God is calling you. He LOVES you!
What will your response be?
It has eternal implications.
…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net
Archive for the ‘Spiritual’ Category
Happy Valentines Day!!!
…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net
Salvation stories and testimonies can be powerful. The link below is an interesting read. Whether it is the stories in the Bible of unlikely heroes — the sold to slavery boy turned into Pharaoh’s right hand man, the puny youngest son David transformed into a king after God’s own heart, or the poverty stricken virgin Mary giving birth to our Saviour Jesus — or a modern day version of redemption, God specializes in taking the broken, the powerless, the prideful, the unpopular or the least of these and redeeming, loving, healing and saving them into His kingdom to reveal His glory and mercy.
While my testimony is not so spectacular, I am thankful God, in His everlasting mercy, grace and love, redeemed me through Christ.
Read the story here — http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2013/january-february/my-train-wreck-conversion.html?paging=off
…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net
I am traveling on business and yesterday sure was long. Up at 4am east coast time so I could make a 6am flight to Atlanta only to be delayed. In 5 hours, I sure got to know the Atlanta airport well. I spent time in the chapel praying (terminal E), perused through the cool art displays (also in term E), got a mini-workout in by walking the underground tunnels instead of taking the trains, and actually ate breakfast AND lunch at the airport (Chick-Fil-A and Moe’s respectively). When I arrived in San Francisco, it was already a long day and I still had a meeting or two to check off my list. So an early dinner and early bed time were my final targets. I was in bed at 8pm and probably asleep within seconds.
I arose 10 hours later refreshed and ready to take on today. And as sleep refreshes us for each day, I was reminded how Jesus refreshes our life. This came to me during my morning workout which was a brisk walk in the 50F dark morning combined with my iPod praise music. And because I was walking very early during pre-business hours on the manicured commercial building sidewalks and parking lots, no one was around. So I sang along to my music — Jeremy Camp, Tree63, Tenth Avenue North, Aaron Shust — as I walked along. I couldn’t hear me because of my earbuds and no one else could either. It made for a wonderful workout and mini-praise session — the perfect way to start out the morning.
On my way in to the hotel I grabbed a banana and some yogurt as a pre-breakfast before my Jamba Juice. I enjoyed it during my morning devotions in Romans 12:14-21 and then read today’s Max Lucado which really hit home. I am copying it below as well as linking to it.
When my daughter, Jenna, was little I often took her to a park near our home. One day as she played in a sandbox, I bought her ice-cream, but when I turned to give it to her, her mouth was full of sand. Where I had intended to put a delicacy, she had put dirt. Did I love her with dirt in her mouth? Absolutely. Was I going to allow her to keep the dirt in her mouth? No way! I loved her where she was, but I refused to leave her there. Why? Because I love her.
God does the same for us. “Spit out the dirt, honey,” our Father urges. “I’ve got something better for you.” “I can eat dirt if I want to!” we pout and proclaim. We can. But if we do, the loss is ours. God has a better offer. He wants us to be just like Jesus!
“Create in me a pure heart, God, and make my spirit right again.” (Psalm 51:10 NCV).
The visual really hit home and our recurring persistence to “eat dirt” doesn’t surprise me.
Have a blessed day! I know I will.
…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net
I heard an impactful quote last night during my Emmaus men’s walk formation.
“God doesn’t call the equipped;
He equips the called.”
…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net
As 2013 begins, many of us roll up our sleeves and launch out of the gate with resolutions, aspirations and goals for the new year. And, unfortunately, once February turns the page on our calendar those resolutions, aspirations and goals are quite often set aside for familiar patterns and habits not so becoming or healthy.
This week’s sermon attempted to inspire and reinforce those resolutions, aspirations and goals with some Scriptural support. There were four points that aimed to buttress all of our good intentions. They are:
- Think progress, not perfection – so often we dismiss how far we’ve come — maybe 70%, 80% or 90% of our goal — but since we haven’t reached perfection, we condemn ourselves. Give yourself a break and know that only Jesus is perfect and any progress we make towards a goal is positive gain.
- Think future, not past – Satan loves to remind us of our past. The reason is that if he can keep us focused our our past failures, he can steal our future successes.
- Think together, not alone – Even Jesus had 12 disciples. While He could have sent out the Gospel message alone however He wanted to, He used people and communities to spread the Gospel. We need to lean on and encourage one another. Jesus did that to set an example.
- Think God’s Spirit, not in the flesh – We should operate in the Spirit, not in the flesh. Our best long term results are when we harness the unending power of the Holy Spirit. We don’t transform ourselves; we put ourselves in a position to be transformed.
The sermon was ended by this very cool statement — I can’t; Jesus can; I think I’ll let Him.”
…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net
The quote below was from my morning email devotional by Max Lucado.
“Worship is a voluntary act of gratitude offered by the saved to the Savior, by the healed to the Healer, and by the delivered to the Deliverer.”
I hope that this Thanksgiving weekend you can find time in your schedule and room in your heart to worship Jesus.
…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net
This morning I followed my normal early Friday morning routine with a trip to Wayside Christian Mission to serve breakfast to those in need followed by a prayer vigil outside our local abortion center. When I arrived at Wayside, I was greeted by my friend John who has served faithfully down there every Tuesday and Friday mornings for several years now. He is a retired pediatrician and keeps himself busy with volunteer and service efforts when he isn’t sailing or teaching sailing. He is a regular fixture on the Ohio in his sailboat and he loves the Spring, Summer and Fall when he can get out on the water.
While normally John and I are busy serving and such, we had lots of time to chat because we were joined by a dozen additional volunteers from U of L (University of Louisville for those readers not local). That pretty much put John and me out of business so we caught up on things. After family and recent event download John had a church finance meeting to get to and I decided I could go early to pray so we let the U of L volunteers take it from there.
Because I had to pick up our 4 wheelers after work, I had driven in my wife’s truck along with my double axle trailer. That made navigating in downtown Louisville a bit challenging but I was able to manage. One modification I did have to make was that I parked at the very end of the block from the abortion center and walked from there.
There were about 10 of us there and we outnumbered the clinic “escorts”. I chatted with my regular friends and gave some warm hugs to my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ before starting my prayers. Which I have determined is my role there. While some of our volunteers “co-escort” those headed inside the clinic speaking words of truth and getting them to read some literature and consider alternatives in the “A Woman’s Choice” center next door (free ultrasound, abortion counseling, adoption assistance, etc), other volunteers pray and hold vigil. There was even a street preacher there who brought his little step stool soap box and proceeded to loudly proclaim the truth. I got me thinking about the various gifts of the Holy Spirit right there in front of that evil place. The street preacher boldly proclaimed the truth of God’s word. And while many mainline Christians are uncomfortable with that, especially as it relates to some of the damning verses in Scripture, the man was not speaking anything that was untrue. We ARE burdened with sin, we CANNOT save ourselves, and Jesus is our ONLY answer for true salvation. Other volunteers are bold in action walking along those who have come to end their baby’s life. They let them know of a heartbeat at 18 days. Of little hands and feet with unique fingerprints. Of risks of increased breast cancer, potential sterilization, and increased suicide. They also lovingly inform them of alternatives next door — free ultrasound, abortion counseling, adoption assistance — because, interestingly, the only “choice” behind the abortion center doors is death. Women don’t go in there to select from a host of various outcomes. The only option through those doors is death for the fetus…..and that doesn’t sound like “choice” to me. And then finally, there are those of us who silently pray and hold vigils. Several others are like me and only come down to pray. That is our only role. Others may preach, others may inform, others may convince, but I am down there to faithfully pray. And encourage my other brothers and sisters in Christ who are faithfully performing their roles and using their gifts. And I am glad that this was revealed to me because sometimes I will be praying there in front of the baby holocaust factory wondering why God doesn’t do anything against this evil. I wonder why aren’t my prayers effective. I wonder why can’t the lost, pregnant women see the hurt, pain and evil that they and their child will encounter behind the tinted doors. But then I realize that my God who can move mountains and who created everything DOES have a plan. I don’t need to know it; I just know that I have been called to be a small part of it. And my role is to pray and to encourage, so that is what I will do.
An interesting development also occurred as I was leaving Friday. A while ago I found out that the only male clinic escort — a guy about 55 years old — is named Conrad. For the last year I have been politely saying “Good morning” to him. If he is alone walking by, he will quietly and sheepishly say “good morning” back to me. He will not do this with anyone else around, but it is a nice olive branch so I always enjoy seeing him.
Well, this morning he and I had our clandestine “good morning”. But later when I was ready to leave to go to work, I noticed that he was walking down towards the end of the block looking for arrivers to escort. I figured my time was up and I was parked down that way anyway, so I followed him hoping to get in a “have a nice day”. He ended up going past my truck so I missed my opportunity….. or so I though. I jumped in the truck, started it, and rolled down the window because I saw he was headed back. I went to say “have a nice day” when he totally surprised me and came up to the passenger door. He asked if I had a landscaping business and what the trailer was for. I explained I had a farm and was picking up our 4 wheelers. He proceeded to say that he hunts deer — which started a 5 minute conversation of this weekend’s opening for modern gun. WOW! I could not believe we were able to talk about something in common for 5 minutes.
Soon enough he had to get back to the other workers before they declared him missing in action or collaborating with the enemy. But as I drove away, I gave all glory and thanks to God who gave me something in common and a potential future bridge with someone who an hour earlier was not someone on my list as seeing the light of Christ.
It is my hope that I can minister to Conrad so that he can see the love and light of Jesus. How that exactly is going to happen, I don’t know. But all I need to do is be faithful and show up every week. The Holy Spirit can then use me as He sees fit.
…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net
This list below is making the rounds and I believe has truth to the message.
Who will I vote for?
- I will vote for the most pro-life candidate, because God hates the shedding of innocent blood (Prov.6:17).
- I will vote for the most pro-Israel candidate, because God blesses those who bless Israel and curses those who don’t (Gen.12:3).
- I will vote for the most pro-debt reduction candidate, because the borrower is servant to the lender (Prov.22:7).
- I will vote for the most pro-work candidate because God says if a man does not work, let him not eat (2 Thes.3:10).
- I will vote for the most pro-marriage candidate, because God is for marriage as defined in Genesis 2:24.
- I will vote for the candidate who most closely believes government’s purpose is to reward the good and punish the evil (Romans 13).
- I will vote based as close as I can on God’s Word (2 Tim.3:16)
- Whoever gets elected, God is the one who puts all men in authority (Dan. 2:21).
As that late man of God, Dr. D. James Kennedy said, “Lord, give us the leader that we need – – not the one we deserve.”
…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net
I just got done watching this sermon from Francis Chan and it is VERY impactful.
All I can say is “Wow!”…..and go make the changes necessary in my life.
…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net
