A Slower Pace

Ray Comfort has shaken people up with his evangelizing videos and interviews. While his methods are effective and straightforward, I like how he also cares about each of his interview subjects in spite of their pride, assertiveness, ignorance, secular nature, or conviction. Even though he might confront their beliefs, he does not yell or put down or attack. Instead he uses tactical, pointed questions to separate topics, break into sections, and debunk popular thinking and cultural attitudes. In the end of his interviews and videos, he will share the Gospel with interview subjects (that is the care part of the interview). I don’t know if folks accept his sharing of the love of Christ, but the fact he does that rather than just interview them sets him apart from others who might just attack someone’s belief system for their own reasons without caring about the subject.

Below is one of Ray’s latest videos which breaks down the evolution theory and shows it is really no different than the creation story in us needing to have faith to put our belief in it. The video is long but worth watching.

Here is Ray’s website — http://evolutionvsgod.com/

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

• Easy
• Convenient
• Culturally acceptable
• Discard of problem
• Inexpensive solution
• Distraction

Those words came to me while I was in prayer in front of the abortion center this morning. They are the weapons the evil one uses to get folks to walk through the doors to kill their unborn. And unfortunately, they are temporarily effective enough to shield the evil enough to get the act done.

And then I was prompted to search for words that I can use as weapons in this fight and struggle:

• LOVE
• PRAYER
• TRUTH
• Fruits of the Spirit – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control (Galatians 5:22-23)

And while, at times, the battle appears to be shifting towards the foe, I am confident that the weapons of God — LOVE, PRAYER, TRUTH and the fruits of the Spirit — are much stronger and effective, especially in the perspective of eternity — which is how God views things.

…..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

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 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

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

The only One who can truly satisfy the human heart
is the One who made it.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

The quote below was in this last Sunday’s sermon. The series of 4 is only halfway done and already very impactful. Last week’s sermon with an illustration of our life as a mist (referring to James 4:14) really hit home the point that our time here on earth is very brief….. and what are we doing about it that will have eternal impact. What I took away from it was the only actions and decisions in my life that eternally matter aren’t my career, my house, my money, my clothes — they are my choice to accept Jesus as my Savior and my actions that point others to Jesus. Everything else is temporary to this world.

The quote I found particularly profound was:

“If you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior then your time on earth is the closest you will ever be to hell.

If you have not accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior then your time on earth is the closest you’ll ever be to heaven.”

You can go watch or listen to the sermon series here — http://www.southeastchristian.org/default.aspx?page=4754&series=46.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net