The Day God Spoke to Me Through the Beatles

I was talking with someone earlier today and it got me thinking about how God speaks to us in so many ways. We live in a day where everyone wants the pastor, the evangelist, (or whoever) to "give us a word." Let me go on record as saying I know that the Lord does this, but I am very guarded about most of those who have a word for someone all the time. I believe God wants so desperately to talk to us one on one, and He is always trying to do just that if we will only listen! I won't go into a discourse on how God speaks, other than to mention that first, he gave us the Bible, which when read with prayer, asking the Holy Spirit to bring it to life, will speak loud and clear to us. God sometimes speaks directly to our hearts. Sometimes through others. But I also wanted to point out, and the focus of this post is that God speaks to us through the everyday things of life. Believe it or not, he even speaks through things that are not Christian. Case in point, God once spoke to me through John, Ringo, George, and Paul... the Beatles.

When I was a young man of 22, I thought life was over. Because of a lot of stupid choices in life, a lot of drugs and alcohol, I was facing prison and every friend I had relied on for years to get me through had abandoned me. I had attempted suicide several times and one day in June of 1981 I had made up my mind on when and how I was going to kill myself. My family had all left for the state camp meeting that day, and I began to drink heavily and was popping pills like they were candy. I took handfuls of uppers and downers, along with a host of pain pills and anti-depressants. I figured I would take enough pills of enough variety that even if they found me, there would be no drug they could give me to counteract what I had taken. I remember sitting there swallowing one handful of pills after another and crying as I reflected on the miserable wreck that my life had become. I remember thinking that no one could ever understand or care about me again. I had blown it. As I sought a reason to live, I said out loud, "There is no one left to help me" and I lay down on the couch to die. 

All of a sudden, I became acutely aware of the song playing on the radio. It was as if the words were amplified in my head and there was not another sound in the world. Those words were these:

Help, I need somebody,
Help, not just anybody,
Help, you know I need someone, help.

When I was younger, so much younger than today,
I never needed anybody's help in any way.
But now these days are gone, I'm not so self-assured,
Now I find I've changed my mind and opened up the doors.

Help me if you can, I'm feeling down
And I do appreciate you being around.
Help me, get my feet back on the ground,
Won't you please, please help me?

And now my life has changed in oh so many ways,
My independence seems to vanish in the haze.
But every now and then I feel so insecure,
I know that I just need you like I've never done before.

Help me if you can, I'm feeling down
And I do appreciate you being around.
Help me, get my feet back on the ground,
Won't you please, please help me?

All of a sudden, all the years of sitting in church came rushing into me, and I lay there and said, "God, I'm not even sure anymore if you exist, but if you are there, can you help me?" Just a minute later I became violently ill and vomited like I had never vomited before and then passed out on the floor. I woke up the next morning and realized God was trying to get my attention.
That night, I found myself sitting in the Illinois Camp meeting service and I gave my life to Jesus and things have never been the same.
After all of these years, I still find it kind of funny that God used the words of the Beatles to get my attention?
If we will listen, he is speaking all the time.

You Get Used to It

I'll probably get judged harshly by some about the beginning of this, but please read on and you'll get my point. One day I was talking with someone who had multiple piercings. By multiple, I'm talking dozens. She had both ears filled with them, her eyebrows, nose, lips, and tongue and she told me she had many more which were not visible. I'm really not ripping on her, or anyone else who has piercings; I just don't get it. I asked her about them how she got started and how she got to where she is now. She explained about getting her first one and was telling me about how it became "addicting" to her. I asked her about the pain and she claimed that it does hurt, but you get used to it. She told me that she is kind of addicted to the pain as well. I asked her how much it had cost her for the piercings, tattoos, and jewelry and she said she had several thousand dollars "invested" in the tats, piercings, and jewelry. I thought that an odd word and asked her what kind of dividends her investment paid off. She said that to her it was an investment because she enjoyed it. I commented that if I invested something, I expected a return that was worthwhile. So I asked her how much time it took to clean and replace the jewelry every day and she told me that she did not do it every day because it would take too much time. I did not ask her, but I was thinking to myself how if my "investment" was too time-consuming to take care of then I was on the losing end.

Now, all this got my mind racing after I left her and I got to thinking about how people welcome painful things into their lives and get used to the pain to get to where they like it. No, I'm not talking about the piercings or tats anymore. I'm talking about drug use, alcohol abuse, illicit sex, and on and on we could go. I got to thinking about when I was just a kid sneaking my first drink of beer and how I hated that taste, but people told me that I'd get used to it. I did. Same with drugs. The first time I shot up heroin I puked all over the place. But that did not stop me from doing it again. I ruined relationships. Lost jobs. It hurt people I loved. Wrecked cars and went through a lot more money than I care to admit that I squandered. I changed who I was, changed who I ran with, and lost the trust of most everyone around me. But I got used to it. In fact, I laughed it all off. It cost me three years of my life in prison... but I got used to that as well. My point in all this is to ask, "Why do we want to get used to things and situations that are a living Hell?" Why would anyone in their right mind risk so much, not only in this life but eternity, for things that if we would get totally honest about, we did not really want in our lives, at least not in the beginning... until we "got used to them." All I can say is the devil is a master and the deception game and he actually convinces us that we are having the time of our lives... while we are actually miserable and dying for something better.

I've been clean from drugs and alcohol now and serving Jesus Christ for more than 42 years, and to be totally honest... I really cannot remember what it was like to be caught in that trap. I have to really think about it to remember what it was like at all. That's a wonderful thing, to know that I've been completely set free. But it at times causes me to also forget just how deceived I was and therefore, how deceived people around me are. I look at them and ask, "WHY?" The answer is, "Because they are used to it."

 

42 years, 3 months, and 11 days

Yesterday I got to meet a couple of men who are living in a transition house as they are working on recovery from alcohol and drugs. If you've not been down that path, you most likely cannot really appreciate where they are. I've been there... I get it. These guys were a joy to be around as they told their story about their "wake-up call" and began this journey. After they shared, I told them that I understood because I've been there, and one of them asked the question... "How long have you been clean?"  It actually caught me off guard and I had to tell this guy that I honestly don't count the days anymore because it's been so long. But it got me thinking about my own quest for a new way of life. There was a time in my life that I actually could not function without my alcohol and drugs. I suddenly remembered a particular day when a friend of mine challenged me and told me that I was an addict. I got mad at her an we fought about it. It was a Friday afternoon and she challenged me to go the weekend with no chemicals. No alcohol or drugs until the following Monday. I told her that it would be easy. I was sure in for a wake-up call. Friday night was difficult, more from the standpoint that I just did not know what to do with myself. Sheer boredom drove me crazy, and every thought was how that I needed to go out to a bar or disco and I rationalized it by telling myself that I could just hang out with my friends. I went, and I began to realize that I had nothing to discuss because the conversations were pretty much about how messed up (high) everyone was or about the party they were going to the next day. I left that lounge fairly quickly and went home. Saturday was when reality kicked in. I was on edge all day and very short-tempered. I went to spend some time with a friend and he told me that I was being a real ***hole and that I needed to have a couple of drinks and smoke a joint to calm down. The whole day went like that. Later that evening I went over to my sister's house and I tried to hang out with her family and talk and I realized that my thought process was out of kilter and I could not even string together a coherent sentence. I remember getting up and leaving without saying a word and driving just a few blocks to a local bar that I'd never been to before and sitting there for the next five or six hours getting completely wasted in my anger at myself for not being able to make it more than 28 hours without some sort of chemical assistance. That was the day that started me on a path toward acknowledging that I indeed was an addict. It did not happen immediately, but I started on that path that day... the same path that these two young men had now begun. That guy's question made me realize something... I'd gotten to a place where I had forgotten to be grateful for the change in my life that came through Jesus Christ, and in particular, I'd forgotten just how blessed I am today because I no longer chase that high... I chase Jesus. 

And Kervin... in answer to your question; by the help and grace of Jesus Christ, I've now been clean and sober for 42 years, 3 months, and 11 days! I'm grateful! I'm blessed! and I'm whole, because of my "higher power" Jesus Christ!
 

Those "God Set Ups"

Over the years, I have come to recognize moments/events that happen in life where it only becomes evident AFTER the fact that God has set the whole thing up for a reason. I experienced such a moment yesterday. It actually began on Saturday evening. I was looking through Facebook marketplace in search of some things we are in need of for our church as we prepare to move into our new home in a few weeks. I saw some chairs listed for sale that I really did not "need" but I thought they might be nice to put in the small breakroom in the new church building. I contacted the seller and asked if I could pick them up after church on Sunday. She told me that she would be at work, but someone else would be there and it would be OK to do so. So, after church and lunch, my wife and I went to pick up the chairs. As we arrived at the house, we saw they were actually having a yard sale. I saw the chairs we were buying and started toward them and a young man asked if I was there for the chairs. I said I was and he told me he would help me load them. I responded that I could get them but he said, "They're pretty heavy." I grabbed a stack of the chairs and for certain, they were heavy. He grabbed hold of the other side and helped me load the chairs. While we were doing that, my wife spotted something else and asked me if I thought it might work in the church nursery, and we purchased that as well. While I was loading the rest of the stuff, this young man, who had heard that we were from a church, asked my wife if would would be in prayer for his son and explained that he had a very rare condition known as Krabbe Disease. She told him we'd be praying and she joined me in the van. 

As my wife began telling me about his prayer request and I started backing out, as "luck" would have it, a woman pulled in behind us and parked so that I could not leave. Honestly, I'm thinking, "What are you doing lady!" but again, I didn't know it then, but God was setting me up. I said to the woman that I was sorry, but she was going to need to move her car because she had me blocked in, but that same young man came out and asked me to hold on a minute and he would move his car, allowing me to drive across the yard and exit via a second driveway. As I started to pull through the yard, I felt a tugging in my spirit and stopped and told the man that my wife had just told me about his prayer request and I asked him if he could tell me about his son. His face lit up with pride as he spoke of his son and the battle for his life that they were fighting and how they were trying to defy the odds against this disease. He shared how Jax, his son, who is two and a half was already pushing past the life expectancy that they gave them when he was diagnosed and that they were fighting along with others to raise awareness of this disease and raise funds to help find a cure. The love and strength of this young man just came through his words  as he spoke of Jax and his fight. I promised to be praying and gave him one of my business cards and asked him to keep me in the loop as to how his son was doing. 

As we left, my heart was just breaking and I teared up to the point that I could not even speak. I knew at that moment that this was not just a "chance encounter" but this was indeed, a "God set up" if I had ever seen one before.  By the time we arrived back at our house, I got on Facebook and saw that this father had already been on our church's page and made a comment about meeting us and how he'd keep us as informed as he could about Jax. I wanted to share this so that others might become aware of Krabbe Disease and to join us in prayer for Jax and his family. I don't know what the future holds, but I do not believe that this was purposed to be a one-time meeting for us and I'm asking Jesus to show me how he would have me and The Quest to be involved in this fight.  

Context Matters

One of my pet peeves is when people cherry-pick scriptures out of context. Often times the meaning of scripture is perverted by using it out of context, altering the meaning of what the Word of God is actually saying. Sometimes the meaning is completely changed while at other times by "creative editing" the blessing is pronounced but the requirement for that blessing is removed. For example, I frequently see Romans 15:13 quoted on Facebook. What you see is, "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace." OK, yes, that is what the Word of God says... BUT, that quote leaves out a critical part. What Romans 15:13 actually says is: "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace AS YOU TRUST IN HIM, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." Taken in context we learn that the blessing comes with obedience and trust in God! But that part is completely left out the way it is usually quoted, and the difference is crucial!

Over the years, I've had people ask me, "Why am I never receiving the blessings of God?" There is so much I could say here, but in particular, at this moment I want to zero in on the way scripture is taken out of context. The Word of God again has what I call "If/then conditions." We read, "If you... then I will." For example: "IF YOU fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. All these blessings will come on you and accompany you IF YOU obey the Lord your God." Those conditions are replete throughout the Bible. There are many other type omissions or pulling out of context that can do great harm. One that has always bothered me is the misuse of Philippians 4:13, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." It is often used to attempt to say that you and I can do anything we want whenever we want as if God has made us to be Superman or something. That is not what it says. When taken in context, we see that Paul is talking about the suffering he has endured for preaching the Gospel and he is indicating that he can make it because of the power of Christ. What Paul is saying is that as a follower of Christ, His power will enable us to endure. This verse does not mean you can go outside and say, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" and start walking across the lake. Now, I fully believe that IF God somehow had a need for someone to do that, he could enable them to do that. But that's not usually how God works. What the scripture is saying is that through the power of Christ, you and I can do everything God intends for us to do. Put that scripture in context and just before and following that one cherry-picked verse Paul is referring to being able to endure the persecution and suffering that he has for the cause of preaching Jesus. I've heard slick salesmen say in multi-level marketing schemes trying to get someone to sign up under them, "You can do this and become wealthy because you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you." That is an absolute abuse of that verse of scripture. I have taught the people who sit under my teaching and preaching that it is vital to know the context and meaning of God's Word.

OK... rant over.

It's All In the Way You View Things

 Last week I stopped by my church for just a couple of minutes to pick something up and when I came back out, my van would not start. It was completely dead and it would not even jump. I later got it running and the next morning headed towards my mechanics shop and halfway there the car stalled and was completely dead. I know it was the alternator and most likely the battery. I had to have the van towed in. One of the families in my church loaned me a car to drive while mine was in the shop. I just picked it up and the bill was $540. When I got back in town I mentioned to a friend about the whole thing and he was far more upset than I have been about this whole thing and he asked me why I was so calm about it. I told him that we had planned to leave for Rochester, Minnesota the day after my van broke down. I told him that if it had not broken down when it did, it would have broken down while we were on the road which would have been a whole different mess and we probably would not have been able to complete our trip to see our kids and granddaughters and our new grandson. I told him I was thankful that it broke down when it did, that I was thankful for people who would loan me their car so that I could get things done that needed to be done, and that I was thankful that we were not stranded somewhere between here and Minnesota. He said, "but you had to spend more than $500! I said, true, but those things happen in life, and asked him how much he thought it might have cost if I was broken down out in the middle of nowhere. I said, "It's all in the way you view things. I thank God that he was watching out for me." He just thinks I'm crazy... but he's the one all upset and I'm the one with a grateful heart. So, I ask, who's the crazy one? 

No Prayer?

 Several years ago now, I had one of my good friends preach at my church while I was on vacation. His message got some people very upset. When I returned home I had several phone calls and had others stop by to discuss his message. I was told by more than one person that my friend had said that there was no need to pray. I knew better, but I met and talked with him about his message. What he said was prayer without action was pointless. He explained that if you pray for the salvation of loved ones but never tell them about Jesus your prayers are dead. Another point he made was praying for God to use you for His glory but never stepping out in faith and doing what you’ve been praying for was nothing but hot air because God will never make you do what you are not willing to stretch out your faith and do. He was absolutely correct. The reality is that people got mad because his message cut straight to the chase concerning their folly. It’s easy to sit back and do nothing and say, “I prayed about it.” We must turn that thinking on its ear. Pray, believe, and then step out and do it!

That’s when the manifest presence of God will be known!

Alarming Trend that I'm Seeing

For those who are not familiar with this, my church regularly hits the streets and sets up in various locations for people to stop in for prayer in a non-threatening environment. I've been involved in doing this now for 7 years and it's a great outreach into our community. We've seen dozens saved and had reports of miracles and countless answered prayers, and yes, we've gained new church members through this. But my purpose in this post is to talk about a trend that I've been seeing over the past year while ministering to people. I don't know the exact percentage, but I'd estimate that nearly half of the people who have stopped in for prayer have talked about how they had left the church in the past few years or even days. That fact alone is very disturbing, but what troubles me far more deeply is that there has been a large percentage of those people who reported that their primary reason for leaving their church was that their pastor was no longer preaching the Bible or that the pastor was preaching things that did not line up to Biblical doctrine. If it had only been said a time or two I might question the validity of what they were saying, but I've heard this now multiple times, I'd guestimate, at least 14-15 times. And this was not people talking about one church but several local churches. Just this week I've had two more conversations and prayers with people along the same lines. It's alarming, but it goes deeper... every single one of these that I have spoken to is now hesitant to go to another church. This tells me that they've been wounded by this modern, "get them in by any means" approach and there are going to be churches and ministers stand accountable before God for the damage they have done to the Body of Christ as they preach "another gospel" to try to draw more people in. All I can say is, "God help us!"
 

Another Pandemic?

 I posted this on FB but I wanted to post it here so that I could hang onto it. It may turn out to be nothing. If so, I'll say I was wrong, but I really feel like this was a warning from the Lord.

Folks, take this for what it's worth, but I fell asleep earlier and I had the most vivid dream that I felt I needed to share. In my dream, I saw America in a full-blown lockdown like we saw a few years ago. It was winter, and I cannot be certain, but I'm pretty sure that it was December just prior to Christmas, but I do know it was winter because there was snow on the ground. In this dream, the streets and store parking lots were empty. I also saw my living room and the TV was on and they were talking about the new vaccine and how it should be mandatory. I also saw them talking about the elections being mail-in ballots only. This lockdown was more severe than what we saw a couple of years ago.

Was this just a wild dream after eating Chinese food? Could be, but I woke up from this dream in a sweat. I think this was a warning. I don't know if this is what our future holds or not, but I've been awake for more than an hour and a half and I can't shake it. Do with this information what you want, but I'm thinking a little preparation for what could be a rough stretch ahead just may be in order.

Time to Resurrect This Blog

 

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Shared with Public

Years ago, when I was still writing my blog, I did a series about when God annoys you. I might need to start that again because he sure did annoy me today. I'd been tied up on the phone and had not had time to eat breakfast today, so on my way to the church, I decided to have brunch. The place was not busy at all and I had coffee brought to me literally within seconds of my being seated. The server just disappeared. It was literally almost 15 minutes before my order was taken. By then, I needed a refill on my coffee. I waited and waited and soon saw not only my meal but another table's food sitting in the window waiting to be served. It was there for a minimum of 5 minutes, probably longer. The guy at the other table said, "Maybe it's self-serve?" She finally came out, but rather than bring our food, she went and waited on another table that had come in during her absence. This was a party of 8 and it took forever. She finally brought our food and she asked, "Will there be anything else?" I said, "Yes, I'd still like some coffee please." She said, "Oh, I guess I forgot that." She went and got the coffee, but filled everyone else's cups and ran out before she got back to me. She went back and started another pot, so it was several more minutes before I got any coffee. In fact, I was nearly finished with my meal. I was not happy at all, but I tried to stay pleasant about it, but in my mind, I'm thinking, "This woman is not getting a tip today." I never did get a check, so I finally just walked up to the register. She said nothing, other than that my bill was $14 something. As I fished in my wallet to get some money out, I heard the Lord whisper, "Give her $40." I was like, "Why, Lord!" but I heard it again. To be honest, I was not happy with God. In fact, I was downright annoyed at him, but I handed her two twenties and told her to have a wonderful day. She said, "But sir..." and I just held my hand up and said, "The Lord told me to give you that, so you just take it." Her whole demeanor changed and she said, "God must have sent you because I've had a really bad day in tips and I was in the back crying a while ago and was ready to quit." She hugged me and said thank you, and I told her to thank God because it was from Him. As I walked out of the place I was feeling like a whipped puppy. Out in my van, I just sat there for a minute and I said, "I get it, Lord... but I'm still not happy." But I've come to understand something over the years... God's not really concerned so much about making us happy as he is with us learning to be obedient. Excuse men now... I need to go pray about my attitude.

When We Don't Know Why

 As a pastor, one of the most frequent things I hear from people is that they need God to tell them "why"? They are meaning, why the loss of a loved one, or why they have lost a job, or why they are going through an illness or disease, or any number of other scenarios where there is pain, struggle, or hardship. People very frequently get so upset because they don't receive an answer to their demand to know "why" that they become angry and bitter at God. Often times they begin to blame God for their situation, which is ironic because seldom do I hear of people who are made at Satan over their situation. I was thinking about this recently and a thought hit me... in the Bible, Job never was told why he went through what he did, yet still Job remained faithful to God, saying that even if it cost him his life, he would praise God to the very end.

There is a very powerful lesson in that part of this story. Do we trust God and will we continue to honor God and give him worship, even when life is falling apart? I believe that therein is the secret to Jobs ultimate outcome of having everything he lost restored to him in double portion!

God Moments

The following popped up in my memories from a couple of years ago and I wanted to post it here so that it does not get lost. There are little moments that we can miss if we do not stay tuned in to the Holy Spirit, and this was one of them.

God moments. I was sitting in a restaurant and noticed a woman sitting by herself and looked like she was carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders. I kept noting how lonely and worried she looked. I felt that tug in my spirit, so I went over to her table, apologized for intruding, and asked her if I could pray for her. Her face lit up with a smile but began crying at the same time, and said she would appreciate my prayers. I quietly prayed for her and she asked me to sit down for a moment. She explained how she and her husband were passing through the area yesterday when he became very disoriented. She took him to the ER and they kept him for observation. She had stayed in a motel and had come in for breakfast and she said that she was sitting there and complaining to God because she was stuck in a place where no one knew her and no one cared and said, “then you showed up and God showed me his love and compassion through a total stranger.” We spoke for a couple of minutes before she left for the hospital. I shouldn’t be, yet once again I am amazed at how God works. I nearly walked out without saying a word because I’m so shy, but I’m thankful that once again my God came through like only He can.

There are so many "chance" elements that took place here that when one thinks about it one can only say, "that was God."  

* Ellen's husband is in the hospital in Peoria, but she did not feel safe in that area and asked a staff member at the hospital where she would recommend for her to stay and she sent her to Pekin to stay in a motel here. (That's 1.) 

* I was seriously thinking about not coming to Pekin today (I live an hour away) but decided to come anyway. (That's 2) 

* When I got to the office, I decided to go to eat a late breakfast and skip lunch. (That's 3)   

* I drove to a local restaurant that I normally frequent, but they were packed, so I decided to go elsewhere. (That's 4) 

* I was going to just go grab something at McDonald's, but on the way, I thought about going to Bob Evans, a place I had never eaten at in Pekin. (That's 5) 

So from God directing her from Peoria to Pekin, to his maneuvering me to the opposite end of town from where our church is, to put me in that place in a table directly across from where a couple of minutes later they would seat Ellen... I see God all over this!

Yep, we serve an amazing God!