A Slower Pace

In the year 2013, the Lord came unto Noah, Who was now living in America and said:
“Once again, the earth has become wicked and over-populated, and I see the end of all flesh before me.”
“Build another Ark and save 2 of every living thing along with a few good humans.”

He gave Noah the blueprints, saying:
“You have 6 months to build the Ark before I will start the unending rain for 40 days and 40 nights.”

Six months later, the Lord looked down and saw Noah weeping in his yard – but no Ark.”Noah!,” He roared, “I’m about to start the rain! Where is the Ark?”

“Forgive me, Lord,” begged Noah, “but things have changed.”
“I needed a Building Permit.”
“I’ve been arguing with the Boat Inspector about the need for a sprinkler system.”

“My homeowners association claim that I’ve violated the
Neighborhood by-laws by building the Ark in my back yard and exceeding the height limitations. We had to go to the local Planning Committee for a decision.”

“Then the City Council and the Electricity Company demanded a shed load of money for the future costs of moving power lines and other overhead obstructions, to clear the passage for the Ark’s move to the sea. I told them that the sea would be coming to us, but they would hear none of it.”

“Getting the wood was another problem. There’s a ban on cutting local trees in order to save the Greater Spotted Barn Owl.”
“I tried to convince the environmentalists that I needed the wood to save the owls – but no go!”

“When I started gathering the animals, PETA took me to court. They insisted that I was confining wild animals against their will. They argued the accommodations were too restrictive and it was cruel and inhumane to put so many animals in a confined space.”

“Then the Environmental Protection Agency ruled that I couldn’t build the Ark until they’d conducted an environmental impact study on Your proposed flood.”

“I’m still trying to resolve a complaint with the Human Rights Commission on how many minorities I’m supposed to hire for my building crew.”

“The Immigration Dept. Is checking the visa status of most of the people who want to work.”
“The labor unions say I can’t use my sons. They insist I have to hire only union workers with ark-building experience.”

“To make matters worse, the IRS seized all my assets, claiming I’m trying to leave the country illegally with endangered species.”
“So, forgive me, Lord, but it would take at least 10 years for me to finish this ark.”

“Suddenly the skies cleared, the sun began to shine and a rainbow stretched across the sky.”

Noah looked up in wonder and asked, “You mean you’re not going to destroy the world?”

“No,” said the Lord. ” The Government beat me to it.”

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

I recently saw this at a local church…..

We extend a special welcome to those who are single, married, divorced, gay, filthy rich, dirt poor, y no habla ingles. We extend a special welcome to those who are crying newborns, skinny as a rail, or could afford to lose a few pounds. We welcome you if you sing like Andrea Bocelli or like our pastor who can’t carry a note in a bucket. You’re welcome here if you’re just browsing, just woke up, or just got out of jail. We don’t care if you’re more Catholic than the Pope, or haven’t been in church since little Joey’s baptism. We extend a special welcome to those who are over 60 but not grown up yet, and to teenagers who are growing up too fast. We welcome soccer moms, NASCAR dads, starving artists, tree-huggers, latte-sippers, vegetarians, junk-food eaters. We welcome those who are in recovery or still addicted. We welcome you if you’re having problems, or you’re down in the dumps, or you don’t like “organized religion;” we’ve been there too. If you blew all your offering money at the casino, you’re welcome here. We offer a special welcome to those who think the earth is flat, who work hard, don’t work, can’t spell, or come because grandma is in town and wanted to go to church. We welcome those who are inked, pierced, or both. We offer a special welcome to those who could use a prayer right now, had religion shoved down your throat as a kid, or got lost in traffic and wound up here by mistake. We welcome tourists, seekers, doubters, bleeding hearts . . . and you!

This is what Jesus would say. He would also go further and say that you weren’t just welcome, you are loved!

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

This was my view this morning. And below was my devotion. God made both and this morning they were hand in hand.

Psalm 19:1-6

1 The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
2 Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they reveal knowledge.
3 They have no speech, they use no words;
no sound is heard from them.
4 Yet their voice[b] goes out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world.
In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun.
5 It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,
like a champion rejoicing to run his course.
6 It rises at one end of the heavens
and makes its circuit to the other;
nothing is deprived of its warmth.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

Dear God…..

I am weak but You are strong.

I only know how to plant seeds. You are the One who makes them grow.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

Yesterday at worship we had a visiting pastor preach. This guy, Jud Wilhite, is a pastor at a very large Las Vegas church and even referred to our pastors, Dave and Kyle, as a pastoral dream team. He is right on the money and had big shoes to fill. Well, let me tell you, that Las Vegas church is as blessed to have Jud as we are to have Dave and Kyle. His sermon (go check it out here — http://www.southeastchristian.org/default.aspx?page=4754&series=55) was humorous, well done and hit home with some very good, poignant points on “Pursued For Relationship” where God pursues us in love.

Right out of the gate this quote hit me (and would probably hit MANY non-church folks out there):

“God isn’t out to get you (like a cosmic policeman). He’s out to LOVE you!”

Here are the others:

• “You can run FROM God or you can run FOR God but both can be equally exhausting. Just run TO God and rest in Him.”
• “Marriage is not about the contract; it is about the relationship.”
• “The most important thing about our relationship with God is not our love for God. It is His love for us.”
• “When we get to the end of our lives, the ONLY things that matter are our relationship with God and our relationship with those around our death bed.”

Again, I encourage you to go check out Jud’s sermon — http://www.southeastchristian.org/default.aspx?page=4754&series=55

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

This evening after a wonderfully relaxing day of worship and rest, the sky was punctuated by a spectacular sunset. However, there was one addition to the evening sky that I had not seen before. My son termed it a “golden rainbow”. It was a streak or beam of light that emanated from the western horizon sunset and then progressed completely across the sky over our heads and ending in the eastern sky. I had seen beams of light before coming from behind the clouds as if Jesus is returning. However, I have never seen a particularly focused beam such as this. Additionally, I had never seen any of those beams of light stretch across the entire sky. It was truly amazing. It reminded me of the Bible verse below.

“He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.” — Acts 1:7-11

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

This morning I was back in my normal Friday routine of serving breakfast at Wayside Christian Mission and praying in front of the abortion center. My wife and I worked the Chrysalis Flight two weeks prior and last week we were prepping for Thunder Over Finchville, so i had been out of my routine for a while.

As I stood praying, I felt the abnormally cool breeze blowing across me. With my eyes closed, it really felt like it was the beginning of October — a cool, crisp morning accompanied by a slight wafting of cool air around me. I opened my eyes and wouldn’t have known any different. In October, the trees still have their leaves and plants are still green with foliage. Rather than trust your feelings to what month it was, you would need to go to the true source of a calendar to know the truth — it was July in Kentucky and not October.

The same thing goes for God’s word. As humans, we feel certain things. Some are good — compassion, love, nurturing — and some are not good — anger, jealousy, lust. However, our feelings are NOT where we get the determination of whether something is good or not. Just like with my feeling the cool breeze on a July Kentucky day (which for you non-Kentuckians should be hot, sweltering 95+F degrees with 90% humidity dripping off you), our feelings of love, fairness, disgust and others are not indicators of what the truth is. To find out exactly what the truth is we must look to the Bible to see what God says is right and what God says is wrong. We will not get it by feeling. If you use your feelings to determine what is right and wrong there is a good chance, like today with the weather, you will feel something that is not the truth.

I encourage you to open the Scripture and search for what God’s truth is for you.

If you have never opened your Bible and don’t know where to start, begin in the gospel of John in the New Testament. It is the fourth book of the New Testament — Matthew, Mark, Luke and JOHN.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

I was blessed enough to attend a breakfast this morning that had Bob Russell as the main speaker. Now if the name Bob Russell doesn’t sound familiar to you, he is the pastor that started my church, Southeast Christian Church, that continues to grow and send out ripples in the pond of Louisville and beyond. And while I did not have the pleasure or opportunity to attend while he was lead pastor, his effective transition plan to pastors Dave Stone and Kyle Idleman has ensured the vine of Southeast which is grafted to Christ continues to produce fruit long after Bob Russell’s retirement.

One of the more poignant comments made during Bob’s talk:

“When the electricity goes out is a great time to be selling flashlights.”

Electricity = our nation and culture

Flashlights = the light and truth of Jesus

He even told a story of a time he was at a social event and a self-proclaimed non-religious person came up to him and said “Preacher man, I am not religious but even I know that our country is on the decline”.

While many believers feel angst and concern for the direction our country is headed — slipping morals, increasing violence, loneliness in spite of the electronic connections, government corruption — now is also the opportunity to show others the light and truth of Jesus Christ. There might not ever be a better time in our country’s history where people realize something is missing and long to fill the emptiness in our hearts. Government is letting us down. Entertainment is fleeting. Sex, drugs and rock and roll are unable to fill the void. Only Jesus can provide the peace that passes understanding. Only Jesus can gives eternal joy. Only Jesus can fill that God-shaped hole in our heart.

To hear more of this great message, Bob Russell also has a great blog at www.bobrussell.org .

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

Mother nature sure didn’t get my memo for securing the date for this year’s Thunder Over Finchville because we were in the middle of multiple days of soaking rain. Other organizations and municipalities called their displays off but between the work that had gone into arranging and fusing the fireworks and the major amounts of food and prepping that had been done, we were pretty much committed to some kind of celebration party on Friday night.

And happen it did. The team of 8 guys wrapped the firework boards in plastic and put them out with the control boxes. It did begin to mist and when the show actually started it was sprinkling. By the time it turned into a full on rain, the wonderful fireworks display kept everyone glued to the sky while also trying to manage not getting wet — although people were already under pop up canopies, retreated to their vehicles or had rain ponchos on. When it did end, everyone scurried to their cars and almost all 120 people were gone in about 10 minutes. Below is a short 45 second snippet video of the 15-20 minute display.

Thanks to all who attended and even more thanks for those involved in setup and clean up.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

While contemplating our nation’s 237th birthday, I continue to be awed at the wisdom of our founding fathers, the amazing growth of our God fearing nation, and the path of decline our nation is currently on. It has me very concerned because, while we are a great nation, most people I talk to also believe that we are on a downward slope.

So those thoughts got me thinking about what we need to do to restore our country to greatness.

• Pray
• Spend time as a family
• Open Scripture
• Turn off your TV
• Get to know your neighbors
• Eat dinner with your kids
• Unplug your computer and video games
• Stand up for what is right
• Read more
• Volunteer
• Get outside and enjoy nature
• Slow down
• Pursue wisdom, not information

I’m sure there are more items for that list but if we each did all of those activities, we’d be off to a great start. And this effort starts in the heart. It begins with individuals and it begins with me. Our nation’s turnaround and revival will not be legislated or mandated. It will happen organically within individuals and bleed into families and homes. And once it is in the homes throughout America, we can begin the healing process and right this ship of ours.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net