Ten Paces

 It was not a long stroll. Just a few short paces. Ten steps to be exact. It only took a few short seconds to get to my destination. In those seconds, time seemed frozen. I had an encounter with God that seemed to last much longer and moved me profoundly. Is that even possible? Can God really come and interact with a person in a significant encounter in just ten steps? He did me. 

Let me set the backdrop. The morning started out busy. I went from one thing to the next, to the next, with very little down time in between. My mind raced with all I had going on and those matters I still had before me. Thoughts bounced around inside my head like a pinball in a pinball machine. The day was jam packed with appointments and responsibilities. 

When I arose to keep my next appointment and strode those ten steps, God came and met me. He settled me. He overwhelmed me with peace and gratitude. I find it hard to capture the experience into words.

Those ten paces were from the front pew to the pulpit in the Spring Creek sanctuary. In the middle of that walk, God met me. The thought flashed across my mind how grateful I was to be in that place, making that short walk to stand behind that pulpit. I thought back to thirty years ago when I stood behind that pulpit on occasion to preach in Brother Bob's absence. I almost wanted to pinch myself hardly able to believe that God lets me serve as pastor of this great church. Gratitude washed over me like water from a shower. I silently thanked God for choosing me to serve here. In a way, I still find it hard to believe. It has been a year and a half since we began our pastoral ministry here. 

I sit amazed that God could do all of that in ten short paces. I did not time it, but I think the whole journey could not have lasted longer than five seconds. I laid my Bible open on that familiar pulpit and bowed to pray. If that congregation could have know the love and gratitude in my heart for our God and for them as a flock. They could not possibly know the trill I experience when I walk into the sanctuary and behind that pulpit to minister the word of God. Contentment washes over me like a waterfall even writing this. 

Spring Creek is a great church. We are not large but growing. We are not rich but well provided for. We are not pretentious just salt of the earth, hard working, warm hearted folks. Out of the tens of thousands of preachers in the world, God chose me to serve here. How humbling and how thankful I am to get to be a part of the miracle He is doing here. 

I wish I could always have profound God encounters in ten short paces. I do not take this church for granted nor what God is doing here. Brenda and I are truly blessed. All of those emotions flooded my heart and mind as I walked across the floor and mounted the three steps to stand behind the pulpit. 

Even as I write this, the thought crosses my mind, "I can't believe I am in Brother Bob Harper's office surrounded by the numerous volumes God has blessed me with on the shelves. Right above me is the Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit by Charles Spurgeon. Above and to the left are the Martin Luther, A.W. Tozer and George W. Truett book sets. What a blessing. What a blessed life. What an encounter with God in just ten paces. I have a grateful heart.

Come Let Us Reason

 I have lived in Texas most of my life. I spent one summer working in Florida and one summer working in Georgia in different churches as a summer intern. I am well acquainted with heat waves and consecutive days of triple digit heat. On a few rare occasions, I have seen snow. Not very often in deep east Texas among the pine trees where I grew up. I can only recall a couple of times seeing snow as a child. We got all we could out of those snow days. Snow men. Snow balls. Snow cones, but if the snow was discolored if you know what I mean. 

That made the snow storm of this past Sunday all the more interesting to watch. Several times I made my way to the dining room window just to watch. What started as a few flurries soon became a heavy down pour. It reminded me of the mission trip I took to Canada in December and saw heavy snow. 

I watched my front yard turn from brown, to beige as the dead grass and snow mixed, and eventually completely white. Several inches fell blanketing everything. I ventured outside in it to take a picture this morning and was glad I wore my boots. Everything looked pure. Clean. Crisp. Pristine. 

I thought of a Bible verse. 

Isaiah 1:18 (Webster's Bible)
¹⁸ Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins are as scarlet, they shall be white as snow, though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool. 

Just like the snow covered the ground and made everything white, so the blood of Jesus does that for the hearts of people who turn to Him for salvation. He takes dirty, sin stained, soiled hearts and makes them white with His righteousness. [II Cor 5:21] It is a beautiful miracle. A wondrous miracle. A miracle we have celebrated several times in recent days at Spring Creek. 

I am thankful for this visual reminder through nature of the spiritual reality of what Jesus has done for many and continues to do for those who trust Him today. Go ahead. Look outside to a spot where no car has driven, where nobody or no thing has walked. Look at the whiteness and then reflect that is exactly what Jesus did in your heart when you asked Him to save you and cleanse you. What a beautiful scripture. What a beautiful reminded on this chilly February day. As white as snow. Forgiven. Clean. Pure. May we never look at snow the same way again. 

Ripples

 I recall as a child walking to a pond on my grandparent's property. I learned to skip rocks on that pond. I also first learned about ripples by throwing big rocks into the still water. I loved watching the splash and the small waves that went out from that splash. 

As I write this, it is a frigid 14 degrees outside. Earlier this morning temperatures dipped all the way down to 4 degrees. I am not standing by a lake or pond today. Truth is I do not even have water on my mind. I am thinking about a different ripple. The kind of ripple people have influencing other people. I see ripples as the impact our lives have on others. The scope and scale of that impact largely depends on the splash we make as we live.  

Christians are called to make splashes with our lives sending ripples in all directions. We do that through our prayer efforts. We also do it with our gospel witness. The ripples of those faith conversations spread. I talked to several people last week about the power of Jesus to transform lives. I don't know where those conversations will ultimately lead. I only know that God can make the little splash of our lives send ripples further than we could have anticipated. 

Nobody left a bigger splash that Jesus. The ripples of His splash are still spreading around the world. His life left more than a splash resulting in a few ripples. His impact is more like the earth shifting deep beneath the ocean resulting in a tsunami. Many have been caught in those waves  and made much smaller splashes in efforts to make Jesus famous. People have given their lives to make ripples for Jesus and impact those contemporaries they lived among. Some of the ripples continue to this day through stories, legends, books and videos long after their lives ended. 

What kind of ripples are we leaving? Have our lives much of a splash? Admittedly, some people leave bigger splashes than others. The size of the splash of your life is not the point. The fact that you do splash in impacting those around you is the bigger issue. If your splash is limited to your immediate family, then send ripples to them. If God enlarges your territory and gives you a bigger splash, trust Him to send the ripples further than you can imagine. 

May we live to leave big splashes and several ripples. Not so others will brag on us. So that they will talk about the difference Jesus made in us and how He used us to send ripples to help others. Living with that goal will please and honor our King. So go ahead. Jump as high as you can, tuck your knees and splash for all you are worth. Watch what God does next. 

I Got Kicked Out of Church

 Those were the words spoken by a skater at the park on Monday night. When I asked if it happened in Weatherford he told me no. My heart sunk when he told me it happened in a church in a different town where I used to serve as pastor. I could not believe it. 

In rapid succession, this young man told me the following; he was homeless, had no contact with his family, he hoped to eat at least once a day, has drifted back and forth from Texas to Colorado, been in and out of jail for years, has no formal identification, has lived in homeless camps and was currently staying a hotel with a friend. . He has skated for fifteen years, broken his arm, broken a hip, and had four concussions causing him to have seizures. 

He is the best skater I have witnessed in the months we have shown up there. This young man awed us with his tricks, daring feats, and skills. I stood in admiration. He did things on a skateboard effortlessly I have seen others crash and burn attempting. 

While I talked to this man about Jesus, I heard an all too familiar story. He had an open mind to Jesus, but had no regard for the church. That same sentiment has been shared most of the skaters we have engaged in faith conversations. THEY DO NOT LIKE THE CHURCH. They feel judged and not loved. They know at best they are tolerated but not really welcome. 

Church, we are guilty. Are we a hospital for sinners. Are we  places where we welcome people who have their lives put together but grow uncomfortable when those who are down and out bravely show up ignoring the judgmental glances hoping to find help. 

The young skater did not feel he would be welcome. I don't know the full story why he was kicked out of church. I can only tell you it soured him on the institution created to help people get introduced to Jesus. The institution I serve and love. It breaks my heart. 

Jesus was a friend of sinners. He drew near them. He loved them. He showed grace to them. He spoke truth to them. He welcomed them into His kingdom. Shouldn't we not do the same. 

A Dream Of Hell

 I am sharing this with permission. That being said, two ladies approached me during the invitation this morning. The older lady told me about a dream she had a few months ago. She was driving toward Mineral Wells, a town not far from Weatherford. She saw smoke and a huge hole in the ground. She also saw fire coming from the hole in the ground and many were driving into it. 

She asked what I thought that dream meant. The first impression that came to my mind, and I sure to some of your minds as well, was the hole in the ground represented hell. The people driving into it were the people without a saving relationship with Jesus falling into eternal judgment. She even saw some of her family going towards that hole in her dream. 

I felt impressed that the dream was given to her to warn her family, friends, and others about getting right with Jesus before it is too late. She felt a burden for other family members to be rescued from eternity in hell. 

We cannot fathom the unrelenting terror and torture of hell. A place of outer darkness. A bottomless pit. A place of eternal fire and the lake of fire. A place of weeping gnashing of teeth. Christians do not want to see others end up there. So we keep telling the old old story even when so few listen.

She gave me permission to share the dream with others so more people will hear and be warned. Her dream is right. Hell is a huge abyss. Millions upon millions have already perished there and live in eternal agony and torment even as I write this. For those still alive, there is still time. There is time for you to go to Jesus in prayer and admit your sin guilt. You are guilty. All are guilty of sin. None of us are perfect.  Confess your need to be rescued from the abyss of hell. Ask Jesus to save you and forgive you. Believe that what He did on the cross was to pay the penalty for your guilt, my guilt and people around the world. He offers that gift of forgiveness and salvation for all who call on Him for it. Then you will be saved. 

Rom 3:10-11 Rom 3:23 Rom 5:8 Rom 6:23 Rom 10:9-10, 13 Suppose you read this and just experienced Jesus saving you. What next? First, tell others, Tell me. Send me an email. Tell your family and friends. Secondly, find a Bible believing church. Tell the pastor there and seal your commitment by baptism. Your pastor can explain baptism more fully to you. 

I don't want you to fall into the abyss of hell. Neither does Barbara who related the dream to me. Nor her daughter, Selena, who came down front with her mom this morning and whom I baptized last Sunday. May God use this dream to touch people all around the world. 

Cyber Attack

This post will be very short. I just finishing watching an astonishing documentary. I challenge you to set aside a couple of hours and watch the same. 

The documentary is titled Absolute Proof by Mike Lindell. I need not say anything more. You can find the video at brighteon.com.