Facebook and Jesus...

Are you kidding me???? This deal has sucked me in worse than my first Diet Coke....

I fought joining for so long...and now....forget it.

UNCLE.

It keeps me up late at night...distracts me from countless people, places and things...oh and did I mention work?

Why are over 90 million people doing this??

We crave connections.

A simple sentence from a college roommate-"I missed you....didn't we have fun....remember when...." opens up a world of feeling connected again whether to people from our past...or our present...some of it even leads into the future.

There is something strong within each of us that makes connecting with others essential to who we are at the very core.

OK...here comes the God part-

He is using Facebook.

Yep. You read it right.

He is everywhere....duh....but I have found Him very clearly lately in many of my Facebook conversations with people.

We shouldn't be surprised...He is where His people are.

In the days of Jesus earthly life...He walked among the people...did they things did...went to plays...and knew the language of their culture.

Personally, I have found friends both old and new in all different stages of a relationship with Him. Some are in ministry...some, not so much.

Over the past few months I have had people asking for prayers...questioning God...praising God...looking for Scriptures...wanting to know more about becoming a Christian...asking forgiveness. I have had discussions with non-believers...chatted with those from other religions...read and discussed the Bible while online and even led someone to Christ!

WWJD??? Would He have a Facebook account? I don't know....nor would I ever try and guess.

I just know that when I am on it....He is there.

Just like He is everywhere else I have been, am now and will ever go. He has turned what started for me as a silly computer distraction, that involved goofy pics from high school and college, into quite a formidable ministry tool in my life.

Thanks be to God for all of His gifts. Especially lately for reminding me that my life is filled with people who bless me and sometimes do not even know it....even if through Facebook.

Grace and Peace,

DCC

Protection...

So, I drive up and find this in the driveway Big Mike D.

Chocolate on face, barefoot, ripped jeans, covered in dirt, filled up backpack...

and on a mission...

Taking it to the streets...(like the Doobie Brothers)

What was the mission? Crime fighting....to quote him...

"I am out lookin' for bad guys...and when I find 'em...I'm gonna shoot 'em in the privates."

I made the mistake of asking with what?

and I was shown this....

I went inside for some water and found the midget's arsenal.

Along with a pair of orange scissors. Yes, they are all fake...well, not the scissors...but the rest...

He quickly realized the scooter was not sufficient...and SUV was in order. Bypassing the Pink Barbie jeep and moving to a scary black Escalade.

I am not making this stuff up.

Upon leaving the driveway....small problem...Mom's Suburban was in the way...so...what else do you do....but push it out of the way...not the Escalade...but the Suburban. That's right.

It is hard work to protect a neighborhood.

Sometimes, you just have to give in hit your knees and pray for someone else to take over.

Thank you God for covering us with your wings of protection. thank you for Mikey and his example...that you are prepared, willing, able and will stop at nothing in order to protect us.

Grace and Peace,

DCC

Be Nice...

Be Nice (Jesus is watching you)

uh oh, that means me too.

Have a "nice" weekend everybody

Grace and Peace,

DCC

Seeing...

So, Jessica and I were sitting in the office on Monday....

and we hear, "Hello?"
We yell back...Hello."
We hear again, "Hello?"
We yell back, "Uh....hello..."
We hear "Hello?"
I am thinking...what is the matter with this nit-wit? The lights are on...we are all here...and then....we hear her say....
"I can't see anyone......I am blind."


Well, alrighty then....excuse us while we jump 15 feet in the air to get to you...at the speed of light-

There stood, Lucy. She had a big smile on her face and a precious daughter, Genesis.
Genesis only spoke Spanish, so we chatted a little bit...and by little bit, I mean, there is a possibility that I told her there was an umbrella under her cat....but I digress.
they love Jesus. They were looking for "The Hope Center", (our ministry downstairs where we assist people.)
So, off we went- She asked if I was 5'8" (she was one inch short). I of course added that I was 100 pounds and a model....she giggled...bad sign for me...great sign for her sense of humor.

I started imagining what it would be like to not see anything. I felt sorry for her...

In the midst of "pity" for her, she said, "The Lord sent me here. I can see your heart...and I see that it is good." (This made me feel better after her giggling about being a model.)
"I can see your church,...and I can see that Jesus is here. The people here are good."

I quickly realized, she was not the one with the vision problem after all. Open My Eyes Lord, please.

Grace and Peace,
DCC

Prayer for Leaders...

A Letter from Max Lucado
===========================
Dear Friends,

I am a pastor, not a politician, so I can only speculate as to what awaits President-elect Barack Obama. The long-lasting benefits of good choices…the fearful consequences of poor ones…complicated social issues and relentless international problems.

He needs our prayers. And it’s our privilege to pray for him. The Bible says: Pray for rulers and for all who have authority so that we can have quiet and peaceful lives full of worship and respect for God. 1 Timothy 2:2

For that reason, I invite you to set aside a few minutes on Inauguration Day, Tuesday, January 20, and ask God to bless Barack Obama and his family. Join me and urge as many people as possible to speak to God on behalf on our incoming president.

Good things happen when people pray.
A few years ago I attended a meeting in the White House. While standing in the State Dining Room, I noticed some words engraved on the fireplace: a message from John Adams to his wife Abigail. “I pray heaven to bestow the best of blessings on this house and all that shall hereafter inhabit it. May none but honest and wise men ever rule under this roof.”

Here’s hoping that same prayer is offered and answered again.
~Max Lucado

God, no matter where we stand politically, the charge from You is perfectly clear, that we are to pray for our leaders. I pray that our leaders will seek You first in all decisions.

Grace and Peace,

DCC

So Help Me God....

When this man said "So Help Me God," I believe he meant it.

God, I thank you for this man, who feared you and sought You. May we all do the same-

Grace and Peace,

DCC

Lasting Impression...

"The fruit of righteousness will be peace;

the effect of righteousness will be quietness and confidence forever." Isaiah 32:17

What kind of impression are you leaving? I am having dinner with friends from high school tonight and college tomorrow night---most of which I have not seen in 20 years-

I am looking forward to both evenings- There should be lots of laughs and old stories told. However, by the time Friday comes along...what impression will I have left with them? Actually, I wonder what impression I left with them so many years ago-

God, I bless you for so many friends both old and even older...I pray that if You see fit to use me in bringing anyone closer to You...that I will be open and ready. Therefore, leaving people the most important impression of all, You.

Grace and Peace,

DCC

God is Good...

God is a good God. We must begin here and end here.

We live in world where there is cancer...suicide...car accidents and robberies.

One day we will be protected from all of this.

In the meantime we must remember, at the end of every day-one fact remains.

God is a good God and He is with us - Emmanuel..His Very Name tells us so.

Grace and Peace,

DCC

Wise Women...

If there had been 3 Wise Women...

Diapers, Formula & Casseroles might have arrived.

Thank you God, for providing everything we need, especially the things we don't even know to ask for!
Grace and Peace,
DCC

Only A Car Wash....

Learning to Trust the Master

-by Max Lucado

"A man and his dog are in the same car. The dog howls bright-moon-in-the-middle-of-the-night caterwauling howls. The man pleads, promising a daily delivery of dog biscuit bouquets if only the hound will hush. After all, it’s only a car wash.
Never occurred to him—ahem, to me—that the car wash would scare my dog. But it did. Placing myself in her paws, I can see why. A huge, noisy machine presses toward us, pounding our window with water, banging against the door with brushes. Duck! We’re under attack.

“Don’t panic. The car wash was my idea.” “I’ve done this before.” “It’s for our own good.” Ever tried to explain a car wash to a canine? Dog dictionaries are minus the words brush and detail job. My words fell on fallen flaps. Nothing helped. She just did what dogs do; she wailed. Actually, she did what we do. Don’t we howl? Not at car washes perhaps but at hospital stays and job transfers. Let the economy go south or the kids move north, and we have a wail of a time. And when our Master explains what’s happening, we react as if he’s speaking Yalunka. We don’t understand a word he says.

Is your world wet and wild?
God’s greatest blessings often come costumed as disasters. Any doubters need to do nothing more than ascend the hill of Calvary.
Jerusalem’s collective opinion that Friday was this: Jesus is finished.
Such is the view of the disciples, the opinion of the friends, and the outlook of the enemies. Label it the dog-in-the-passenger-seat view.
The Master who sits behind the wheel thinks differently. God is not surprised. His plan is right on schedule. Even in—especially in—death, Christ is still the king, the king over his own crucifixion.
Can’t he do the same for you? Can’t he turn your Friday into a Sunday?
Some of you doubt it. How can God use cancer or death or divorce? Simple.
He’s smarter than we are.
He is to you what I was to four-year-old Amy. I met her at a bookstore. She asked me if I would sign her children’s book. When I asked her name, she watched as I began to write, “To Amy …”
She stopped me right there. With wide eyes and open mouth, she asked, “How did you know how to spell my name?”
She was awed. You aren’t. You know the difference between the knowledge of a child and an adult. Can you imagine the difference between the wisdom of a human and the wisdom of God? What is impossible to us is like spelling “Amy” to him.
“For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts” Isaiah 55:9.

I keep taking Molly to the car wash. She’s howling less. I don’t think she understands the machinery. She’s just learning to trust her master. Maybe we’ll learn the same."

Amen.

Grace and Peace,
DCC

The Inside...

"But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." 1 Samuel 16:7

Seems like a lot of people at the beginning of the year are "looking" at themselves- physically...

I too, have been thinking I need to work out more-get back to my "fighting weight."

However, I was reminded in this scripture- that there will come a day when it does not matter.

Don't get me wrong- I am not advocating unhealthy lifestyle....

just saying there is Someone who sees our inside- not our outside.

Good to remember-since I am on the way to eat Teka Molina.

What? It is cold and rainy- and that is what you do- eat Mexican food with family and friends.

Grace and Peace,

DCC

Lime in the Coconut...

"I Put The Lime In The Coconut....now what"

Well, here we go....it's a New Year.
So...now what?
diets, new starts, quitting bad habits, starting better ones?

Ever feel like God is asking you to do something that does not make sense?

It does to Him, and that is all that matters.

"My ways are not your ways, my thoughts are not your thoughts."Isaiah 55:8

God, give us the wisdom, and desire to focus on You. Teach us to obey, even if you ask something we do not understand.

Have a great first weekend of '09-

Grace and Peace,
DCC