Read Psalm 66:4

“Keep on traveling on. Keep on . . .” sang the sanctuary choir. They had just sung the first five words of their Sunday evening concert when everything went dark. All power was gone. Well, not all power. Not true power.
The choir kept singing. Flashlights were found to shine on the chorale as they sang their entire repertoire without accompaniment. Midway through the concert, the director asked the congregation to sing along. It was goose-bump time as God’s name was lifted high in that darkened church. “Hallelujah” never seemed so heavenly.
When I read the above story, it reminded me of a phrase that I heard in Bible College. It was, “Power cannot go from the rushing water to the high tension wire without first going through the power house.”
I am sure, as any group would, before the concert; everyone had worked hard to make sure all the electrical equipment was working. There were probably sound checks upon sound checks. Lights were triple-checked to make sure everything was operating at an optimum level. However, I think that the best thing that may have happened was for that power to go out. As a result of a lack of natural power, God’s power was highlighted. God’s light, not electric light, shone through. Jesus was praised. It was probably not the ideal situation, but because God was present, there was more power present than ever needed.
Sometimes our plans break down and our efforts fall short. When things happen that we can’t control, we must “keep on traveling” and remember where the real power for godly living and true praise comes from. When our efforts falter, we need to keep praising and lifting up Jesus. It’s all about Him anyway. God’s great power deserves our grateful praise.

“What is a soul? It's like electricity - we don't really know what it is, but it's a force that can light a room.”
- Ray Charles

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Dream and Soar

Dream and Soar

Read Psalm 16:8

Yesterday, I took Declynn to the park while we were waiting for Owen to get out of school. He loved everything about the park. He would climb all over the jumbo gym set with the ladders and the slides. It seemed that he really enjoyed everything. However, the trip would not have been complete if he had not been able to soar through the air upon the swing that Dad pushed.
Swing sets have come a long way since I was a kid. I remember the one that we had in our backyard. It was one of those hollow steel sets that when you got to a certain height in swinging the legs would come out of the ground and you thought your life was surely coming to an end every time you experienced the thump of the legs hitting the earth once again. Today, swing sets are riveted to the ground so that tiny human armies are unable to move them. The swings, for just a moment let you defy the laws of gravity, and for a brief second you are able to fly.
Dreams do much the same thing. As we dream, we press past the confines of what is and what has been. As our minds dare to see the unseen, our imagination fuels our faith and we begin to trust God for something more. Many people gave up dreaming years ago because the process became too dangerous. Just when they would let themselves get a little air under them, the legs of the dream would seem to come out of the ground and strike terror into their hearts. However, God is not like the old, hollow steel swing sets that move when you get too high. God is immovable and if we allow ourselves to get connected to Him, we are safe to dream and soar once again.
How long has it been since you dreamed? When was the last time you jumped into the swing set of life and allowed the soaring Spirit of God to push beyond your wildest imaginations? Today, I believe that God is calling all dreamers everywhere to either begin, restart or make our dreams bigger. The bigger the dream, the more glory He gets when He makes that dream come true!! Go ahead, try it!

“I have learned, that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.”
- Henry David Thoreau

Happy Mother's Day - My Tribute

Read I Samuel 1:1-28

I remember how we felt. The excitement and the anxiety were intense. The questions and the supposed answers just seemed to line up after years of emptiness. My wife and I wanted to have children desperately, but because of medical reasons were unable to do so. The phone rang one day, and an opportunity to adopt seemed very real. We bought baby boy items such as clothes and toys, all the things that expectant parents do when a new baby is on the way. We had been married for eight years and really wanted to have a child. Then the other call came. Instant devastation. Heart breaking, red-hot tears. Not understanding why God had allowed the boy we were to adopt to be still-born. There is something special about mothers. It does not matter what kind of mother she is; moms are just special people. So here is my tribute to mothers.
For those we call moms: biological, adoptive, foster, and spiritual mothers, whether mothers by birth, by marriage or by choice, I say, “Thank you for making sacrifices that were never seen; for taking risks that were never recorded, for loving more than we deserved.” It is because of you we are here today, and I honor you.
For those who long to be mothers: the path of obedience thus far has not led you into marriage or motherhood. For those who ache each Mother’s Day, taking a handkerchief to the cheek as you listen to the steady rhythm of a biological clock rounding past midnight again as you continue to believe that God is indeed good. I offer my honor to you.
For those who risk hope month after month waiting for God to give you a child, riding the roller coaster of hope and disappointment, excitement and despair, faith and fact, I pour out my heart to you.
For those who have held a child in your womb, or in your arms and later committed them to God’s eternal embrace, or for those who have walked through the valley of the shadow of death with our heavenly Father who also knows what it is like to bury a son, I give honor to your strength.
For those who were faithful to nurture a child in your womb and then in love placed your baby in the arms of another, on behalf of all adoptive mothers and adopted children everywhere, thank you for your courage and thank you for your sacrifice.
My story did not end in the pain of that loss. We received news about a year later that my wife was indeed pregnant. Now, my sons and I, along with millions of other husbands and children, say thank you to the mothers that have changed our lives. Make sure that “Mom” knows you are thankful for her today.
It was Washington Irving that said, “A mother is the truest friend we have, when trials, heavy and sudden, fall upon us; when adversity takes the place of prosperity; when friends who rejoice with us in our sunshine, desert us when troubles thicken around us, still will she cling to us, and endeavor by her kind precepts and counsels to dissipate the clouds of darkness, and cause peace to return to our hearts.”