Back in the Saddle

It has been nearly two full months since I was last in the saddle. Trust me. It is not what you are thinking. I am referring to being back in the saddle on my bicycle. My last ride was while I was in Canada back in the latter part of June on a borrowed hybrid bike. I took a ride which nearly proved to be too long as I rode furiously back into a relentless headwind nearly making me late in getting back in time on a Sunday morning for our group devotional before church.
Since coming back from Canada I have spent more days on the road than I have spent at home and so my road bike has been sitting in my garage collecting dust. Yesterday, I aired up the tires, filled my water bottles, donned my gloves and helmet, slipped on my sun shades and climbed back in the saddle for a ride. It had been a long long time.
My bike computer told me the temperature outside was ninety-five degrees. There was a slight breeze blowing from the West which proved to be challenging on the final leg of the ride. Other than that, it was a glorious time. As I pedaled the sweat began to roll and my shirt became soaked. Mile after mile rolled by, as I pedaled down the back roads and through residential areas, often passing church members and community leaders.
I enjoyed the solitude, the sweat, and scenery of the ride on my little Tour de Paradise. It felt great to be back in the saddle and to be enjoying one of my favorite hobbies and forms of exercise. My heart rate rose with the hills in front of me as I pushed the pedals forcefully to slowly roll to the top. I sipped water in between breaths. I waved at those I passed. I prayed and communed with God while riding and loved every minute of it.
In the same way I am glad to be back in the saddle of life back in Paradise, TX. I have enjoyed sleeping in my own bed; eating Brenda’s cooking, and seeing the people in our church and community. I have enjoyed sitting in my predictable spot on the front row pew surrounded by Brenda and the boys in our church this past Sunday and preaching from the familiar FBC Paradise pulpit. I have enjoyed sitting at my desk in my office and seeking the face of my Heavenly Father in prayer, studying the scriptures, talking on the phone, catching up on emails, and writing this article.
It is wonderful to be back in the saddle of the start of school, football practices, and meetings at church, teaching, counseling, and running into various people from the community at local restaurants. Life has moved at a more leisurely pace the past few days than the busy days of this summer with schedules to keep and miles to travel.
Far too many of us take the little things for granted, like a child waking up early and climbing into bed with us just because they want to be held like Turner did this morning. Like petting our dogs like Anna Belle so craved last night while I was watching the news. We take the people for granted God has put in our lives to bless us and who add richness to us like the people I saw at the two different cafes for breakfast and lunch. We take our lives, families, our health, our routines, and jobs for granted. It does us good to get away but it also does us good to climb back in the saddle.
I hope to get another ride in today before football practice tonight. I hope to traverse the hilly terrain and savor the scenery of my little home in Paradise, TX. I hope you will take some time out of your day and praise God for the life He has entrusted to you. Maybe today you hate the routine, and the path you are called to journey is filled with pain. I still think each of us can find something to be thankful for. [I Thess 5: 18] tells us to give thanks in everything. Today I am thankful for the life God has blessed me with. I am thankful for the family and friends I get to share that life with. I am thankful for the flock I am called to shepherd and I am thankful for the community I am called to love and minister to. I am thankful for the staff I get to serve with and to be perfectly honest, I am just thankful for life itself with all of its joys and sorrows. It is wonderful to be back in the saddle to live for Him or ride with Him.
May you and I not take the little things for granted. In the midst of all the stresses, all the trials, all the busyness, may we thank God for the little things like getting back in the saddle and finding the time to ride a bike or enjoy a glass of tea with a friend over some delightful conversation. May we enjoy a brisk walk down Main Street as we thank God for never leaving us nor forsaking us. Lord, thank you for letting me get back in the saddle. Please do not let me take this life for granted.

Climbing the Summit

8-21-08 -Bonita Park Camp and Conference Center, NM - Today is the last day of camp and my last sermon away from home for a long time. I told myself on the first day of this camp that before the week was over I was going to climb to the summit of one of the mountains that surround this camp. Time has gotten away from me and I had a choice to make this afternoon. I sat down at this computer earlier and contemplated doing some work or meeting the challenge I had set for myself to climb to the summit of one of those mountains before leaving in the morning.
I debated back and forth with myself and finally decided that I was going to do it. I grabbed a bottle of water and walked outside to survey the best route. I chose one that looked the closest to get to and made my way across the camp and up to higher ground. The grass was thick and I must confess I worried about coming across a snake. I was climbing in some basketball shorts, sneakers, and a long sleeve t-shirt, not exactly climbing apparel.
In the beginning the going was not too bad except for one twenty foot section that was pretty steep and difficult to traverse. I finally got up it and found myself on a road that looked to be a driveway of some sorts. Up across the road seventy five yards uphill I could see a barbed wire fence that stood in my way of getting to the top. I decided to follow the barbed wire fence walking parallel to it to see if I could find a place to cross over.
My next discovery was an old cemetery that was apparently still in use as I passed a grave that was dug as recent as 2007. I made my way around the cemetery and came across some sort of creek where there was no barbed wire fence. I carefully made my way down one embankment and up the other as I made my course upward to the summit.
I found it interesting that the place I was climbing the mountain was running parallel to highway 48 which runs between Ruidoso and Capitan, New Mexico. I had to cross over a fallen tree and over all sorts of dead brush and limbs which always made me apprehensive about coming across a rattle snake. I watched the ground carefully and kept my ears open for even the faintest hint of a rattling sound. Praise the Lord I did not hear any or see any.
Upward I continued to climb until I finally found the highest peak I could see in the distance. I charted my path to the peak carefully being sure of my footing with each step. I climbed up on a rock to look out over the view below once I reached the summit. It was a very contented and satisfying feeling I felt up there. I do not know how many feet I climbed. I only know as I took in the view around me I could see several mountain peaks in the distance that were two, three, and four times higher than I was. Down below I could see the roof tops of several of the camp buildings. I felt very removed from it all and with the exception of the traffic on highway 48 behind me I was in total peace. It felt good to leave the masses and go where no one from our group had gone the entire week. They all saw the fence and stopped. They gave up too easily. Like the song says God makes a way where there seems to be no way. I was determined to get to the top no matter what it took fence or no fence.
It all reminds me of [Ps 18:33] I would like to look at it in several different translations. [NIV] He makes my feet like the feet of a deer; he enables me to stand on the heights. [NASUE]He makes my feet like hind’s feet and sets me on the high places. [Amplified Version] He makes me like hind’s feet (able to stand firmly and to make progress on the dangerous heights of testing and trouble) He sets me securely on my high places. (The Living Bible) He gives me the surefootedness of a mountain goat upon the crags. He leads me safely along the cliffs.
Today I walked where few have ever walked. I walked where the deer roam; I actually saw some deer droppings. In my relationship with God, I know He is calling me to higher heights with Him. The air is thin up there and the way is steep. Just as I found no beaten path where others had trod before me to ease my journey but had to blaze my own trail, I know in many ways I will have to blaze my own trails I traverse the endless ranges and peaks of God. Yet, for the soul who wants climb higher in God, He enables us and gives us the strength and resolve needed to scale new heights of His glory. He gives us the surefootedness as we climb higher and higher. He allows us to stand firmly on new spiritual ground. He has made provision for our spiritual pilgrimage but many are contented to remain in the valley where the masses talk and sing of a God they seldom experience.
I loved meeting the challenge of surmounting the summit today. Yet, that does not compare to the joy and thrill of climbing higher in God and scaling new heights of revelation and communion in Him. Nothing compares to that. Standing on the high places with God is more satisfying than I have vocabulary to be able to describe. It is not something you can read about but more something you have to experience for yourself. I loved defeating the mountain today. It was challenging but doable. I love even more getting up day after day with the field gear of my Bible and prayer and taking off for the summit of God which I know I will never get to in this life or in eternity. It still does not keep me from enjoying the thrill of the climb.
I challenge you today to climb higher in God than you ever have before. Learn something new and experience something fresh with Him as He reveals Himself through His word and in your private worship today. Do not be content to dwell in the flat lands of boredom and mediocrity when God can give you feet like deer and have you go to places in Him you never have even dreamed about. God longs to be discovered, explored, searched, surveyed, and investigated. We must be willing to put forth the effort to know Him in profoundly new and life transforming ways.
When I got to the summit of the little mountain, I just stood there for several moments. I looked all around me both higher and lower. I looked lower thinking about Taylor who was taking a nap in our hotel room down below. I thought about the people at the camp doing all their different activities and about the people in the cars behind me. I looked up at the upscale mountain homes built into the jagged rocks higher on other ranges in the distance. I wondered what the view must be like from there.
In the same fashion I think about those who have climbed much higher in God than me; Jonathan Edwards, John Owens, John Calvin, Martin Luther, A.W. Tozer, Hudson Taylor, and John Piper just to mention a few. I wonder what the view of Sovereign God is like from the places they either scaled or continue to scale in God. Their writings inspire me to keep climbing higher with all my might.
I climbed the summit of a mid sized mountain and was thrilled in an afternoon. I have a lifetime of climbing before me in the Lord for my ultimate and infinite joy. See you on higher ground.

A Night to Remember

This past Saturday Brenda and I loaded the boys in a rental van to make the six hour trip to Zavalla, TX where I was to preach to a group of teenagers. We were going to turn around right after the service to make the return trip back to Paradise so we could be at home for church the next morning. I knew it would be a grueling day and an even more grueling night of driving.
God moved during the service. Many were drawn closer to Christ and one young man was saved. After the service we hung around to talk with the pastor and youth pastor before hitting the road again. The boys ran off to play basketball and expend some pent up energy. As we talked I kept eying my watch knowing we had a long trip ahead of us and we still needed to feed the boys dinner.
We drove thirty minutes into Lufkin where we stopped to eat dinner. Through the whole meal I kept my eye on the time. The waiter got several things wrong. Taylor was given steamed vegetables instead of a baked potato. They forgot to put cheese on Tanner’s cheeseburger. He also forgot a side dish we ordered. All of this kept me pretty uptight because all I could think about was the six hours of late night driving in front of us.
After the meal we had all the boys go to the restroom and then I corralled them to the parking lot to load up. Tanner and I were walking several steps behind everyone else. He got my attention and asked if he could talk to me alone. My initial reaction was that he was about to tattle on this brothers or confess something he had done wrong and knew he was about to be caught for. I was not prepared for the scene that was about to unfold.
My ten year little boy looked up with big tears in his eyes and told that God had spoken to him during the worship service telling him he needed to be saved. I was shocked. When Tanner was five years old he prayed asking Jesus to save him as Taylor led him in that prayer. So I asked him about his praying to be saved when he was five years old. He told me that he knew he was not ready back then. Sobbing in brokenness and obviously under God’s conviction I asked Tanner if he wanted to be saved right there in the parking lot. He nodded in affirmation.
We bowed our heads in the parking lot and he prayed to receive Jesus Christ as His Lord and Savior. The tears of joy and brokenness flowed freely. After Tanner had finished praying he buried his tear stained cheeks into my chest and I hugged him. We embraced for a long time and I cherished that moment. It was a night to remember and I was taking in every little detail.
After hugging each other in joy for awhile Tanner wiped his cheeks and I told him he needed to walk over to the van where everyone was already seated inside and tell his mother and brothers. He walked over to Brenda first to tell her the good news and I rejoiced to see her crying and hugging Tanner. When Tanner got inside he told the rest of his brothers. This prompted little five year old Turner to start asking a lot of questions. I was so proud to hear Tanner witnessing and testifying to his little brother about how to be saved. Again this was shaping up to be a night to remember.
When I look back on the events of last Saturday night I am amazed and humbled by the power of God. Tanner experienced conviction somewhere between 7:30 p.m. and 8:15 p.m. that Saturday night. We then drove an additional thirty minutes putting us at the restaurant about 9:00 p.m. It took close to an hour to order, get our food, and to eat. It was around 10:00 p.m. or 10:15 p.m. when Tanner started walking through the parking lot and he told what he felt the Lord wanted him to do. Nearly two hours had passed between God’s initial conviction in Tanner’s heart and his following through to be saved. I am so grateful that God preserved that moment in Tanner’s heart that started back in Zavalla, TX.
God drew Tanner and kept drawing him to Himself for two hours after the service ended. Dozens of things could have distracted him and caused him to forget all about what God had put into his heart. God convicted, God drew, God preserved, and ultimately God saved my precious little boy. God gets all the glory.
I am thinking about a scripture that brings me great comfort and rejoicing in this time. [Jn 6:44] No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him on the last day. God drew Tanner to Himself. I look back on that moment and think about how tempted I was to go by myself on that trip. I think about how my boys ran off to play basketball after the service and how Tanner could have blown off everything he had just experienced in the worship service. I think about how he could have been distracted by the video games in the car or our dinner conversation about the Olympics and the long drive home. God preserved that moment and again it is a night I will long remember.
The next morning Tanner made that decision public before our church again with tears flooding down his cheeks. It was a night to remember. I recall the words to a song I heard some time ago. I never will forget that day when Jesus washed my sins away. Praise Him. Praise Him.

God's Majesty and the Mountains

8-21-08 – Bonita Park Camp, New Mexico - [Is 6:3] Sitting at this beautiful camp surrounded by mountains on every side as I preach this last youth camp of the summer has been inspiring. Camp Bonita is located in a valley next to the Bonita Rios Creek with large tree laden mountains hedging us in.
Towering, full, and ever green Pine Trees blanket the sloping hills. I have seen well over a dozen white tail deer on these mountains. At one point Taylor and I were less than thirty feet from a doe who sauntered down from the high country to a dry creek bed located behind our hotel room. It was a thrill to see Taylor’s eyes light up with excitement at getting that close to a deer in the wild.
I know many people prefer the water to bring life to their souls on the lake or ocean. I cannot tell you why but I am a mountain man. I have preached in both New Mexico and Colorado several times and the mountains do something for me that no other place on the earth can do. They inspire me to think deep thoughts about the majesty of God. I can sit for hours just gazing at the mountains and am moved deeply just being near them. Just as the mountain peaks appear to go on endlessly, God’s majesty actually has no end. Climbing the mountain of God will bring a lifetime of enjoyment and then an eternal life of fresh discoveries.
As I sit outside in the comfortable outdoors to write this, I feel clothed in the majesty of God. It is all around me, all over me, and all inside of me. It thrills my soul to think that for all of eternity there will be endless delightful revelation on top of revelation of His majesty to thrill, inspire, and for my increased joy.
This morning the clouds covered the mountain peaks hiding the summit from the naked eye. In the same way my sin hides God’s majesty from my hungry and thirsty soul. Yet, basking in God’s presence and being stunned by His majesty is the need of my heart.
Taylor and I were walking and talking about how great God is this morning when he thought of a verse that summed the whole experience up for the both of us. [Is 6:3] The whole earth is full of the glory of God. You can almost hear the mammoth hills shouting glory to God. Being here is breathing life back into my weary soul.
The mountains are breathtaking to behold outlined with grayish white clouds. There is an ever so slight chill in the air hinting of the coming fall and colder temperatures. I can only imagine what this place looks like under a fresh blanket of snow. As I write this I am sitting out on a deck and enjoying this gorgeous God glorifying view. By His spoken word this all came into existence. He purposed then that there would be a Christian camp here and that hundreds and thousands of people would make a spiritual pilgrimage to this place to meet with Him and to be stunned by His majesty. God knew when He created this scenic place that I would sit here today with pen in my hand trying to capture all of this onto paper as I reflect on God’s glorious majesty.
I am reminded right now that His majesty is not less magnificent back in Paradise, TX. Regardless of where we find ourselves geographically His majesty is still mystifying. We just do not take much time to reflect on it. No matter where you are as you read this I challenge you to take a moment and step outdoors and listen to creation shouting glory to God and declaring God’s majestic splendor. It will prove to be refreshing to your soul and reviving in your service for Him.
Father, thank you for these mountains and the beauty that surrounds me. I thank you even more for your majesty that outshines the sun and looms larger than any mountains and surrounds me every moment of my life no matter where I am. Please never let me take either your majesty or the mountains for granted. Amen.

Awesome Prayer

8-19-08 – Bonita Park Camp, NM – I awoke early this morning to spend some time with the Lord. It has been incredible to meet with Him in these mountains. It was cool this morning with a bit of chill in the air as I climbed out of bed. I made my way over to a crude little wooden bench and desk that will serve as my “secret place” [Matt 6:6] for the remainder of this week.
My prayer time was refreshing today as I enjoyed conversing with Christ. He used two specific verses to speak to me. [Jn 14:13-14] Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name I will do it.
Two words really jumped off the page at me right away. The word “whatever” and the word “anything.” I had barely finished reading those verses when I began to make a mental checklist of all my “whatevers” and all my “anythings” to be brought before Him in prayer and laid at His feet. One by one I brought them all to the throne of grace and asked Him to do miracles for the glory of His name.
There were eleven petitions in all with another added later in the day. I will not bother you with them except with one. I asked the Lord to create a desire in my boys, in my future grand children, great grandchildren, and great great grand children to love and serve Jesus all of their days.
Later in the morning Taylor and I were talking. It was Taylor’s turn to come along with me on one of my preaching trips. I try to take a different son on such trips not only to spend time with them but foster their spiritual growth as well. We were walking in the crisp cool morning around a prayer pond surrounded by gorgeous mountains. We were talking about the greatness of God when I asked him to sit down and read those same verses that I had read earlier in the morning. He opened his bible to [Jn 14:13-14] and read those verses out loud. I asked him what he thought they meant. He told me and I then asked him what he wanted to ask Jesus to do. He prayed, “Lord, I ask you to help me and all my brothers to always serve you along with the rest of my family.”
My heart warmed and my faith ignited in agreement with my son’s petition. It is not enough that my children serve the Lord while they are young and impressionable. I want them to serve the living God all the days of their lives and to pass on the heritage of their faith to their children, grand children, and great grand children as I have sought to pass on the heritage of my faith to them.
What a joy to my ears and to my soul to hear my son praying such an awesome prayer that will bring much glory to our Heavenly Father. May Taylor, Tanner, Tucker, and Turner ever live to pray such awesome prayers in the ears of God. May God’s glory be further promoted through the Edwards family for generations to come. May Brenda and my four boys and my adopted daughter Jennifer and her husband along with all the future grand children and great as well as great great grand children take God at His word and pray more awesome prayers. To have that prayer answered would not only bring glory to God but would ensure that I lived a successful life and had a successful ministry.

Camp

7-30-08 – Laguna Christian Retreat – Panama City, FL - I’m in the middle of my third camp this summer with three more to go before the end of August. Some of the camps I am attending as a sponsor with our church and others I am preaching at them.
I love camp. I was called to preach at youth camp at the Pineywoods Baptist Encampment located outside of Groveton, TX on July 4, 1985. God really changed my life at that camp and at Super Summer the week before.
I’ve watched God transform the lives of hundreds and hundreds of students over the past twenty years. Earlier this summer I watched as God gloriously save and transform a troubled young man from Dallas and saw his countenance change. That is the power of the God and the power of the gospel.
Camp is great. We are able to pull away from all the distractions of the world and focus on God and His word. The saturation of God and His presence can literally overwhelm and lead people into great and wonderful encounters with the Lord. It happens all the time. Over and over again children, students, and adults are powerfully touched while attending camp.
The troubling thing about camp is that often the decisions that are made at camp seem to fade once people return home. Why? God never intended that our local churches be youth camp or children’s camp. We don’t have recreation time. We don’t do cheers to promote team spirit. We do not have scheduled quiet times built into each day for everyone. We don’t have worship services every night. So we come back from youth camp and we start the slow fade back into our old patterns of behaviors and habits. How can this be?
Is God not able to keep that which He has begun in us? He is absolutely able to keep us. [Phil 1:6] He is faithful to work out and guard that spiritual work that He has started in us, even when attending camp and coming back home.
Sadly, our churches are often more concerned with form than function. We get so caught up with rules, regulations, routines, and rituals that we miss the presence of the living Christ who touches and transforms lives. While majoring on these lesser issues we can fail to major on the issue of knowing Christ.
If we could exalt the greatness of Christ in our music, teaching, and preaching, perhaps camp highs would not fade so easily. If we could be captivated by the incredible greatness of Jesus Christ that we encourage and foster and enjoy at camp back in our local churches, camp highs might become Christian normal living.
When Jesus was transfigured, Peter wanted to stay on the mountain and bask in that glorious experience. Jesus took them back down the mountain because there was ministry to be done back there. Camp is good but there are always ministry needs back home.
It is the same with us. We have needs to meet and ministry to do once we return back home. I just received a phone call back in Paradise informing me that a lady in our church has fallen ill and had to be transported to the hospital by ambulance.
Camp is good but the ministry needs are in large part back home. We have a full day left here in Panama City before returning home. I love camp but I love home more.
Camp is not a real indication of the real world. We isolate ourselves and retreat from the world. The real world does not schedule our days for the purpose of seeking God. The real world is full of real distractions but the real world is also full of real people who are really lost and without a relationship with Christ. The one great comforting thought I have about leaving camp is that the same great God I have been meeting with in Panama City, FL is the same God who is present and ready to meet me back in Paradise, TX and all points in between. He was the same God who met with me at the camp in East Texas I preached at the first of the summer and the same God who moved powerfully in my life on the campus of Mary Hardin Baylor University back in Belton, TX. He mighty to save and transform lives not only in camp but also in our local communities as well.
I love camp but I do not have to have worship bands, scheduled quiet times, and especially recreation times to make my Christian experience. I have God and He captivates and is more than enough for me.

A Mind Bending Book

7-30-08 Laguna Christian Retreat – Panama City, FL. I just completed reading a mind bending book. It was a slow and at times painfully laborious read. It took me right at a month to slowly wade through page after page of deep theological and philosophical truths. It was challenging, hard, but profoundly impacting.
I recently walked through a Christian bookstore. I stopped briefly at the best seller’s section and perused the titles there. I walked away unconvinced that most of any of the top twenty best selling books would still be in print after three decades much less than after three centuries like the book I just completed.
This has prompted two questions for me to ponder. First, why are we so prone to read the popular and the practical rather than working our way through the deep literary streams? What is it that tempts us to reach for the “easy read” if we even make the time to read at all as opposed to fingering a book of substance which might prove more difficult to understand?
As I am writing this seated in a lawn chair next to the pool, one of my college mates from Howard Payne University walked by and saw the book on the ground next to me where I placed it after finishing it only moments ago. He read the title out loud and asked me if it was good book. I commented that it was a mind bending book. He chuckled as he walked away replying that he did not have much mind to bend which I interpreted to mean that he would not be reading that book or any like it any time soon.
Why do we do that? Why do we go for the less mentally and spiritually challenging reads? This particular book set on my shelf for more than ten years before I summoned the courage to tackle it. I was intellectually intimidated to read it because I knew the author walked deep with God and swam in waters way over my head.
Now, though I missed a lot of truth in the book because I could not grasp it and because my mind often wanted to come up for air and check out of what I was reading, I caught enough of the truth of that book to cause great mental strain. I’m glad for the intellectual work out that mind bending books can give us. It is amazing to me that many people would not blink at the thought of going through the physical work out of running, biking, swimming, or pumping iron. Often we feel refreshed and more alert after a great work out. We schedule such works out, discipline ourselves to do it, and know the benefits outweigh the strain it causes. Earlier today I went for a little jog down the beach.
What if we took that same mentality into giving ourselves mental workouts by reading mind bending books that have stood the test of time? What benefit would it be to our souls if we were willing to wade through the deep streams of books that have challenged and inspired the saints for decades and centuries? I find myself spending less and less time drinking from the stagnant fountains of best selling books of this era and more and more time drinking from the fountains of books written long before I was born.
Centuries ago men could take one or two scriptures and expound them through the written word for hundreds of pages. Today we often take less than two hundred pages to try and unpack dozen of scriptures merely scratching the surface of most of them.
This impacts me on a different level because I am called not only to be a reader but to also be an author. For as long as I have been trying to write books, my prayer has been over and over again that god would enable to write books that would stand the test of time. I pray that regardless of what generation a person is from they would be able to take a book I have written and be challenged or encouraged because of the truth in those books proves to be timeless.
To write a mind bending book, I must first be willing to tackle mind bending truth and wrestle with it. I must be willing to ponder and reflect and own for myself great truths both in my mind and in my heart. I must be willing to painstakingly lasso those thoughts and corral them onto the printed page. I must not be motivated to write for success or monetary gain. Instead I must write because God has birthed a message in my heart and captivated my mind with transforming truth.
The late prophet A.W. Tozer once commented, “The only book that should ever be written is one that flows up from the heart, forced out by the inward pressure. The man who is thus charged with a message will not be turned back by any blasé consideration. His book will not be to him not only imperative it will be inevitable.”
I pray that I would not only write those kind of books but that I would be willing to read those kind of books as well. I hope we all will read those types of books. We only have time to read a certain number of books in our lifetimes. May we not shrink back from reading mind bending books.

Red Flag Warning

7-30-08 Panama City, FL. Nobody can go into the water today because there is a strong rip tide. I’ve heard two people drowned yesterday just a few miles where I am sitting on this beach. They did not heed the warnings and because of this it cost them their lives.
Double red flags were posted up and down the beach yesterday and today. I’ve seen helicopters flying up and down the beach to patrol the waters and keep swimmers on the sand. Life guards are stationed along the water’s edge warning people to stay on the beach due to the strong under tow, but little by little people are creeping in deeper and deeper ignoring the warnings all around them.
City officials have put highly trained personnel in positions for our own safety. Police cars have two red flags on them indicating that the beaches are closed to swimmers. Instead of heeding these warnings, people want to rebel and defy the very laws and rules that have been instituted for their own personal safety.
I heard a story this morning at a donut shop about a lady who had been repeatedly warned to stay out of the water not far from where this youth camp is located. She ignored the warnings and went out for a swim. Some time during the swim she was pulled under and never came back up. What were her last thoughts as she gasped for air but instead filled her lungs with salt water? Did she regret not listening to and heeding the warnings all around her?
In the same way city officials have warned people about the impending danger all around the ocean, Jesus has warned people about the imminent danger of eternal doom destined for those without a saving relationship with Him. Daily people perish even though the Lord has established life guards in the form of pastors, youth pastors, missionaries, and evangelists all over the world. Millions and millions of dollars have been spent to build refuge centers in the form of churches and to broadcast the gospel message to the masses. Largely the warnings and the message appear to go unheeded and the multitudes perish eternally at an alarming rate.
People think they will be the exception. [Jn 14:6] does not mean anything to them. Apart from a saving relationship with Jesus there is no other way to Heaven. Few want to believe that the danger of eternity without Christ is real. Everyone wants to have the comfort of Heaven without the consequences of rejecting the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ.
The ocean is massive and the waves are relentless. It is humbling to sit here at the edge of this beautiful but deadly force. Neither the ocean nor the waves are the real killer today. The undertow is the real killer today. It is very deceptive. On the surface everything looks normal but underneath the surface lurks silent death.
Satan loves to deceive also. He only comes to steal, kill, and destroy. [Jn 10:10] He is subtle and encourages people to swim in the ocean of sin and splash around in the waters of the wages of death. [Rom 6:23] He entices us to refresh ourselves in the water while craftily hiding the deception of the danger that lurks beneath the surface.
Jesus offers salvation and rescue from the ocean of sin to any who will call on His name. If you happen to find yourself gripped in the undertow of this world, cry out to Jesus for salvation and deliverance. Call on Him now before it is too late and you will be saved. [Rom 10:13] Please heed this red flag warning before it is too late.

Finishing Strong

I will never forget the summer of 2008. I have been gone seven different weeks this summer on mission trips or going to a camp of some sort. At times I preached the camps and at other times I simply went as a sponsor with our teenagers and children. I have traveled over 8,500 miles, been to four different states and one foreign country, preached eighty six times in the span of eighty three days, and most importantly seen many saved and others drawn back into a close to communion with Christ.
I have enjoyed the beautiful white sand beaches of Panama City Fl, the towering Pine trees of East Texas. I will leave tonight to sit humbly in the mountains in New Mexico, and have survived the scorching one hundred eight degree temperatures of Wichita Falls, TX. I have walked through the rain, slept in bunk beds that were cramped and hard as a rock, ate more chicken than I care to remember, all the while living out of a suitcase, and reminding myself that going to camp is not work. I have preached to large crowds and small ones. I have ministered to children, teenagers, college students, and adults. I have worshipped with one man bands and bands with several members. I have driven and flown more than I have cared to and now as I am heading into the homestretch of the summer all I can think about is finishing strong.
Caleb was a man who learned to finish strong. At eighty five he still had unfinished work for the Lord. He was already a legend. He could have rested on his laurels. It would have been easy and perfectly understandable to give the hard jobs to the next generation and to coast through his retirement years. Caleb did not do that.
We learn in [Joshua 14:8-9] that Caleb in his last years was still believing God, still willing to risk, still living out courageous faith, and refusing to quit or settle for less than God’s best. This seasoned saint could have taken the easy road but instead chose to conquer the challenge before him.
Caleb was a man who knew what it was to finish strong. He followed God fully. He was completely dedicated. That meant he was willing to do what God called him to do completely. We often are willing to follow God partially and some of the time but Caleb has set an inspiring example of following God fully. God wants our complete obedience.
He also wants us to finish the tasks He gives us to do. For me that means preaching another sermon at FBC Paradise tonight and then heading home to pack my suitcase again and start driving toward New Mexico tonight where I will preach one more youth camp next week. I am tired. My wife and children are tired of my being gone. The incredible flock at FBC Paradise are ready to have their pastor back in town all week and not just on the weekends as it has worked out over the past several weeks. My seat is weary of being seated in the driver’s seat into the wee hours of the morning. I arrived home last night at 3:00 a.m. after preaching to a group of teenagers in East Texas.
Caleb finished strong. Jesus set the example by finishing strong on the cross. [Heb 12:2-3] Paul finished strong. [Acts 20:24] By the grace of God and with the help of the fervent prayers of family and flock I will finish this summer of ministry strong as well.