the recipient. All one must do to receive a gift is to accept it. Many of us like receiving gifts especially one given from the heart of the giver; a gift given in love or from the heart of the giver is always the best gift. The giver knows the sacrifice that they have to take to give such gifts, but very rarely does the recipient understand to what depth of sacrifice the gift is given. Thus the dilemma.

Imagine getting (as a giver) a one of a kind gift that is nonrefundable and nonexchangeable. It's the perfect gift, one that you know for a fact that this person needs; as you go to deliver your gift, you arrive at the soon to be recipient's home to find no one there. You leave the gift on the doorstep with a note telling them who the gift is from. Maybe not everyone would expect a phone call or letter in the mail within the week, but let's say we are this time, and let's pretend like that phone call/ letter never happens.  We get to wondering what became of our special gift. We return to the house to find it opened and sitting outside in the elements which will ruin it. We return home hurt because of the way our gift was received (rejected could be a better word). We try the subtle way of calling the recipient to see if they received our gift, which they kind of dance around the question with a "yeah I saw it" answer.

Think of how God feels. He gave His very best gift. Parent's you can relate to this, He gave His one and only Son. He did this knowing that people would reject his gift. A sacrificial gift, one given from the very heart of the Creator of all the universe. He did this for one reason, His love for us. His love has no boundaries because He has already crossed them all, laying down His very deity and flesh for us. All we have to do is except His gift.

How many will still say, "Yeah I saw it. I know about it" and still not except it? It's hard to believe the best Gift ever given was gift wrapped in rags, but would it have been more acceptable if the Gift would have been wrapped with silk? Regardless we all have a debt to pay it's our choice if we want to accept that our debt has been paid, keep living like there is no debt to pay, or keep putting it off to pay later. One day the Collector will come, will you be able to show Him your debt has been paid and enjoy eternal life or will you have to take the punishment for your debt which is death. Do you love your family and friends enough to tell them about this Gift?

This is a time...

               Well tonight we had a night of Worship at our pavilion at my home church, Ozark First Assembly. There were 4 guitars many youth and young adults, and a few not as young adults. The night went pretty well I thought. We had a fire, the temperature was perfect for a fire tonight… at 90+. It was by a creek, mosquitoes were out. But we were all together, a group of believers joined together to sing praises to our God, Father, and King. The night started around 7, it’s not dark at 7, but that’s the time we decided to start. The 4 guitars were tuned, and finally playing the same song. People started singing. I wouldn’t really call what we did at this point worshiping; no it was more or less just playing the guitar and singing. So after we played about 7 or so songs, we stopped for a while. I spoke a few words concerning the heart of what the night was about. The guitars spread out a little amongst the crowd to better spread the tune, and we started again. This went on for another hour or so, but there were brief moments when no music was played and no one was talking. All we could hear were the sounds of nature, but shortly a guitar would pick up with another song and off we would go again. Though more worship occurred at this point of the night, we soon stopped, picked up around the area and went our separate ways. This is when a question was asked to me. How do you think tonight went? And it struck a random thought…

             Overall, I thought the night went pretty well, but with events like these we always wish that it would’ve gone better than it did. My philosophy on worship has become such, and that is what I would like to share with you. This is a time when TRUE worshipers will worship Him. That is a statement most of us have heard and believe. My question is, if this is true, why do we not see more people truly pour their heart out to God during our times of worship together? First off, you shouldn’t be worried about those around you, but I do know we’re all guilty of this, or I am anyway… But my thought is that no where in the ‘true worshipers will worship Him’ statement does it say how the true worshipers will worship. It only says that they will. So just because we do not see somebody pouring their heart out to God, doesn’t mean that they aren’t. Some people worship God just as silently as the Spirit moves through a service. Others go as extreme as singing as loud as we all do in the shower or car, or as loud as I do in the shower and car, and in the shower and car I sound like Joel Houston or Chris Tomlin or something. I mean you wouldn’t believe how awesome.. how amazing… sorry…

               People worship differently. If we try to make everybody worship the same, we will waste our time. As long as everyone is worshiping the same God, is that not enough? On the flip side of ‘true worshipers worshiping’, what does that mean of those who are not true worshipers…? Simply they will not worship Him. Yes, they may sing lift their hands and cry, but if they are not true worshipers, what they are doing is just making noise, motions, and forcing emotions. If this is you I almost apologize for stepping on your toes. I almost apologize because you needed to hear the truth. Now you need to accept the truth and do something about it. This statement also never states that those who are not true worshipers will never become true worshipers. There is hope! Seek God, become someone who worships God for who He is, and what he’s done for you. Give Him the glory, it’s not about how well you carry a tune, or how many buckets you’ve tried and failed to carry a tune in. 

             Worship Leader or Pastor don’t become frustrated when you don’t see visibly the fruits of your labor. God is working, and you never know what He is accomplishing in your congregation. Just do your job, follow the leadership of the Spirit, and let Him do his. 

Moral of the Story: What time is it you asked? Time when true worshipers will worship? Yes, and time for you to get a watch!

I love being handy!

I am a respiratory therapist in Ozark, and I recently had a patient who needed my help in buttoning up the shoulders of his hospital gown, after I ran a test on him. There is nothing significant about that, but the part that was significant, or thought provoking, came in the way he asked. He didn't say," Hey you unbuttoned me, will you please button me back." He instead said, " Please help me... I have almost lost all use of my hands."

Think about for just a moment how many times a day you use your hands... My typical day consists of waking up, (1) pulling the covers off of me, (2) unplugging my cell phone, (3) turning my phone off of vibrate and into some sound (if I remember) (4,5,6)opening my shirt drawer grabbing a shirt and putting it on, (7,8,9) Doing the same with my shorts/pants, (10,11,12,13)Doing the same with my socks-12 and 13 is my right sock then left or vice versa. That's 13 different times on a day that I decided not to set an alarm the night before, or make my bed, and this is only 5-10 minutes into my day. Oh yeah, and I forgot to shut the three drawers...

In any case, we use our hands a lot, but my real thought is much deeper than how blessed we are to still have use of our hands, no matter how arthritic they may be.

What if this patient of mine were God? We, as the Church, are the body of Christ, but sometimes I do feel as if Christ's body has almost lost all use. How often do we reach out to the lost, to the broken, even to the different. You see the awesome thing that I've come to realize about hands is that they are attached to arms. Seriously, think about the potential of hands attached to arms as compared to hands popped out where your current arm pits are. How would we put on deodorant... would we even need too... would hair still grow there... (back to the matter at hand, pun intended) Hands attached to arms can reach. They can reach out, up, down, or back. They can reach out to the different, up to the Father, down to the sick, and back to those who may have fallen behind.

How productive or useful is a hand that only serves itself? Should a hand bathe and dry only itself? You say that's pretty crazy, but how many churches do we have even in our own city, county, or state that the only reach they do is an in reach? There are times when in reaches are needed, but let's get real. There's a world in need of somebody to reach out to them, and God saw it fit to give us the hands attached to arms to do it with.

So I ask, Christian are you reaching out? Church are you? If not, God's saying, "I have almost lost all use of my hands."

Moral of the story: Arm pits are much cooler than hand pits. Reach out!

Writer's Block

When I finished this I came back up to the top to apologize, it's kind of crazy, but so is Charlie Sheen...(That was low, and I do apologize for this blog, and that Charlie Sheen remark.)


As I sat down to write, a thought suddenly occurred to me, "I have writer's block." This random thought sparked another thought, and thus answered the thought that I thought up once my first thought was thought. Now that you are confused, let me try to explain.

Writers block won't be found in Webster's dictionary, but our friend, Google, always has an answer. Writer's block can be defined as, The inability to begin or continue work on a piece of writing; normally temporary. 
How does a writer have writer's block? Can a singer have singer's block? Which I would define as, the inability to begin or continue singing on a song; normally temporary.

Can a Christian have Christian's block, the inability to continue living a Christlike life; normally temporary?

You see I figured out once I sat down that a writer alway's has something to write about and a singer always has something to sing about. It may not necessarily be what the writer or singer is expecting to write/sing about, but there is always something there. Normally it isn't even very deep. I mean really how deep is it to write about writer's block? But then again how deep is it to write about Christian's block?

Could be really deep, like up to your elbow pits deep, but we won't go that deep in this blog, partly because we never do. Here at Random Thought For the Day Institute we just try to let a thought spark a thought. But just as the writer always has something to write about, and a singer always has something to sing about. A Christian always has a reason to live a Christlike life. You never know who's watching or who's waiting. You never know which seed is being sown, which seed is about ready to be harvested, and which seed we just plucked out of the ground due to our Christian's block. I'm just glad God doesn't have blocks, and I'm certainly glad that in the garden, Jesus didn't have Savior's block.

Moral of the Story: Blocks happen, but when one comes in front of you, you must swim move it, and go sack the quarterback!

This Is Missions

A young girl and her even younger brother are in the streets again today. As strangers pass them by, they are looking for any sign of hope, and any sign of food for the day, checking the ground for fallen money, and the garbage for an uneaten fruit. After all, this is Africa, and their parents are dead…

A man ducks behind a tree, the border patrol has just driven by the fence dividing Mexico and The United States of America. He is a husband, and father of three kids whom he can’t feed. He has gone without food for the past 2 days so that his wife would have the nutrition to feed their 2 month old daughter. He needs a job, and nobody will hire him in Mexico. He’s tried coming across legally, but was declined, and out of desperation, this is his last option…

Here comes Mr. Popular, quarterback of the football team, and voted Most Likely to Succeed by his Sr. Class. He has a nice smile, big laugh, and an even bigger drinking problem. Most people don’t see the stress that he carries every day. He’s living the dream of his father, also an alcoholic, and a high school dropout, and doesn’t even like football, but only plays because it’s expected of him. For the past week, he’s watched his dad beat his mom every night. He wanted so much to be loved, but now he’s beginning to believe there is no such thing…

The quiet, teen girl passes by, hair lips and fingernails are jet black, skin is pale, and wrists are bleeding underneath her black jacket. Nobody understands, and nobody tries too. She passes by them every day, and instead of speaking to her, they wait for her to pass and talk about her. She feels invisible, and she only wants somebody to talk to, somebody to listen, believe it or not, and somebody to laugh with. She hasn’t seen her own smile in years, but for years she’s just been walking by…

A woman comes out of the farmer’s market with seeds for her garden, and as she bumps into a little boy, she looks down and smiles. He looks at her for just a moment with a look of hope in his eyes, but as she starts to walk off, his eyes start scanning the ground. She hears a young girl’s voice scolding the little boy, and telling him to be mindful of the passersby. The woman stops as she realizes what’s happening. She asks the children “Are you hungry.” They reply with a nod. She tells them to come with her, for today they will learn how to grow their own food and about the One who made it… This is Missions.

A man sits on the curb with his face buried in his hands; tears are streaming from his face. As the border control vehicle drives back off, leaving him alone on the dusty streets, the deepest feeling of failure has overwhelmed him. His last hint of hope has been destroyed. His family will starve, and he has nobody to blame except himself. About this time, a stranger pulls beside him. As the driver lets down his window, the man looks up with tears washing the dust from his cheeks. The driver is new to the area, and needs help learning his way around. As they ride and talk, the driver finds a restaurant and as they sit for a meal, the man confesses that he has no money to pay for his food. The stranger begins to share with the man that if a brother is hungry, you should give him something to eat, but he wanted to do more than that, he wanted to give him a job… This is Missions

You see Mr. Quarterback and Mrs. Invisible attend your school, and they need you, to show them love, to listen, to bring them hope and joy. The same goes to you adult. You work with people every day, you pass them on the streets, and in the stores; they’re silently crying out, and they need you to show them the Way. You don’t have to be labeled missionary in order to do this kind of work. Your school is your mission field, your work is your mission field, and This is Missions!

Speckled Comfort

            In my house, there is something my family knows as “The Speckledy Blanket.” It’s simply a comforter that is made out of the most amazing, feel good year round, material that is white with the design of different colors of paint dripped on it, giving a speckled look.

Many Sunday afternoon naps have been taken, many sicknesses have been cured, and fevers broken while underneath this blanket. When my two sisters-in-law joined the family, there was many a “loving debate” over exactly whose blanket this was, is, and ever will be… Joking aside, it is, without a doubt, the most comfortable, comforting, and anything else dealing with comfort comforter/blanket that I have ever encountered. It has to be sent down from God Himself. The Bible says that God is the God of all comfort. (2 Corinthians 1)

A statement I’ve heard and believed to be true is, “If you become comfortable in a place (ministry, ect…), God will move you.” That is totally contradicted by this scripture, which made my computer of a brain (I don’t joke about it and neither should you), head spin. The random thought that came to mind is… There has to be a difference in being comfortable where you are, and being complacent where you are. I at one point believed them to be one in the same, but according to Webster, being comfortable means enjoying physical comfort or encouragement, while being complacent (or complacency)self-satisfaction accompanied by unawareness of actual dangers of deficiencies.

Everyone loves comfort, being encouraged, and 70 degrees Fahrenheit with a slight but cool breeze, and there are times in our lives when we need to be comforted and comfortable, especially in our walks of faith. When we find ourselves feeling comfortable we must also be on guard, for complacency lurks around the corner. It’s so easy to say, “I’ve worked hard, figured it out, I’ve finally got it made. I’m comfortable here.” That’s not comfort, it is complacency.

Comfort and complacency are laying in the recliner under the speckledy blanket after a long 12 hour shift. The phone rings, caller ID indicates it’s the mother-in-law, and you suddenly remember that she wanted your help today. Comfort answers and goes, complacent stays and sleeps. The Complacent are selfish the comfortable are selfless. Someone who is comfortable is willing to leave their place of comfort to help. The complacent simply are not willing to leave their self comfort.

Check yourself. Are you not answering a call, be it from a friend, family member, or even God due to complacency dressed in comfort’s clothing (or a wolf dressed in sheep’s clothing if you will)?

Moral of the Story: Don’t have your daily prayer time, while in the recliner under the speckledy blanket at night… it’s just not a good idea.

Another Day in SA

             I spent time with a little boy today that I’d only seen one time before. As we pulled up to the house, he and his older cousins were going to draw some water for their family of 6. As the truck came to a stop, and we stepped out, he ran to greet me with a hug. His little arms not even wrapping around my legs, I realize I could stand to start working out more. You see this little boy is only three years old. His family of six consists of his older sister who is 6, his 4 older cousins who are 18, 13, and twins of 7 years and him. These 6, “the six pack” as we’ve come to know them, are orphaned. The four oldest kid’s mother died not long after the twin girls were born, and the little boy and his sister’s mother is still living, but chooses not to be with them. She left them with the granny, who did not feed them, take them to the clinic when they were sick, or do anything beneficial for these kid’s lives. So now the “six pack” live together and alone in a house built just for them by a missionary family who loves them very much.

             Recently 3 “priests” from a cult entered their home. They stayed in the house and ate the food that was there for the kids. These priests believe in and probably practice witchcraft, and other things that I do not care to think about at this particular time. So today, we’ve come to talk to the 18 year old boy, the leader of the household, the one who let the 3 priests in. As a well trusted friend and area pastor talks to the oldest, the little boy sits right beside me, with his little arm using my leg as an armrest. He then starts running his little index finger over my hand, as I lay my palm out flat before him he sticks his little hand in mine makes his way to my thumb and latches on. I then close my hand around his and begin a simple but fervent prayer. I pray that God would touch this little boy, that he would come to know Him, and that these little hands that were grasping mine would one day soon turn into the hands of God. About that time he scratches his head that is obviously unhealthy do to a lack of upkeep and good nutrition, and my prayer turns to his health physically (you see he’s been sick recently) and mentally (who knows what witchcraft he’s been exposed too). About this time, while still holding my hand, he gazes up at me with those big brown eyes, and I pray that these eyes would see the world and people the same way that God sees them, and as he starts to smile, I pray that he would bring the joy of Christ to all that he comes into contact with. About this time, he stands up to push himself further on the couch, and as I look at his feet which are dirty and spotted with sores, I pray that his feet soon start walking the path that God has set out for him, that he doesn’t veer off to the left or to the right. He yawns, and leans his little head against my arm, which I then put around his shoulder. My prayer then asks that he would have the strength to carry the weight that is going to be put upon his shoulders. That he would be a God fearing boy, and would have great faith that his (or mine…or your) generation is yet to see.

             So I ask, parents, do you pray for your children? Highschooler, do you pray for that little kid that looks so passionately up to you? Sisters do you pray for your brothers? Brothers do you pray for your sisters? Husbands do you pray for your wives? Wives do you pray for your husbands? Pastor, do you pray for your congregation? Congregation, do you pray for your pastor? Employee, do you pray for your employer? Employer, do you pray for your employee? You see the power of prayer is, strong if you exercise it, but unused it’s as useful as that gym membership that you don’t use.

Moral of the Story: There’s always something to pray for, so exercise!

Toenails of Love (dated 1-27-2011 from SA)

Today while riding in the Hasselbring’s Speed the Light vehicle, (Thank you Assembly of God Youth in Alabama. You’re awesome!) the news came on the morning radio show. One of the headlines was that a man proposed to his girlfriend through text message…. He sent the message to the wrong number. Didn’t hear the Paul Harvey rest of the story, but I did read this tonight.

1 Corinthians 16:14 says, ‘Do everything in love.’ My first question is, how? My second question is, why? How could you send a proposal text to the wrong number, and why in the world would you do that via text message, but back to Corinthians. How is it possible to do everything in love? I can see doing some things in love, but everything we ever do; we are to do in love? Go to church because you love God. Got it. Go visit with grandma because you love grandma. Yep. Take your dog to the vet because you love your dog. He/She is family. Sure enough. Clip your toenails because you love to wear flip flops…? 

Which leads to my next question, Why? Why in the world would I clip my toenails in love? Personally I know my why (I prefer to be clean, and long toenails look nasty), but for your average joe with above average length toenails, why clip toenails in love? Truthfully, I have no clue why we are to do everything in love. If I had to guess, seeing as we are creatures of habit, and God has promised us if we are faithful with the small things then we will be blessed, I would say it’s just habit building. If we take everyday normal things, like greeting a stranger or even a  “friend” (you all know that person) early in the morning before that second cup of coffee, and do them in love, then those moments, those times that God has ordained for us to be with somebody who needs the very love of God, and we, yes you or me, are  the only one around, in those moments, we will know how to love because love is the story of our lives. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son. He did everything in love so why should we be any different.

Moral: Live a real life love story, and cut your nasty toenails! You so nasty…!

Sunday Fishing

I started off my day by waking up late for church, followed by a drive to the gas station for fuel and  a bacon and egg sandwich. I arrive at the IAG Church in Matsulu at 11:22, service starts there at 10:30. Not the way a missionary wants to start his first Sunday back in South Africa…

                I went fishing after lunch. No, not fishing for men, but actual bass and tilapia fishing. It also marked the first time I’ve ever been fishing with my little brother DJ (no worries my tilapia was bigger than his).  We only caught 1 fish each (total of 2 for you mathematically challenged folks), and with it being such a slow day, with all the ants and mosquitoes that God ever let come into existence biting, and only the same amount of fish that made it on the ark…(I do not know if fish were on the ark but I will ask Noah one day... or one of his sons... focus...), as I watched my cork drifting over a ripple made by a fish that was either smarter than me, or just not hungry, a thought came…

                How many of us, whom God called to be fishers of men, actually fish? So many more of us went through the excitement of Salvation, we grabbed our rod and reels, and casted away, but the first fish never bit. So we are waiting, our hook is still in the water, but instead of fishing, we are just cork watching whenever we are not swatting at the “mosquitoes and ants” of life. A lot of us will continue to cork watch until we get tired and “go home”, and most of us will never realize that we never baited the hook. I’m not saying it’s impossible to catch a fish with no bait, I’ve done it, but I am saying that it is much easier with a baited hook. I’m not saying Jesus is bait or that you want to hook anybody into anything. Jesus is no bait, but He is the only way to heaven. You know this, so no more excuses. You do have something to offer the fishes that have swam by your empty hook. He’s better than the greatest and latest jig, old school worms or crickets, and can do more good to them than Catfish Charley (stink bait) can do bad for your hands. Tell them your story, tell them His, so He can finish theirs, and you can have a partner to later go fishing with!

Moral of the story: Be on time for church… and go fishing!

Butt end of a joke...

I recently read a joke, and it read like this:
        When a traffic cop pulled over Pastor Johnson for speeding, the minister reminded the officer, "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall be shown mercy." The cop handed the minister the ticket and quoted, "Go thou and sin no more."

As funny as that initially was, it struck a strong and disturbing reality inside of me. A thought came to my mind. What does it mean to be merciful? So I pulled out the Bible and dictionary to compare the two. The dictionary says merciful is exactly what I thought (kudos to my vocabulary teachers), full of mercy. The commentary in my bible says that the 'merciful' are full of compassion and pity toward those who are suffering either from sin or sorrow. The merciful sincerely want to make such suffering less by bringing those people to the grace and help of God through Jesus Christ.

I can't count the number of times that I was driving my granted 7 mph over the speed limit, and some "law fearing" person flies by me like I'm sitting on the side of the road with a flat tire. And in those times I hoped that a cop or two were sitting up the road just waiting on my 2 fast 2 furious want-to-be friend. Or when I only have one item to buy at Wal-Mart, and they have two cashiers on duty, one of which is the express lane, and the lady who just bought groceries for a family of what looks like 80, so graciously cuts me off and checks out in the express, 10 items or less please, lane. How full of mercy am I in those moments? How compassionate towards others am I in those moments? Who knows how many jobs the could be single mother, trying to feed her family of what looks like 80, be working? What if the "law fearing citizen" is racing to get to his elderly grandmother's house because she just fell, and somehow reached the phone to call him? How much more would a speeding ticket if not reckless driving ticket, set him back? In these times of no mercy moments in my life, is there any mercy for me?    

Moral of the story: Never read a joke without wearing some kind of close toed shoe because it hurts a lot less to have your toes stepped on.