Mayhem Like Me
Originally posted at MikeShaw.tv
Like Me
I love the new Allstate commercials:
As I was pondering the new year, it occurred to me that my life has had a lot of self imposed mayhem in it. Everyone’s does, really. Ever since Adam and Eve decided to disobey God and mayhem entered the world. None of us can escape. There is none that searches after God, not one. Thanx to our fallen nature we fall short of God’s best. Also known as sin. You and I sin all kinds of different ways every day. We may mean well, but we just can’t hit the target. Then there are the times that we do what is wrong even when we know better.
Our Sins and transgressions have consequences. Mayhem. What’s worse is the people around us and their bad choices can bring mayhem into our lives! Gee. Thanx a lot. But, before we get all high minded, spiritual and self righteous about it, our sin and transgressions are bringing mayhem into the lives of people around us too. It really is unavoidable.
But wait. There IS good news! Jesus came so that we might have life, life more abundant, and God even takes the mayhem in our lives and brings good out of it for those who love Him and are called according to His purposes!
He also changes me and helps me to avoid sin and transgression!
Dealing with a little (or a lot) of mayhem? God has you covered. Now those are good hands!
Freedom isn’t Free
It struck me yesterday as I looked at my calendar. Yesterday was Memorial Day and today is Memorial Day observed. A long weekend we set aside in the United States as a reminder that freedom isn’t free. It has been bought at a high price. Men and women who have been willing to give their lives if necessary so that we could enjoy our God given freedoms that are protected by our Constitution.
It also reminds me of what God did for us. He paid for our freedom (freedom from sin and His coming wrath) by sending His Son Jesus. Jesus was willing to die so that anyone who accepts His gift can be set free forever. Romans 5:7-8 says:
7Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. 8But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Yesterday we honor those men and women who were, and are, willing to dare to die for a country that honors freedom. Willing to fight to keep us free. I am also reminded of a God who loves us so much that He was willing to die so that we could be free to be with Him forever. All motivated by love. For the soldier it’s love of country and sacrificing to make a better life for loved ones back home. For God, He demonstrated His love. A love for those who would chose to be His children by accepting His gift of sacrifice.
Today is Memorial Day Observed, but really, in many ways, we observe it every day. By enjoying the freedom we accept as a free gift that was paid for with a high price.
My Mamaw. Hero of the Faith.
I could start this quote from Hebrews 11 from the beginning of the chapter, but I’ll link it here so you go back and read it if you like. For space sake, I’ll start in verse 13 and go through 16:
13 All these people died still believing what God had promised them. They did not receive what was promised, but they saw it all from a distance and welcomed it. They agreed that they were foreigners and nomads here on earth. 14 Obviously people who say such things are looking forward to a country they can call their own. 15 If they had longed for the country they came from, they could have gone back. 16 But they were looking for a better place, a heavenly homeland. That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.
My Mamaw died before she saw me come to faith in Christ, but I know she knows even as she celebrates with God. Here is just a part of my story…
I was just a kid living in rural Oregon. We lived about 4 miles outside of the little town of Canby, which lies on the Mollala and Willamette rivers about 22 miles south of Portland. We were not a church going family but we had a good life on our 2 acres there in the Great Pacific Northwest.
When I was about 9 years old, Mamaw came to visit from Mississippi. Mamaw was Southern Baptist and the sweetest woman you would ever want to meet. Even sweeter than her famous caramel cake! My heart was always so full of love for her, probably because her heart was always so full of love for me, and all of her grandchildren.
Sunday came and we all got dressed up for church. Mamaw and all of us headed into town to the First Conservative Baptist Church of Canby. I still remember parts of the service. Mostly the warm feeling I had there. After Mamaw went back to Mississippi, I decided that I wanted to keep going to church there. They had a bus that went around picking kids up and so I started riding the bus. It’s possible that I may have ridden with the next door neighbors some weeks, but I’m not sure.
I really enjoyed Sunday school and I remember the Sunday school teacher showing me a scripture that talked about springs in the ocean and how scientists were only starting to discover that that was true. I loved science even as a little kid. I realized that if the Bible was right about science it was probably right about a lot of other things… like Jesus! I prayed to receive Jesus into my heart.
I remember that as I prayed, in my minds eye I saw light bursting from my heart. I felt like a scoop scooping out the gunk. I felt such joy! It was wonderful!
However, over time, I stopped going to church. I was the only one in the family going and I guess I just sorta stopped. I can’t remember why or if there was really a reason.
Fast forward a few years to my 12th birthday (I think it was my 12th birthday). I remember Mamaw got me the lamest gift. It was an album of “Songs from Calvary” or something like that. So lame. I remember putting it on the top shelf in my closet never to be seen again. (I wish I had it now. Not for the music so much, but for what that present represents.)
Fast forward to my teenage and young adult years. I don’t want to get into great detail, but slowly my life was spiraling downward. I quit football my Junior year so I could party more with my friends. I got kicked off the track team my Junior year for skipping school. I was the first (and probably still only) Student Body President at Canby High School to resign, again, for skipping school. A promising student and student leader, I dropped out of school my senior year and took my GED. I was drinking, smoking pot, and partaking in other drugs. I guess I was trying to escape and at the same time I was killing myself.
I eventually got my life together somewhat and moved to Roswell, NM to start my career in broadcasting. By the time Mamaw died, I was a weatherman on the local news. She was always so proud of me. I remember how sad she was after Papaw died. Mamaw and I could always talk about such things. I remember asking her on the phone one time what it was like getting old. After she said, “Bless your heart,” she told me that it’s like your mind wants to do something, but your body can’t anymore. I am realizing more and more that she was right :-)
So yes, Mamaw died. I drove to Mississippi from Roswell for the funeral. There are many things I remember from that visit, but for time sake I’ll just mention that during the funeral they played her favorite hymn, “Amazing Grace.”
So about 7 years later, I was living and working in Lubbock, Texas. I was divorced. My son and daughter lived 350 miles away near Dallas. I was still drinking a LOT and other things were going on in my life, (someday I’ll share the entire story) but God was drawing me back to Him. I remember driving to Dallas scanning the radio during that 5 hour trip and listening to part of a sermon and actually being interested in it. God had placed some godly people in my life, including my now good friend Don Webster who managed a Christian radio station in Lubbock. God also brought a wonderful (and beautiful) woman into my life. She was having some medical problems and I was concerned for her. Then I did something that I hadn’t done since I was a little kid. I said a sincere prayer.
It was probably the fall of 1999. I was all alone in my house. It around 10:30 or 11 at night. As I prayed, God gave me that same feeling in my heart that He gave me when I first prayed to accept Him into my heart all those years ago. Joy was bursting from my heart! but this time it didn’t stop! Soon I was laughing and I knew. Jesus IS real! He IS the answer to all of the questions ever asked. I was a Christian again (still?)!
So I asked my friend a day or two later, “what do I do now.”
She said, “You go to church!” Then she said something very interesting. “God’s gonna wow you.”
“What?” I asked.
“God’s gonna wow you,” she repeated.
I had no idea what she was talking about.
The next Sunday I put on my suit and went over to Trinity Church. It was only a mile or so from my house and of course it was packed. I sat up in the balcony and actually saw a couple of people I knew. I felt very welcome.
Then it happened. At the end of the service they had us all stand for one more song. Yes, it was “Amazing Grace.” I started singing and I closed my eyes and it hit me. It was Mamaw’s prayers that were being answered that day! I knew in my heart that she had never given up in her prayers for her precious grandson. The tears were streaming down my checks and I just said to God, “Tell her I said thank you.”
He told me, “She knows.”
More tears. My heart full of joy.
I got baptized that Summer at Trinity Church. I started volunteering at that Christian radio station with my new friend Don and my life has been so different in so many ways ever since. Of course those are stories for other blog entries.
Back to Hebrews 11:12. Mamaw’s had Faith. Even though she died before her prayers concerning me were answered, she didn’t give up.
Mamaw is one of my heroes of the faith! You probably have some of your own, whether you know it or not.
And while I don’t want to leave this Earth before I accomplish whatever it is that God has me to accomplish, I am so looking forward to hugging Mamaw’s neck as we celebrate in God’s presence together forever!
How Great a Love!
One of my favorite verses:
Psalm 103:11
“For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
So great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear Him”
Wow. That’s a lot of lovingkindness! Can you calculate such a great love? You can try, but the mind goes tilt. Here’s an illustration.
Let’s assume that the heavens are roughly 12 billion light years “high.” That’s about the distance to the farthest galaxies observed by telescopes. 12 billion is a huge number already, but 12 billion light years much much more so.
A light year is 186,000 miles light travels in a second times 60 seconds in a minute times 60 minutes in an hour times 24 hours in a day time 364 1/4 days in a year. That’s 186,000 x 60 x 60 x 24 x 364.25 = 5,853,643,200,000. But wait. That’s just ONE light year. Now we times that by 12,000,000,000. So, 5,853,643,200,000 x 12,000,000,000 =are you ready?
“roughly” 70,243,718,400,000,000,000,000
That’s in miles from here to the furthest galaxies. I don’t even know how you say that!
Or, how about this from Psalm 139:
17How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
18If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand
God is thinking PRECIOUS thoughts about YOU! Judging from the number of grains of sand on one beach, let alone all the beaches, I’d say you are on His mind CONSTANTLY!
Next time you are tempted to get down on yourself, or are tempted to think God doesn’t care, remember what God says. He is WITH YOU! and He LOVES YOU more than you can imagine.
God's Wrath?
A very respected pastor has made a dire prediction. That many of the nations, and the worlds, cities will soon be infernos. Pastor David Wilkerson is quoted in a World Net Daily exclusive:
David Wilkerson, author of “The Cross and the Switchblade,” a book about his ministry to troubled New York street kids that was later made into a movie starring Pat Boone, tells readers of his blog this weekend that he is “compelled by the Holy Spirit to send out an urgent message” about his prediction.
“An earth-shattering calamity is about to happen,” he writes. “It is going to be so frightening, we are all going to tremble – even the godliest among us.”
He is quoted later in the article saying that it will be God pouring out His wrath in judgment on sinful nations. This is where I feel compelled to interject. While I don’t disagree that some horrible disaster might be on the horizon, I do NOT believe it will be God’s wrath!
We live in a fallen world and we have an enemy. Satan and a third of the angels have been cast out of Heaven. Revelation 12:12 says:
12“For this reason, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them Woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, knowing that he has only a short time.”
Yes, the devil is not happy. He hates you. You are made in God’s image. He wants to destroy God, but since he can’t, he’s after you and your testimony.
Now don’t get me wrong. God hates sin and He has, is, and will, deal with it. Just not the way some people think. First, God dealt with sin on the cross. He poured out His wrath on Jesus so He wouldn’t have to pour it out on you! If you have accepted Jesus as your Lord and savior than the Bible says that you are redeemed from the curse of the law. That’s good news! That’s THE good news!
Abraham knew God and He knew God’s character. The LORD and a couple of His angels were on their way to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham made a plea on Sodom’s behalf. You can read the whole thing in Genesis 18, but here’s a revealing snippet:
25“Far be it from You to do such a thing, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike. Far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth deal justly?”
26So the LORD said, “If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare the whole place on their account.”
Abraham knew that God wouldn’t deal with the righteous unrighteously! God only found one righteous man in Sodom and he got Lot and his family out first before He destroyed the place. God’s character hasn’t changed.
After 911 many pastors said God was judging America for our sins. Same after Hurricane Katrina. Do you think there were 10 righteous believers in those planes that hit the twin towers? In the Pentagon? In New Orleans?
Prepare for hard times? Sure. It’s good to recognize the season and the times we are in. Blame God for it? No. I’m gonna blame our enemy and use uncertain times to tell people about a loving God who died for them so they don’t have to. A God who wants to make their future solid in Him.
Jesus said all of these things must come to pass. He is working out His plan. Jesus also said not to worry because He had overcome the world! We can overcome the world too, but only if we know Jesus; as Savior, as Lord and as a friend. I have no doubt that Pastor Wilkerson would agree. The bottom line to what I believe Pastor is saying is what Jesus is saying. Know God, make Him known and trust Him with your life no matter what.
Muslums Coming to Christ!
“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.”
-Ephesians 6:12 (NASB)
28“I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your old men will dream dreams,
your young men will see visions.
29Even on my servants, both men and women,
I will pour out my Spirit in those days.”
-Joel 2:28 & 29 (NASB)
I Think as Christians we do well to look at the War on Terrorism just as we should anything else on in this temporary life… with an eternal perspective. Jesus has already won! We have victory in Him! While radicalized Islam is a real threat to our country and this world, our first response should be to pray. Pray for our enemies, as Jesus said.
Then we should act with the Love of Christ! One great example of that is the Joshua Fund. A ministry started by best selling author, Joel Rosenberg.
Joel Rosenberg was on FOXNews Easter morning. He talked about how God IS pouring out His Spirit and how thousands upon thousands are coming to Christ.
I had the great privilege of interviewing Joel Rosenberg in late March of 2008. Actually it was just three days before his appearance on FOXNews above. You can listen to the entire interview here, on Family Life Radio’s web site. I will post this portion here where Joel talked about how God is pouring out His Spirit and Muslims are coming to Christ in large numbers through visions and dreams!
Joel Rosenberg Interview – Dreams & Visions
It’s amazing to me. While I was yet a sinner, Jesus gave His life for mine!
8″But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
-Romans 5:8 & 9
Yes, wrath is coming for those who don’t believe. When Jesus returns, it ain’t gonna be for a picnic. He says that when He returns, it will be to judge all the nations. But, because Jesus died, those who have accepted His gift will be spared the wrath that is coming. And Jesus didn’t just die for you and me. Jesus died for THE WHOLE WORLD!
16“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
17“For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.
18“He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”
The emphasis is mine, but the sacrifice Jesus made was for everybody! A free gift paid at a high price. The shedding of God’s innocent blood! Amazing. Knowing that God Himself who created all things, and through who’s power all things are being held together, has all of this deadly serious nonsense under control. We can rest in Him, even while the world yells and screams and burns and smolders, because when you come right down to it, our home is in Heaven, not here.
The bottom line? Pray for the lost. Whether they be al-Qaeda or family members. Jesus is coming soon. We need to be ready, and we want as many others as is possible to be ready too!
