When Your Boat is Smaller Than the Storm

In Luke 8:22-25 it says, "One day Jesus said to His disciples, "Let us go over the other side of the lake."  So they got into a boat and set out.  As they sailed, he fell asleep.  A squall came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger.  The disciples went and woke him, saying, "Master, Master, we're going to drown." He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm.  Where is your faith?  he asked his disciples.. In fear and amazement they asked one another, "Who is this?"  He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him." Have you ever felt like your boat is too small for the storms in your life?  Perhaps you ventured into an area that you thought you could handle, but the storm that came up overwhelmed what could keep you afloat.   You will notice that Jesus first of all didn't quibble over "which" boat they should get when they needed to go over to the other side of the lake.  He also fell asleep without a worry in the world.  Even when the squall came up they had to awaken him to help them.  Squall - A sudden, violent gust of wind or localized storm, especially one bring rain.  Scripture said they were in great danger.  Not, they thought they were in great danger.  The danger was real and Jesus got up and rebuked the wind that was powering the squall and it subsided or calmed.  If you are going through storms in your life, they are real to you.  They may also be very dangerous for your life and you know the end result will be bad.  The storms of life are going to come and they will be like a squall.  They will come at you suddenly and with great ferocity.  So we have established there will be storms. Now we come to the point where you realize "who you gonna call" (ala ghost busters)  The disciples didn't have to think about it.  They called out to Jesus and woke him up because they knew they needed him desperately.    When Jesus rebuked the wind and waves, that wind and those waves obeyed and they calmed down and the disciples were safe.  They needed help and called on Jesus and when he did show his power they were amazed!!  Jesus not only calms the storms in our lives, but He goes even further to show He is in control.  This is a very affirming event to read about and I am sure an affirming event for them to experience, but it is proof positive that Jesus is in control of every situation and his great power is real and right on time.  Publus Syrus said in 42 B.C. " Any one can hold the helm when the sea is calm."  Jesus takes the rough seas of our lives and calms them so we can handle these situations with His power.  If  you are going through some stormy weather right now and it came up out of no where, wake up your prayer life, call out to Jesus, and He will calm those storms for you.

One other thing Jesus did that day on the lake.  He asked them "Where is your faith?"  For those who have a relationship with Jesus, we realize that our faith is not in what we have faith we have in, but it is who we are in Christ.  Paul wrote in Romans 5:1 "Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ."  The storms of life only cause us to draw closer to God, because we know He is the essence of who we are and it changes how we perceive those waves that come upon us so violently.  Our storms are handled through the power of Jesus, once and forever, because of what He did on the cross to justify our faith.  Are you amazed by what Jesus did for you on the cross?  Maybe you need to have a "come to Jesus" meeting and turn to Him for all your daily strength and decisions and let the faith you have in Him energize and guide your life.  Then your boat will be able to handle any storm in any situation.  Now...that is good news!!!  If we can't handle the storms of life, how will we ever be able to walk on the water?  Only holding on to Jesus' hand and Him empowering and guiding us.  When you are in a great storm, "Who you gonna call?" I'm calling out to Jesus!!

The Pilgrimage continues...

David Warren

The Radical Warrior - Return of the King

Zephaniah 3:17 17 The LORD your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.” 

I remember the first time I saw Lord of the Rings, Return of the King.  When Gandalf came over the hill in that shining light, my heart really soared.  At that moment I thought about Jesus, our Warrior King and his return.  It was at that time that all of the hurts of the battles up to that point were erased and victory brought sweet release.  Defeat was no more and the conquering force was coming down the hill and obliterating the enemy (Orcs) with every swing of the sword. Their coming at that time invigorated the troops who were defending the city at that time.   The enemy was overwhelmed and the battle became easy for those who were fighting the good fight.  Gandalf had said he would come on the morning sun and he kept his word and brought a great army with him and the battle was over.....

In Revelation 22:7 Jesus said, "Look, I am coming soon!  Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy written in this scroll." Jesus is coming soon and our realization that God keeps His Word is very important.   It spurs us on to keep fighting the good fight (1 Timothy 6:12) and not to lose heart. This is a very important time in history and it is up to each of us believers to keep fighting the good fight Paul spoke about and remember as it says in the verse above in Zephaniah,  The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves.  It is not the time to quit.  It is the time to fight harder and more ferociously as believers, knowing that Jesus, our Warrior King is fighting ahead of us.  If there was ever a time to take a stand, it is now.

He is our shield and our defender and Jesus is fighting for us, as we fight that good fight.  So....keep fighting.  Keep believing.  It is worth it now and it will be seen as worth it in the days to come as more souls are won to Jesus.   God is faithful and He takes great delight in the efforts of His people, so keep on keeping on.  We can't make God love us any more than He already does, but we can give our best to Him in honor of His great love expression for us.  Let Him stir your heart and bring up a good flavor in your life that makes a difference in the world we live in.

The Pilgrimage continues...

David Warren

The Hope Train

With the upcoming elections we are all getting inundated with political ads, promises of a better future if we vote for a particular candidate, and the promise of hope restored for living in this world.  When things have gone so bad for so long the promise of hope and better days resonates above everything else.  The rise of Donald Trump into prominence has been an interesting thing to deal with this year for other traditional candidates who are promising things will get better, but those promises are coupled with a very "business as usual" feel to them.  Donald Trump's message is one that says, "America will be better if you elect me!"  The Donald Trump message has given him a considerable lead in many states and is upsetting those who want to flounder along, lazily holding on to past methods and hoping for different results. In fact the trendy definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.  For churches and individually that has been the standard held on to and the result has been disastrous.  So if we want to see different results we need to do things different?  Exactly!!  That kind of attitude lines up with the freshness of faith God gives to each believer.  It is intricately tied to the word hope!   As believers we should never rest on our laurels and expect God to do some fresh new thing when we are just being lazy and uncommitted.  Hope is an active thing that compels new and exciting ways of ministering to people.  The Apostle Paul was a great example of doing something new as he preached Jesus to Jews and Gentiles alike and saw God do an extraordinary thing as he preached. At Pisidian Antioch he challenged the status quo and got chastised as being too radical for God to use him.  So he set off on his missionary journeys with a burning desire to just see the lost saved.  The "business as usual" was not going to be the norm for Paul and his great zeal was channelled through a heart that had been changed.  So, why don't we change?  It could be that the original change in our hearts has not been developed into a more intimate relationship with Jesus and our source of understanding is unwilling to see life in a new way.  If that is the case, then we are in bad trouble.  There is another way to think and live though.  It is a way that is very much inspired by a sold out faith attitude.  It is a way that is foundational in one word....hope  

In Romans 5  Paul shares some of his zeal for living with the church at Rome, and also with us.  Verse 2-5 says it like this: "And we boast in the hope of the glory of God.  Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know the suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.  And hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us."  Believe it or not, we are suffering.  Suffering in our lack of faith.  Suffering in our lack of knowing God's Word.  Suffering in our apathy.  Suffering in our traditional lifestyles.  We are suffering, but we don't know what it is all about.  According to Paul's words that suffering should produce something more than just giving us a reason to hang the whole thing up, or just live nominal lives.  It should produce perseverance and character and hope.

Think about it this way.  Imagine you want to get somewhere and you go to the train station to get your ticket.  Your ticket is bought for you by Jesus and then you get ready to get on the train, but they want you to walk through an area of the train station you don't know so well.  At that point you have to decide "Am I going to let this new way of getting on the train keep me from getting on this train and then getting to my destination?  If you buck the new way to get on the train, then you will miss the train and wander around in the train station until you change and agree to get on the train through the new door they have in the train station.  The train is the "hope train" and Jesus is the conductor.  He is wanting to take the hope He gives us to the world and that hope will fuel the train to get to the new location, which is God's glory in our lives.  You have to decide "Will I go through that new door and get on the hope train or not?"  If you won't use the new door, you will not get on that train and you will miss all God is wanting to do through your life.  In Lamentations 3:22,23  scripture says it well, "Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.  They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness."  In verse 25 it goes on to say, "The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him."  We need to stop the insanity and start trusting the God of the Bible who gives us a living hope that never disappoints.  Pray and ask God to give you a fresh new outlook on living your life and then hold on, because He will do it.  He will probably offer a new way to get out of the train station and get on The Hope Train.  My only advise is "walk through that door"  without questioning.  Get on The Hope Train. Cause it is leaving the station and you don't want to miss it.  Readjust your thinking and get up to speed on The New Thing God is doing in our midst to win the lost and advance the saved.  It is exciting and full of hope.

The Pilgrimage continues....

David Warren

The Deal Breaker- Defiance

Defiance (def) - Open resistance, bold disobedience.

We know that in our world there is a strong apathy among followers of Jesus and that affects churches, homes, businesses, and just about everything.  Apathy is an indifference to whatever is happening around you.  Basically it is a disinterest to things happening in your life and world.  Apathy is affecting the presidential race too in a huge way, and Donald Trump, who is the opposite of an apathetic life, is gathering support in an unprecedented way and it is confusing many people. He is just standing up to the weakness in Washington and people are loving it. Apathy is comforting, lazy, and non committal at best and it is the easy way to live life to the half fullest....  The apathy of today has morphed into a whole new thing in many people's lives.  It has changed into "defiance."  Defiance steered in the wrong direction is one of the most dangerous sins that can become a part of a Christ follower's life.  Defiance can be good and it can be bad, but it is definitely a deal breaker.  By deal breaker I mean it can destroy that which is good and right and redefine some basic principles for living that our heavenly Father has put in place.  

The good side of defiance is when we resist the devil at every turn, saying "Get behind me satan. I belong to the King of kings!"  Jesus, God's son, was defiant many times when tempted by satan.  That defiance was modeled by Him for each of us to learn from and pattern our life after.  In Proverbs 28:4 it says, "Those who forsake instruction praise the wicked, but those who heed it resist them."   When the instruction is from a bad source, it should be resisted.  But when the instruction is from a source of position or authority, it must be at least considered, and also followed.  Our police officers are people of authority. And it is their job to "keep the peace."  They have a set of laws that they enforce in order to keep the peace as they need to.  When their authority is compromised by those who are defiant, they must act, and act swiftly, or the whole thing could fall apart.  If the defiant one wins, then the laws from that moment on have been compromised and will continue to be compromised, making their position of authority ineffective and weak.  All of this is because of a defiant heart and mind.  That is the bad side of defiance and the result of that attitude makes everything just a little more weak.  The defiant heart undercuts everything God teaches us about authority and the end result is chaos.  The Apostle Paul in Acts 7:51  said "You stiff-necked people!  Your hearts and ears are still uncircumcised.  You are just like your ancestors:  You always resist the Holy Spirit!"  Wow!  What an indictment!!  How can we resist the Holy Spirit?  It appears that finding a way to be defiant against God's Word opens that door.  The door that leads to resisting the Holy Spirit.  We let human reasoning and earthly common sense override what God has commanded us to do in His Word.  Sometimes believers will configure God's Word to make what they are doing seem right.  But it isn't!  In our churches the pastor is the authority, as he follows God's authority.  But in most churches that authority is ignored, questioned, and minimized.  What is the end result?  A weakened church.  There will be all kinds of excuses given for not following that authority.  Examples of pastors using the authority in the wrong way will fuel the fire of defiance again and again.  But the truth still remains.  The pastor is the authority in a very shepherding way.  Of course, we don't live our life in Christ through a pastor, but we do need to have someone who leads the way and in the church it is the pastor.  A basic teaching about submission is found in Ephesians 5:21 "Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ."  As a pastor that is not  the senior pastor, I must submit to the senior pastor and do everything I can to help him in accomplishing the work of the Lord through that local church.  If I am defiant my resistance will weaken the effectiveness of the ministry of the church and I become a part of the problem, not the solution.  In our homes there is a need for a heart of submission, not defiance, or the home will be going in the wrong direction.  God's word says in Ephesians 5:22- 27  "wives submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord.  For the husband is the head  of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior.  Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.  Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loves the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.  In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself"  If our homes were built around this truth, our homes would be better equipped to raise children in the Lord, keep marriages together, and grow each individual in their faith.  What keeps this from happening?  A defiant heart and mindset.  Women who have too much pride to submit as to the Lord to their husband and husbands who are too weak and apathetic to take their position of authority.  Of course, there will always be those who say, "What about the husband who abuses that authority?"  There will always be abuses to the living of God's Word, but it is still God's Word isn't it?  Yes!!  Another bad type of defiance that is prevalent today is children being defiant toward their parents.  This defiance is fueled by a very weak, unbiblical, humanistic type of teaching.  We scoff at the Proverb 13:24 scripture where it says "Whoever spares the rod hates their children, but he one who loves their children is carful to discipline them."  What it is saying is "if you hate your children don't discipline them!"  You may say, "Oh that can't be right."  But that is what it says....Here are some examples of the right kind of defiance. Acts 16:29 Paul and Silas were jailed for proclaiming the gospel and were put in jail. Their defiance was to sing hymns and pray.  God delivered them.  In John 18 we read of Jesus praying in the Garden of Gethsemane and the soldiers coming to arrest him.  Simon Peter cuts off the ear of the high priest's servant and Jesus heals the ear.  Jesus was loving in the worst of situations and gave no regard to striking out.  Here are some examples of bad defiance.  The High Priests rejecting Jesus claim that He was God.(Matthew 16:21)  The Pharisees and Sadducees coming against Jesus and spreading lies about Him.(Matthew 16:6) There are many more examples of those who were defiant against God and His Word.  

So there is a good defiance and a bad defiance.  Which are you?  One lines up with God's Word and the other is contrary to God's Word.  Which side of God's Word do you want to be on?  If you don't want to follow God's Word, do you have a better plan?  How is that working for you?  Right now anything different than God's plan is not working at all in the world we live in.  Morality has taken a huge hit in the past 20 years and we continue to ignore what God's Word says.  How much further from God do you want to get to make  your lifestyle and  your pride acceptable.  Defiance.  We MUST follow God's Word at all costs  Revelation 2:10  "Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer.  I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days.  Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you life as  your victor's crown."  Some may criticize me for sharing the scriptures I have shared today, but it doesn't make it any less the truth. Be moldable so God can use you and don't harden your heart to His Word and He will bless you, your family, and our world.  Isaiah 64:8  "Yes you, Lord, are our Father.  We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand."  

Shortly after dark, the lookout on the wing reported, "Light, bearing on the starboard bow." 
"Is it steady or moving astern?" the captain called out. 
The lookout replied, "Steady, Captain," which meant we were on a dangerous collision course with that ship. 
The captain then called to the signalman, "Signal that ship: 'We are on a collision course, advise you change course twenty degrees.'" 
Back came the signal, "Advisable for you to change course twenty degrees." 
The captain said, "Send: "I'm a captain, change course twenty degrees.'" 
"I'm a seaman second-class," came the reply. "You had better change course twenty degrees." 
By that time the captain was furious. He spat out, "Send: 'I'm a battleship. Change course twenty degrees.'" 
Back came the flashing light, "I'm a lighthouse." 
We changed course.
Are you willing to change course and allow God's Word to be the authority for your life?  He is the lighthouse and He will stand and guide you in the storms of life, but you must be willing to obey.  If you are defiant to God that will be your deal breaker for life.

The Pilgrimage continues...


David Warren

A Beautiful Cleanse

It is one of the big health habits that has come into the forefront in healthy living in our modern day world.  Cleansing!!  Just mentioning it may gross some of you out, but in reality this cleansing process is a huge help for living a healthy life.  Why?  In the processes of our body the digestive system can sometimes get behind in purging completely the refuse that is left over from our body extracting all the important nutrients from that food.  Poor diets and poor eating habits can cause the cleansing process to slow down and it can even cause health problems over a period of time. Our large intestine, also known as the colon, takes what is left after the small intestine has extracted the nutrients from our food to build new tissue and absorbs water from the waste before moving on in the process.  If we don't eat our meals properly or eat the proper foods our whole system slows and retains elements that it shouldn't and the whole body is affected.  Our health begins to deteriorate and problems occur that otherwise would not be there had we eaten properly.  So the "cleansing" thing is a modern day attempt to help that process be all God intended for it to be.  Good cleansing means Good health!!

Cleansing is something that is very important for us spiritually also.  In 1 John 1:9  scripture says, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness."  Another word for cleanse that is used in the same scripture in other versions is the word purify.  Purify means to get rid of all contaminants.  For a long time I have always focused in on the forgiveness element of that verse, but the cleansing part of it actually ministers more to me than the other parts.   Those who have a relationship with Jesus, or are forgiven of their sins, have forgiveness of sins and praise God it is because of what Jesus did on the cross.  The second part of the verse deals with the living part of that experience. He cleanses us!!!  I am going to try to relate the function of the body effectively to this verse, so hang on and don't tune me out and I believe we will all receive an effective word of encouragement and challenge to what it means to live an all out life for Jesus.

In our physical body there are certain problems that will occur when we don't promote a good cleansing from the food we eat.  Some of the possible problems are listed below:

A. pain and discomfort

B. lower energy levels, fatigue, and exhaustion

C. constipation

D. gas

E. bloating

F. skin inflammation

G. weight gain

H. lower back pain

I. headaches

Each of these can be related to spiritual problems that occur when we don't promote the cleansing process for us spiritually.  Let me explain..

A. A person who goes through their life and doesn't keep their confession up to date will start to suffer pain and discomfort in their daily walk.  Things that should be so easy to do cause great pain in their life, like forgiving others, showing mercy, reading God's Word.  The pain comes from the out of date daily lifestyle choices.  Those choices have an effect on the overall walk of that person and can be painful spiritually.  Even reading God's Word is  painful because they feel so convicted by the life they are living.  That is when satan, the accuser, adds his accusations to the mix to bring the believer even further from where God wants them to be.

B. Lower energy levels bein to kick in as well.  The desire to meet with other believers at church is replaced with a TV attitude in life.  I will just sit here and watch life go by and change the channel when it doesn't catch my interest.  Our churches would be filled with people if those who are like this would just quit being so lazy.

C. Soon those who are not experiencing this cleansing will get to where nothing works in their spiritual life anymore and the backlog of unconfessed sins begins to build up and drag them down into depression and unhappiness.  They become hateful and mean and make every excuse possible to keep from getting right with God.

D. If a believer thinks they are ok without admitting their sin and confessing it to God, they try to "act" like everything is ok, but their faith really stinks.  In 2 Corinthians 2:14 Paul wrote, "But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ's triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of Him everywhere."  Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 2:15  "For we are to be the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing." Enough said!

E. Believe it or not, we can become self righteous and believe we are ok when we really are not ok.  Look no further in scripture than Isaiah 64:6 to get God's perspective on this one where He says, "All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags." Filthy Rags?  You bet.  We have no righteousness, except what we have through Jesus.  We can become bloated in our attempt to puff ourselves up in the eyes of others and sometimes in the eyes of God.  This is futile!!

F. The result of not getting right and staying right in our daily walk with God can have outward effects as well.  I can tell when a person has an ongoing, fresh walk with God.   You can hear it in their speech, see it in their countenance, and see it in the result of their life choices.  They don't compromise their walk with God by giving into worldly pleasures and worldly desires.  They don't choose "questionable" lifestyles filled with worldly looking choices.  Why?  Because it is an irritant to what God is establishing in their life in the area of spirituality.  No compromise doesn't mean weakness.  It can only mean true inner strength and completeness in Christ.  Anything less doesn't look right on Christians.  We now have Christians calling questionable things of the world good.  This should not be!!

G. If we allow sin to develop a place in our life, then after a while we will gain weight...sin weight.  Unconfessed sin is building a barrier between us and God and that barrier gets higher and higher and unhealthier and unhealthier.  WE start to get FAT in our sin and we don't like what we see in the mirror, but we don't have enough motivation to get rid of it.  Confess...

H. If I want to do heavy lifting as I get older and older I need to do exercise to keep in shape so when I call on those muscles they react and don't slip a disc.  God is always stretching those who serve Him and through time if we don't keep ourselves in proper spiritual shape, when the times comes for the spiritual heavy lifting, we will pull something that wouldn't normally be a problem for us.  The lower back is at the core of our body and our spiritual muscles are at the core of our faith.  How good is your core?  You are in for a lot of pain if you don't keep your spiritual muscles in shape for the heavy lifting times of your faith.

I. Finally, sometimes we get so far from God this whole "Christian" thing is a big headache. I just want to live my life without feeling bad for doing bad things.  At this point a lot of Christians will throw up their hands and say "I'm outta here."  The modern day church has had to deal with a lot of these people and it all goes back to a weak faith that was weakened through the years by a lack of cleansing.  They are Christians who have given up and have found every excuse possible to stay in that condition.  Confession is at the core of who we are as believers.  In Romans 10:9,10  Paul wrote "If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation."  The psalmist wrote in 32:5  "I acknowledge my sin to You, and my iniquity I did not hide; I said, I will confess my transgressions to the Lord", and You forgave the guilt of my sin."  We all need to keep our confession of our sins updated and thus keep at bay the guilt of our sins, so that we will live the free, abundant life Jesus died to give us.  C'mon fess up to it.  You are a sinner and so am I.  Remember the old Dr. Pepper commercial about being a pepper.  We can't live that kind of life and expect the righteousness of God to be seen in our life. (I'm a sinner, he's a sinner, wouldn't you like to be a sinner too?)  It's time to confess our sins to God and continue to experience the cleansing that only He can give.  That's what I call A Beautiful Cleanse!

The Pilgrimage continues...

David Warren

To Eternity and Beyond!!

Our grandson Leeland showed me his toy the other day and of course, it was Buzz Light year.  He loves the way he can take ole Buzz and raise him up like he is flying and then land him on the coffee table.  Buzz's famous line is "To infinity and beyond!"  What a concept....Infinity (which is vast) much like going into space and traveling for years and years and never reaching the end. Infinity!!  When we think about time and space we have to figure in the God part of this whole thing we call life.  Jesus has been here from the beginning as John stated in his gospel.  

John 1:1-4 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made the has been made 4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.

So when we think about Jesus, we are not thinking about someone who just came on the scene and that was it. He is forever!! So God's love for us is not something new. It is ageless. The Psalmist wrote in Psalm 103:17 "But the lovingkindness of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him, and His righteousness to children's children." Jesus is our yesterday, our today, and our forever. The writer of Hebrews said it like this "Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, and today, and forever." What is the significance of that scripture? He is the past, He is the present, He is our future. To Eternity and Beyond!! When Jesus comes for you and me we will see His great power and majesty and see that He is almighty God, the everlasting. In Mark 14:62 Jesus said, "I am. And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven." Then He will take us well beyond infinity to eternity in heaven with Him. What a glorious day that will be and what a space Odyssey that will be. There is more to life than just looking to our future. Jesus is completely everything for our every need and our past, present, and future are all tied up in Him. We not only get to realize forgiveness of our past sins and walking out of the past dead end road we were traveling on. We get strength and direction for today. We can walk in God's strength and wisdom on a daily basis starting....now. There is a huge amount of sayings about living today to the fullest and in that mindset it is prompted by what the Bible says about living each moment to the fullest because days slip away..I saw a post on Facebook today that showed how the years slip away.

Scooby Doo made his first TV appearance 47 years ago....What?

The movie E.T. was released 34 years ago...What?

The first Walkmans were sold 37 years ago...What?

Wow.  It seems like it was yesterday all of these happened, but not yesterday....

There were more listed, but you get the idea.  Time is moooooving fast.  Ephesians 5:16 speaks to this by saying  "Make the most of every  opportunity, because the days are evil." Another translation says, Be redeeming the time.  Today is here and gone in a flash.  Every once in a while Jesus would say "today" this or that is happening and it would freak out the people that what He was saying was "real time."  In Luke 4:21  Jesus said "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."  It was hard for them to relate to Him being the God of the now, but He is the God of the now for all who would follow Him.  How current is God with our todays?  I shared Christ with a guy who heard and believed and accepted Christ.  Up to the point before him hearing the gospel he had been bound for hell.  But after receiving Jesus at that moment he was bound for heaven.  Now that is a current, on time God!!!  Having problems today.  God is on duty, ready to help you..... Today!!

We as believers look to the coming of our Lord don't we?  It's more like  "God get us out of this messed up world!"  The world is messed up and has always been...it's a sin thing.

Our realization as believers that our past, present, and future sins are forgiven and gone as if they never happened has a tremendous impact on our today and our tomorrow.  God has this whole thing worked out and He is very much involved in what is going on.  In fact, it revolves around His great plan and we are part of that plan.  Sometimes I can get so immersed in my daily stuff, and it causes me to miss my future stuff, like heaven.  When in reality my heaven stuff should give me the hope to handle my present stuff with ease.  Why?  Because God is in control of it all.  Philippians 4:65 says, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present  your requests to God."  Anything? Everything? Those are some power words for sure.  They are power words that actually have power for believers.  God is our hope for tomorrow and in that hope He gives us power for living today.  James 4:14 says, "Why, do you not even know what will happen tomorrow.  What is your life?  You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes."  So, before we start crying out "To Eternity and Beyond!"  We need to have a reality check about today.  Today is a lot better when we get to the point that we don't worry about tomorrow because God is taking  care of that day, so "no worries."  We don't have to worry about the sins of the past because God forgave those through Jesus and we are free to live a life without the sin penalty.  So it brings everything back to TODAY!  What does your today look like?  Not your calendar....your daily life.  Your moment by moment.  Here are some suggestions.  Ask God to reveal Himself to you through His word.  When He does that take the scripture as total truth and do what it says in faith.   That faith will build into a larger belief in God having a perfect will that you must follow.  You will be affirmed by what you see and what you don't see.  You have learned to trust God and He likes that.  Hebrews 11:6  "and without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that he exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him."  That is the new you.  The faith you.  The one who believes in the eternal one and doesn't live out of past sins, or just the belief that one day Jesus is coming.   You living in the now believes and lives in all of  it...... All of it.  Then you will be able to say as Paul did in  2 Timothy 4:7  "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith."

Augustine said it well, "Understanding is the reward of faith.  Therefore seek not to understand that thou mayest believe, but believe that thou mayest understand."

Do you understand?  If you believe, you will.

The Pilgrimage continues...

David Warren

The Secret Life of David Warren

Rely (def.)- completely depend on or trust. Please read the story below from Tim Hansel from the book Holy Sweat

One day, while my son Zac and I were out in the country, climbing around in some cliffs, I heard a voice from above me yell, "Hey Dad! Catch me!" I turned around to see Zac joyfully jumping off a rock straight at me. He had jumped and then yelled "Hey Dad!" I became an instant circus act, catching him. We both fell to the ground. For a moment after I caught him I could hardly talk.  

When I found my voice again I gasped in exasperation: "Zac! Can you give me one good reason why you did that???" 

He responded with remarkable calmness: "Sure...because you're my Dad." His whole assurance was based in the fact that his father was trustworthy. He could live life to the hilt because I could be trusted. Isn't this even more true for a Christian? 

God is trustworthy.  I just proclaimed that to Him this morning for the over 5000th time in  a row. We can't always see how He is doing what He is doing, but we learn to trust Him and that pleases our Abba Father (daddy).  I'm trying to remember how many times I have taken that leap and relied on my Heavenly Father to catch me, knowing He will be there.  It is with that kind of faith I must live my life.  Must!!!  Sometimes this relying on God goes against all I can see or understand.  That's when I pray for understanding and there He is  again.  Daddy.   My loving Father.  When I surrendered my life to the ministry years ago I never fully anticipated all God would require of me and I most assuredly never thought I would have to have so much blind faith!!  But it came with the territory and it is a constant in my life today.   I currently live in Sheffield Alabama and minister at a wonderful church called York Terrace Baptist Church.  The people are great and the pastor is a good man, full of faith and compassion.  My road to York Terrace has been quite the Walter Mitty path.  It has been The Secret Life of Walter Mitty turned the The Secret Life of David Warren.  It seems my life has been one of trying to get the elusive cover shot the Lord took to complete my life story.  I have gone from coast to coast in search of that cover shot and God has been there all along the way, guiding me from place to place.  Oh, I have looked back at some of the places we have served and said, "Boy that was a  mistake."  But was it?    I was actually at a church where a man threatened my life for leading praise music.  I really cannot get a grasp on how that was a good place to be at, but God used me there and taught me some valuable lessons.  He taught me to rely on Him and Him alone, and even though I fail at that miserably from time to time,  I still want to do that.  Depend on Him completely.  But I will have to admit It kind of shakes your world when you find yourself at a church position  at a declining church right after being in a position of growth at one of the fastest growing churches in the area.  It only shakes you for a moment though when you go back to the one thing that keeps you going.  Relying on God.  This is the same God who put a ministry model for reaching students in my mind and heart and showed me how to do it.  The model that grew to the point of a student ministry having a conference that had over 85 churches and 1500 students attending that conference at one point.  I don't remember any humans telling me to do this, so I just relied on the one who put the vision in my mind.....GOD!  So now I am 61 years of age and what have I learned?  I need to rely on God even more than before.  I was watching Fox and Friends this morning and they had a guy on there talking about building your retirement and I thought, "I don't have any retirement."  I lost my retirement on my home during the financial meltdown of 2008 when we committed to go where I felt God was leading and had to leave our home and finally sell it at a tremendous loss.  What will I do?  Rely on God.

Before I got in the ministry I had a few different jobs.  One of those jobs was a foreman of a construction crew.  When we started the job every morning there was one guy I knew would be there on time, every time.  He was reliable.  After a while I began to abuse that reliable person by not appreciating how reliable they were.  One day God convicted me of that and after work I stopped the guy and told him how much I appreciated him being reliable.  His face turned red and he thanked me and left with a little more pep in this step.  A reliable person is an awesome thing, but a reliable Lord is everything.  So....if you look back through The Secret Life of David Warren you will see a guy who stepped out in faith and trusted a reliable God and how that God was found trustworthy.  In my mind I have always envisioned God using me to do His work in an incredible way.  That vision is still there and even though at times it may seem "out there", it is still a vision.  By the way, in all of my travels I still look for that elusive final shot.  Hopefully time will find me looking and finding it like Walter Mitty did.  Thank you Lord for being reliable all the time.....

1 John 4:16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.

I hope I will continue to trust God totally and continue to pursue that elusive final shot so that all men may know Him.

The Pilgrimage continues....

David Warren