I know its been a while since I blogged but things have been kinda’ hectic around the house. Between work, church, M’s work and The extraction of a few wisdom teeth, its been pretty busy.

This week we have had revival and it has been great! What a privilege to have our old pastor from Casey come down and preach the revival. It’s good to get preached to for a change and to hear Tom once again brought back a lot of memories. Tom is one of the greatest pastors a church could ask for and I hope that a little bit of him can rub off on me.

Last night he spoke about putting God first and it was just what I needed to hear.
The text that he preached from was Matthew 6:33:
But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
The “all these things” that this verse is talking about is all of the things that we need.

It makes sense, God owns the cattle on a thousand hills and he owns me too so why wouldn’t I want to put him first?

Then this morning on the radio Michael Easley was talking about abiding in Christ. He made the comment that you never see a grape struggling to be a grape, it just happens, as long as it abides in the vine.

I guess God is just trying to tell me to trust in Him and make sure that I am abiding (depending on Him for every nuance of my existence) in Him.

By the way the wisdom teeth thing went just fine. Ol’ doc Fonner plucked them like strawberries (the kind of strawberries that grow out of your face and bleed when you pluck them). No joke, from the first one to the fourth one, it couldn’t have taken more than three minutes.

Anyway, four teeth and two nights of revival later and I am feeling pretty good and my
“spirit tank” is pegged on “F”.

Today as I did my civic duty and voted, I really felt the weight of what I was doing. With each circle that I filled in I wondered: “is this the right candidate to choose for the job?” “have I done adequate research?”. This was a time when I really needed the one thing that is so illusive in an election year – TRUTH.
I believe that truth is absolute. I don’t think that truth is a matter of one’s own opinion, you’re either right or you are wrong. I hear a lot of people say that they can believe whatever they want to believe, and I guess I would have to agree but I wouldn’t recommend it. Somewhere along the line somebody has to be wrong.
To see if truth is subjective try this experiment: The next time you are at a crowded McDonald’s, cut into the front of the line and try to place your order. I would say that at least one person will politely explain to you that what you are doing is not going to be tolerated. When they do, stand up for what you believe – tell them that you believe that your place in the line happens to be at the front. And if they disagree accuse them of being intolerant.
You will find that Truth has once again ruined an otherwise beautiful expression of personal liberty.
Here’s what I’m driving at. Whether you are trying to decide where to stand in line or who to vote for or what to do when you grow up, a standard of truth is absolutely necessary. That standard can’t exist in our own minds because we are all different and whether we admit it or not, sometimes we change. It’s got to come from somewhere bigger than us and our feeble reasoning.
I believe that this standard is found ONLY in the Word of GOD. After all he did speak this universe as we know it into existence, didn’t he. I would say that God can probably handle the simple decisions that we face every day without effort. We just need to consult him. And another great thing about God is the fact that he doesn’t change.
Malachi 3:6-
“For I, The LORD, do not change…”
Hebrews 13:8-
“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever”
My grandpa always says, as he holds up his worn out old Bible: “the answers to all of life’s questions are right here in this book”. He is right, if you are going to know how to live in this world, you’re going to have to read the manual that the designer wrote.
So if you constantly find yourself standing at crossroads, not knowing which direction to turn- get out the manual and read it. It never changes and it will never be obsolete and it just might save your life (your eternal one, that is)