“Peter replied, ‘Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.'” Acts 2:38

I LOVE Crocs! You know… the shoes. Years ago I saw my son wearing a bright orange pair and I laughed at him. He smirked, then said… “try ‘em on!” I did… and was sold. I’ve had MANY pairs since. The problem with Crocs is that they have holes. My side yard has gravel, and every time I walk there, a rock gets in my Croc.

We’ve all experienced rocks or pebbles in our shoes. The best word I can think of to describe the feeling is ‘irritating!’ Moving and shaking doesn’t seem to help in removing the rock either. It only seems to make the situation worse. Until I stop, take off the shoe, and deliberately dump it out, it remains a hindrance.

Yesterday I met a man who likes to speak his mind. We have a mutual friend and that was enough to get conversation going. Mentioning God, he started pontificating on HIS philosophy of religion. While it seemed it was his main reason for living, listening was like having a rock in my Croc. It was very uncomfortable.

I listened for a while. Then… a little longer. Finally I had to simply blurt out, “but what about JESUS?” That was all it took to put the shoe on the other foot! He included Jesus in His philosophy of religions, but He failed to make Jesus the CENTER of his discussion. So I asked him “what are your plans for avoiding Hell!?”

At that very instant, he had to stop, take off his proverbial shoe and address the REAL issue. At that point, my job was done. It was like when Peter gave his first sermon after the Holy Spirit came upon, and invented, The Church. Peter’s mission was NOT to be a nice, comfortable guy. But call people to REPENTANCE!

The world is a mess and getting messier. I sometimes get far too concerned with trying to analyze and clean it up, instead of simply pointing out the necessary ROCK that needs to be dealt with. Why not give it a try and simply invite someone to get rid of their rock of sin by receiving Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit?

“Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ.” 1 Corinthians 12:12

Julie’s trailer (mobile home) was a goner. Taken out by Hurricane Milton, all that was left was the job to go through and sort out items she could salvage. The rest… right into the dumpster! I could not even imagine being in her position. The chairs, clothes, knickknacks… EVERYTHING had the “Decide” question over it.

I’d put out the word to the Church for help with the task of picking up items and throwing them into the dumpster. We made a ‘bidding pile’ of things folks might want to take, since everything Julie wanted had already been sorted. One by one they came. In all, I counted 15 people who showed up to help. 2 were neighbors.

‘The Church’ may be just a name of an organization to the government, but it is far greater than even WE can imagine. Jesus gives ‘The Church’ the intimate title of ‘Bride!’ We are NOT just some gang of folks clustering around a food table. We are ALL TOGETHER… 1 body. That body stepped up in a BIG way this last week.

There’s and old saying I like that says, “No one of us has it all together. But all of us together, have it all!” There are NUMEROUS verses in the Bible that not only SAY that, but insist that those IN the Church… LIVE accordingly. I get called cranky for pressing people to come and be faithful to Christ’s Bride. Tho I didn’t invent it.

I love being Christ’s Bride, sharing times with others who are part of it as well, AND working to ADD members to her. One day SOON… Jesus is coming back to GET His Bride to take us to the Wedding ceremony. If I don’t like spending time with her now, I’m gonna HATE Heaven. How about YOU? Are YOU in?

“Do not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.” Exodus 34:14

Killer! That’s my name! It’s SUPPOSED to be! Though it is unfortunate I’m not as good at it as I should be. The noun and the verb are the same. “KILL!” And God means what He says in Romans 8:13, ”By the Spirit, put to death the deeds of the flesh!” ‘Kill’ is not just a title, but an ACTION done by ME. ‘Circumcise your heart!’

Two hurricanes back to back rocked my world, and there is something unnatural in the feelings left behind. Stark reality proves I live in a violent world at war. The election process clearly shows the differences between good and evil, as flesh and Spirit war within hearts. God’s directive for me is to ‘Kill!’ To ‘circumcise MY heart!’

It is no coincidence that one of the enemy’s greatest weapons is to distort the Truth. “Love one another” became grounds for ‘tolerance.’ Tolerance, when moved to the next level, became a license. Then ‘license’ turns to law. EVERYBODY knows that God’s method of purity and birth control is abstinence… not abortion!

Being born in sin comes with traits that linger. Having received Christ’s death and life in my heart does NOT, unfortunately, make me automatically behave perfectly. THAT is a CHOICE. Killing off my evil desires through the Holy Spirit is NOT an option. It’s a command! And I’m embarrassed becasue… I’m supposed to be VERY good at it!

Every minute of every day presents choices to my heart. I can follow God and circumcise the evil desires that the Holy Spirit points out. Or I can let them lie and fester. Festering only makes them grow, making me conflicted instead of effective as His warrior. So today, I will focus on God’s Word and NOT make God Jealous!

Are YOU a killer? Are YOU walking in the Spirit and doing what He has asked of you? Are you circumcising your heart of stone to follow God’s Holy Spirit? 

“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.” Timothy 3:16-17

“OOOOOO THAT’S A MESS!” The owner’s lawnmower had been smoking and wouldn’t start, so I bent down to take a look. Grabbing a spark plug wrench, I pulled out the plug to find it had been fouled with oil and was a complete mess! I found the air filter in even WORSE shape! Oil was plugging it up too. YUCK!

How could someone let a machine get into such bad shape? With no one else around, I was convicted because… it was MY lawnmower. I’ve had it for years after buying it brand new. Always reliable, it usually started on the first pull. When the self-propelled cable broke, I ordered a new one and discoveries were made!

I never liked mowing the lawn, but I’ve always liked the looks of the lawn mowed! Katie does too! So the less effort I put out in lawn work, the better it is for me… seemingly! But a lawnmower without proper maintenance, like any machine, will only become gunked up junk! I took the time to clean it all up and it runs great!

I am a living breathing human machine that is owned by Jesus Christ. Unlike a lawnmower, this machine has to be involved in every maintenance operation. My biggest responsibility is CO-operation! Jesus expects me to be involved with, and follow the owner’s manual, to keep my life sharp, fit and useful for His Kingdom.

My mission from Jesus is to become a well-oiled machine for Him and to follow whatever maintenance is called for in the underlined verbs above. Sometimes I don’t work well, and God has to reprove or rebuke me. He ALWAYS sends me to His Word to fine tune my life to meet HIS needs. Not my own. Are YOU in tune? 

“When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me.” 1 Corinthians 13:11

Putting things away is not a strong suit for me. Just ask my wife. Being a ‘Git-R-Dun” kinda guy, I tend to list out goals ahead of time, and once that project is done, move onto the next one. If there is something along the way to be done to put a dent into another project, I’ll do that too. Being a ‘doer’ is a good thing. USUALLY!

Jesus Commanded that I be a ‘DOER’ of the Word and not just a hearer only. Often my goals don’t take into account the duty of ‘putting childish things away.‘ I guess I could call it ‘getting UNPREPARED! After going through 2 hurricanes in less than 3 weeks, it’s time to put all the ‘preparedness stuff’ away! UGH!

The wood covering the windows, the generator, the lawn and patio furniture and plants. They all need to go back to the places where they were BEFORE danger came calling. And that goes along with CLEANUP from the mess the hurricanes left behind. Which also brings my life’s messes back into proper perspective.

Worry, anger, fear, concern, duty, care, and even love, are emotions that arise when life comes rudely crashing in. I have found the several of those traits have negative tines on their tools. Urgency can give anger or impatience a pass. But not for long. After the storm, it’s necessary to put everything BACK in it’s place.

Patience, time, love, care and duty STILL have a place. And that place is in the hands of Jesus. ‘HURRY UP AND GIT-R-Dun’ no longer holds the banner over my brain and body. I must put the childish forms of those emotions away and get back to focusing on my walk with Jesus… not my run from Debby and Milton. 

“Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations. Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the whole world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.” Psalm 90:1-2

UGH! It is a word I have texted many times to many people these last few weeks. Not because I am in despair. More like I am feeling my age. Yesterday, as we drove by the church, we saw Jason and family over there, working away, cleaning up the Church property. Naturally… we joined in. Before we were done. I was!

Jason has a very cool forklift machine that picks up whole piles of tree debris and can carry it out to the front road. But first, the piles need to be formed! That’s where we came in. Picking up and throwing huge tree limbs into piles he could scoop up. We all felt older than we were. But together, it got done.

Psalm 90 came to mind when I awoke and just lay in bed at 4am… unable to fall to sleep. I’d been told before that when that happens, it’s a good time to read my Bible. Pslam 90 just kind of laid itself in a pile before… me to pick up and read. I’d just got started and found myself smiling inside and out, praising God for… God!

Most folks thing of David when reading a Psalm. But this one is attributed to Moses at some time AFTER Israel was exiled from Egypt. It takes a full view of life, including human frailty, divine wrath and a plea for His grace. It was summarized in a song in 1708 by Isaac Watts called, “O God, Our Help in Ages Past.” Heard it?

God has a GREAT BIG COOL Machine called The Church. It’s a Global Corporation. And with it He can and does move BIG things around the world. But He also uses it to move little things too. Like me. I smiled, and deep down praised God for Himself, Moses, Isaac and everything about this life… and the one to come. Then went back to bed and slept in. I pray that YOU will have a Jesus filled day!

Here’s the song

“There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money… ungrateful… unforgiving… not lovers of the good… lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God… Having a form of godliness…” 2 Timothy 3 1-5

A major hurricane has a way of intensely bringing out what is most important to people. Two hurricanes in 2 weeks… even more so. Everything was pretty, beautiful and normal… when suddenly, it felt like I was living on the inside of a snow globe that had just been shaken by a monster! Then NORMAL disappeared.

I was blessed beyond words. Other than some pool screens and a few trees, we came away with everything intact. Many people were not so fortunate. Within hours, normal life with electricity, which brought AC internet and TV, was replaced by the sounds of generators, lack of communication and darkness. No fun!

According to many governmental sources, I’m not supposed to be here writing this today. I should be dead! At least that was the forecast…“If you stay you will die!” I’m alive and OK. But according to today’s verse (which I truncated) I am shocked at how many people are very truly… NOT! And I’m not talking physically.

Yesterday was the first Sunday after Hurricane Milton. It took a few days to prepare for its arrival. As soon as it was gone, it seemed everyone got in a big hurry to clean up and put everything back to ‘normal.’ But yesterday’s sunny Sunday showed a very low turnout in our Church. A sad surprise to me.

I am supposed to be dead! I am SUPREMELY GRATEFUL that I am not… tho the other side will be much more awesome. But I have things to do here. And one of them is to point out to people that, Rule #1… if God isn’t first in your life, you are stuffed with the wrong thing! Are you GRATEFUL to God for His Life in you? Do you SHOW IT? Because… other storms are headed our way. And not just weather!

“Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for him. You come to the help of those who gladly do right, who remember your ways.” Isaiah 64:4-5

No Lie! It’s Comin’! I can hear the rumbling as I write. I made the mistake yesterday of turning on the weather. The Mayor of Tampa literally said in a press conference… “If you choose to stay in one of those evacuation areas, you are going to die!” The operative word there is… “if!” But Jesus said the same thing!

Jesus’ Word is VERY clear. The ONLY way to the Father (The ONLY God in the Universe) is through HIM! We have proclaimed that at our Church since it’s inception in 1977. We’ve proclaimed it on U.S. Highway 41 bi-weekly for 4+ years. The world doesn’t SEEM to notice. But we haven’t been given the word to stop!

Psalm 45:1-3 says, God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. I am witness of the truth of His words.

Psalm 46:10-11 says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth. The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.” So I fight a battle within to “be still and know.”

Isaiah 64:4-5 says, “Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for him. You come to the help of those who gladly do right, who remember your ways. Our little Church does just that! With power and might!

I am His ‘witness.’ I am waiting and willing. I WILL tell… PROUDLY! LORD God… your witnesses in these dark days need your protection. For YOUR sake… and the sake of your Word… Please protect us in every way. We will shout out your testimony. We will not lie! Thank you Lord.

“But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:19

Life is filled with them… building blocks of time and resources just waiting to be spent on priorities I hold most necessary or important. Those priorities fall under the 2 headings above… ‘wants’ versus ‘needs.’ It IS possible to have a particular item fit both criteria. For example oxygen. But I NEED it more than I WANT it!

Admittedly, I don’t go about my day dreaming or wishing for air! It is auto-supplied by God. But if asked to list my top 10 most important desires, I’m sure I’d miss oxygen. In the last 24 hours, I find myself honing in on a list of important priorities. Things I need to have and do NOW… because a clock is ticking!

I WANT a nice 74 degree sunny day with low humidity. And I DON’T want to HAVE to WORK. Hanging out with family and friends is at the top of that list, along with some good food and fun. I do NOT WANT a hurricane. Nor do I wish for any of the ‘crazy’ that comes along with preparing for one. But what I want and need…

I’ve known this Bible verse most of my life. I wasn’t searching for it, when suddenly, the Holy Spirit dropped it into my heart. I didn’t smile or jump up and down with glee. But I did lock it into my highest priority mode, and a peace settled over the stage of my anxious thoughts. Cuz it’s a promise from my Savior.

We’ve all prayed, and continue to, that we will see no real damage from a hurricane headed our way. I’ve seen miracles before… and I’m expecting to see more over the next few days. But for now, I’m going to place my focus on Jesus. After all… HE’S the one who can use ANY storm to prioritize and bless my life.

Are YOU resting in the arms of the Savior? He WILL supply ALL of your needs… but HE is the one who has to have the power to sort them. Why not give Him your list?