Rubber Meets The Road....

“I will never leave you and I will NEVER abandon you.” ~Hebrews 13:5

I watched Rick and Kay Warren yesterday...it was their first time back in "the pulpit" since their son died.

It was powerful to watch real life rubber meeting the road.

"God is still the Red Sea God. He still restores the broken. He still heals the sick. 

Have audacious hope." -Kay Warren

There were many powerful and gut wrenching moments....at times easy to relate to and at other times unfathomable. 
There were three main areas of Biblical Truth that steadied them during the tragedy and now.

First, we know life doesn't make sense but we can have peace because we know God is with us and He Loves us.

"When you go through deep waters, I will be with you! When you pass through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown! When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned up; it will NOT consume you!” ~Isaiah 43:2

Second, everything on Earth is broken, but we can have joy because God has a greater plan.

“We can have joy even in our troubles because we know that these troubles produce endurance. And endurance produces character, and character produces hope. And this hope will not disappoint us, because God has poured his love to fill our hearts. ~Romans 5:3-5

Third, life is a battle, but we can have hope because we know there is more to the story.

"So we don't focus on the troubles we see right now; instead we look forward to what we don’t see yet. For the troubles we see now are temporary, 

but the joys to come will last forever.” ~2 Corinthians 4:18

These are all wonderful and true...however, as Rick Warren said, 
"The mind doesn't want to mind." 
Which means, for us, living with peace, joy and hope will require intentional living.
When we seek Him, He will meet us right where we are.  

God, Thank You for providing peace, joy and hope in Your Very Presence.

In His Dust,
DCC

Your Lane...

"We must run with determination the race marked out for us" ~Hebrews 12:1 

It is real easy for me to get caught up in looking at the other lanes.

Don't we all find ourselves at times, noticing how much easier, faster & happier those other "runners" seem to be doing.

Sometimes the lane you are in might feel muddy and hard to navigate.

Rick Warren reminds us to, "resist those who want you to run THEIR race."

God does not call us to run the same race as one another...

nor does He call us to run it faster and better than others.

Quite the opposite....

God calls us to run the race He marked specifically for us.

He also assures each one of us....He will be in that lane with us. 

"Remember I am with you always, until the end of the age." ~Matthew 28:20

Knowing this, remembering it and living in it...

is where true victory is found.

God, Thank You. I LOVE the lane You have placed me in. I am beyond grateful You are running with me.

In His Dust,

DCC

God's Megaphone....

My A/C decided this weekend would be an appropriate time to go on strike. 

In other news, it was hotter than the south side of the sun this weekend.

I was quickly reminded that the temperature of the air effects everything.
Quickly after that, I was reminded that my temperature effects others. 
As quickly as the temperature rose....so did my crankiness.

Neither adjusted well.

The air was also heavy in our community this past week and weekend.... 

Several unexpected funerals....miscarriages...jet ski accidents....blow outs... 

There was a negative wet blanket in the social media air. 

"Pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, 

speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: 

it is His Megaphone to rouse a deaf world"  -CS Lewis

As someone that once used a megaphone, 
(in a Mule head nonetheless, proving the story of Balaam to be valid)
it's main purpose is to be heard and to engage a response. 

There is no avoiding it. 
Our response to God's Megaphone...should be covered in trust and love.

Love seems to be God's freon. 

Without it, we are just blowing hot air. 
And when it's already 111 in shade- that's not helpful to anyone. 

God feels your pain and mine......

God is good.

God is faithful.

God is with us.

God, Thank You for Your Very Presence among each of us.

In His Dust,
DCC

Light of The World....

"Jesus said, 'Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.'” ~Matthew 19:14

The week of Vacation Bible School never ceases to amaze me. 
There is a rare, powerful, tear-stained, genuine worship that occurs, akin to nothing I've seen out of adults. 

Their worship was pure and heartfelt....with no distraction or concern of anyone around them. 

What was going on was a song and a conversation between each child there and their God.

While I was worried about getting "too in to it" at one point....I realized the quietest kids I knew were in front of 400 people "letting it rip" 

A few things overheard this week....

"We are giving money because, there are sad thirsty elephants in Africa that need it."

"God loved the world so much- 

that He decided to stay the same yesterday, today and forever" 

(messy 3rd grade handwriting Scripture looks better than any scroll found in Israel) 

"I growed a mustache here."

"favorite song is, My God is an awesome guy. He Reigns from heaven above. 
My God is an awesome guy." 

The particular singer also sings, 
"Mary had a little man. a little Man, a little man. He followed her home from school one day." 

"God sent bananas from the sky to feed desert people."

Kids took it upon themselves to help crying little ones. 

They giggled and skipped and didn't get their feathers ruffled by differences.

They had honest conversations with God....

They truly were and are, the light of the world and a city on a hill.

God, Thank You for giving us visual examples of what You desire. No wonder the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to such as these.

In His Dust,
DCC

The Emergency Pager...

When you call the church after hours this is what you hear....
"If this is an emergency or life threatening situation...please press 911 and a pastor will be paged immediately."

Let's review over a few possible emergency situations, shall we?

Someone is dying.
Someone is in serious trouble.
Someone is on fire.
Someone has just been in a terrible accident.
Someone has just passed away.
Someone is in a crisis and needs counseling.

I had the pager this weekend. 
(No, your time machine did not just drop you off in 1985, I said pager....which is an entirely different post)

This was a middle of the night emergency call we received...
"Please call me back quickly, I need to find out how to enroll my son in a shop class at Lee High School. Also, I could use $3500.00."

Ummmmm, at first, I wondered if he had misheard emergency as,

"Please press 911, if you would like to wake someone up and ask for help in a situation that is not an emergency."

In which case, I would say, Bravo sir, well played!

Then I reflected on all of the other middle of the night "emergency calls" we receive,

They go a little something like this...

What time is church? What should I wear? I think I lost a pair of sunglasses? I don't like that sermon series. Your message on the marquee is offensive. Why won't McNitzky wear a robe? What is Michael doing on his sabbatical? 

I could go on...but I was reminded by Job, that every concern of our's, is important to God.

"What is mankind that you make so much of them,

 that you give them so much attention." ~Job 7:17

Since God cares, then we should as well....3:00 am and pm equally.

God, Thank You for caring about every concern we have, just because You love us. 

In His Dust, 

DCC

Tools....

After a great dinner and on the way to my Godson's Bday party...I had a blow out.

Of course, I did what all 45 year olds do....I called my Mommy and Daddy.

And of course they immediately screeched up.

On board, was my Uncle Con. 

It is in his DNA to, "know what to do" and to not be afraid to do it. 

He does it with no complaints or even an eye roll.

With 600% humidity, with sweat literally pouring, off of his face....

there was not an eye roll or a complaint to be heard from him. 

Momo would be proud to know that there was no "belly-aching" from her boy. 

Just as Popo would be proud to know all his hard work and training in the garage paid off. 

I would be remiss if I didn't mention Reagan Stringfellow who drove by, stopped and turned into a Indianapolis 500 one man pit crew. 

(I owe you big time Reagan!)

 

I was quickly reminded that, we all come packed with a God Given set of tools. 

Our upbringing tends to sharpens, dull, add or subtract. 

Some of us look like we bring a shiny filled up tool box, 

that would make Tim Allen jealous... 

and others tend to show up with.....

a Fisher Price. 

You know the people I am talking about don't you?

They might not look like that much help in your eyes...or their "help" isn't exactly, "helpful." 

However, according to 1 Corinthians 1:26-31, He uses Fisher Price too!

No one is left out. We all have value and purpose. 

"Members do not have the same function... 

We have different gifts according to the grace given to each of us." ~Romans 12:4a,6a

 He has placed us where He wants us...

in order to Honor Him and Bless each other. So whether you think you arrive with a dented toolbox with inadequate tools...or you pull up whistling carrying plastic tools...

you and I can rest assured....

"He who began a good work on you 

will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ." -Philippians 1:6 

Just like Reagan, My Uncle Con and My Daddy showed me....

Love changes everything.

Thank You God for loving me and looking out for me in such a way, that only I knew, was straight from Heaven. 

In His Dust,

DCC

Putting The Baptize On Charlie...

He said to them, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. " ~Matthew 19:14

This is Charlie... 
aka, "Charlie Warley Doodle all The Day" or "Sir Charles"
He is 3. ("Free")

For weeks he has been talking about going to church to.... "Put the Baptize on."

He was excited about the, "Jesus' river water"

 ...and "the sign it was gonna put on him." 

The first words out of his mouth yesterday AM was...
"This is sure a beautiful day to put my Baptism on"

So, God reminded me,
 through a teeny-tiny person in a seersucker suit- 
toting a bag of jelly beans and pulling on a juicebox,
That we should ALL greet the day....ready to "Put Jesus On."

Both Charlie and his gorgeous baby sister, "Carowine" 
both, "got the baptize put on them"

He handed out some high-fives along the way to his co-teachers 
(They're who taught him all about Jesus' tomb having "NUFFING" in it.)

"Jesus said, 'I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, 
you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.'" ~Matthew 18:2


When all was said and done...what was left on the dining room table was a
wrinkled seersucker and spiderman underoos...

 but, what was left on the heart, was proof in the pudding.
The childlike faith Jesus Himself describes......
was found to have snuck out of bed and was reading, 
 his new Bible Stories to his invisible friend, "The Boy." 

 He said to them, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. " ~Matthew 19:14

Looks to me, like childlike faith, isn't so childish after all. 

God, Thank You for Baptism and for allowing us to "Put You on." Thank You for reminding us thru Charlie and Caroline that Your Love has changed EVERYTHING.

In His Dust,

DCC