What is Holding You Back?

Mark 10:50 And throwing aside his garment, he rose and came to Jesus.

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This is a verse in the story of Jesus healing a blind man. Bartimaeus was on the side of the rode, begging. That is what he did for a living. He was blind, but had heard Jesus was coming this way. When he began to hear the crowd, he began to yell, "Son of David have mercy on me!" The crowd tried to quiet him, but he just kept getting louder. "SON OF DAVID, HAVE MERCY ON ME!". Jesus, called for him. There you have verse 50. He jumps up, throws off his beggars garment and went to Jesus.

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When I read this story, I often wonder what is that keeps people from coming to Christ? For Bartimaeus, he was not going to let anything or anyone keep him from getting to the one thing that he needed the most, Jesus.

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He could have let people keep him away. The crowd thought he was a bother to Jesus. They tried to keep him quiet, but Bart just got louder. I think sometimes people look at the church (people) today and they see a broken, flawed, hypocritical system. We are that crowd that tried to keep Bart away. Whether consciously or subconsciously we drive people away with our actions and attitudes.

He could have let the fact that he was blind, keep him from coming. Maybe people allow the mindset that "I have to clean up my life before I come to Christ." The fact of the matter is, we all have sinned and come short of the glory of God (Rom. 6:23). We can't be "good enough". It is only by His righteousness, His grace, His mercy, that we are able to come to Christ.

Lastly, Bart would not even allow his "garment" to stop him from coming. A beggar always wore a garment that identified him as a beggar. It was ankle length and often made of thick material to protect them from the elements. Bart didn't want to take a chance of tripping or getting caught up in his beggars garment, so he "cast it aside". The bottom line is we need to lay aside everything and come to Christ.

Whether it is pride, social status, political views, public views or anything else and simply rise and come to the Savior. The one that accepts us just as we are, but refuses to leave us that way.

Thankful Banquet

I picked Granddaddy up at 6:00 Friday and we headed to the church. The funny thing is, we had a normal conversation in the quiet car with out distractions. He could hear me. We conversed. We got to the church and had supper which was served by my daughter Leah. I really am amazed at my youngest daughter. She went on line and taught herself how to sign "The Lord's Prayer". She then taught it to her friend at church and they signed the prayer at thankful banquet. This all after I tried to talk her out of it, telling her she needed to practice more. Little did I know. She did great. After supper we had a program in the sanctuary. Stephanie did get a flat tire on her way to the church, so after the program, Granddaddy and I took off to find her car. It was cold, raining and I had to go out and change the flat tire. On the way home, Granddaddy looked over at me and said, "I enjoyed the dinner, but I didn't hear a thing." His time will come.
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Sunday morning I preached at a little church in Unionville. They are trying to find a preacher, and I am helping them fill the pulpit until they find someone. I will be there again this Sunday.
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Last night was Youth Night at Fair Haven. It was great. The praise band played, Rob preached and stepped on all our toes. Fun times.
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This weekend also provided some good sports highlights as Vanderbilt become bowl eligible by beating Kentucky. I got to watch the game since it came on ESPN 2. Vanderbilt hasn't been to a bowl game since 1982 when Shelbyville's Whit Taylor was there quarterback. I also watched the Dallas Cowboys crawl back into the playoff picture with a win in Washington last night. Tony Romo was back in the lineup and looked rough at times, but got the job done.

Be Careful What You Worship

Psalm 115:4-8 (English Standard Version)

4 Their idols are silver and gold, the work of human hands. 5They have mouths, but do not speak; eyes, but do not see. 6They have ears, but do not hear; noses, but do not smell. 7They have hands, but do not feel; feet, but do not walk; and they do not make a sound in their throat. 8 Those who make them become like them; so do all who trust in them.

I was riding down the road yesterday and this verse popped in my head along with the thought "Be careful what you worship". Everybody worships something. It may not be Jehovah God, but we all worship something. It may money, or status or even our sports. the problem is, we become what we worship.

We see it all through the Bible, literal idols being worshipped. People had a hard time trusting, loving, devoting their life to something they could not physically see or touch. We are the same today. The Psalmist points out in Psalms 115 that idols (whether money, job etc.) can't hear, see, smell, touch, or walk, yet we devote a lot of time to these things. Jehovah God (not Allah, Budah, Muhammad) can see, smell, touch, feel. He loves us. He loves us enough to send His Son to die for us. When we spend more time with God, in prayer or reading His Word, we become more like Him. I have wrote this in my blog multiple times, but I have to remind myself of these facts. I want to be more like Christ. I want to imitate Him. Love what He loves. Hate what He hates. The only way to do that is worship Him.

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Tonight is the church's Thankful Banquet. I had such a good time last year with the kids serving us, and the video of the kids talking about their parents. It was a good time and I am really looking forward to going tonight. I am also bringing Granddaddy with me. I must admit, regretfully, that I often think about including Granddaddy in things that the kids do, but rarely follow through with those intentions. I just don't know how much he enjoys being in a crowd where he can't hear what is going on. Most of the time he smiles and nods a lot. Since his CI, he has become somewhat frustrated by the fact he can't comprehend much of what he hears. He hears everything, but understands very little. But, talking with my friend Jennifer (who has two CI's) and his doctor as well, the more he has to listen the better. His brain needs time to comprehend sounds again, so I ask him if he wanted to go. His answer was typical Granddaddy: "I don't want to be a bother, you having to come get me and such, but I would like to go." So, I am picking him up and we are going. I think we both are lo0king forward to it.

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Wednesday night was interesting. The praise band was suppose to dress up like Stellar Kart (contemporary Christian group) and play their songs for praise and worship time. Rob, the youth pastor had an emergency and couldn't be there so we put it off till next week. I walked in, not knowing Rob was not there. Long story short, I volunteered to preach. I didn't have any notes. I really didn't have a sermon "on the back burner". I just prayed for God's help. You know as a preacher whether God shows up or not. He was in the house.

Ups and Downs

Ever been on a roller coaster? Up and down, twists and turns. It seems like life is a lot like that. One day you are sky high, feeling good and all is well. The next thing you know, you have fallen, given in or given up and you find yourself in the mud.
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I love the Lord, but to be honest, there are days that I don't act like it. There are days, that I don't feel like praying. I don't feel like reading my Bible. I just want to "do my own thing". I relate it to going to the gym. I absolutely love going to the gym. There are days that my muscles ache, and I am tired and I just want to take the day off. What I know is if I can push through those times of not wanting to go, even if I don't get too much out of my work out, that in the end I am better for it. The times of not wanting to go are less and less.
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The same thing applies to my time with God. If I can push through those times in my life when I don't want to study, pray, act like I am suppose to, than those times become less and less. It is all about patterns. If I don't go to the gym today. If I don't read my Bible today. If I don't pray today, than it makes it easier not to do it tomorrow.
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I need to work out. I need to pray. I need to study my Bible. Even if I don't want to.

The People's Champ!

I see a correlation in today's presidential election and the one that happened back in 1 SAMUEL. Israel is looking for a king. They were so carried away by this man named Saul.

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1 SAM 9:2 Kish had a son named Saul, who was better looking and more than a head taller than anyone else in all Israel.

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The problem was God was Israel's king. There is only one throne and God occupies it. Never the less, God gave the people what they wanted. A king. It turned out Saul was not who they thought he was. He even took it upon himself to offer burnt offerings in the temple. This was a job only the high priest could do. He tried on several occasions to murder David, the king God had chosen. David didn't "look" like a king, he was young and ruddy, yet he was "a man after God's own heart."

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My biggest concern is God is giving America what we want. A charismatic, good-looking, smooth talking, man. I did not vote for Obama. The biggest problem I have with the Democratic party is the view on abortion, oh, I mean "pro-choice". It is murder. The news kept cutting to a CHURCH in Chicago, where they were dancing in aisles every time Obama would carry a state. I have a problem with that. Obama, may be the greatest president in the history of the United States. He may turn this economy around, end the war on terrorism, and bring us back to national prominence, but how many more innocent babies will lose their life in the process?

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I am not mad or bitter, just concerned. The Bible clearly says to pray for your leaders. That is what I plan to do.