Released

Praise the Lord. On my 2 year anniversary of being cell-phone free our brother LA was released from Perry. March 6th!
Have you seen this face? Don't be fooled by the smooth vanilla exterior, the devil had him and now God does. He is the first of many Men of God to be released in this season. LA spent 35 years in prison and beat a life sentence. He is now residing in Spartanburg, SC across from Wofford College and his testimony is Jesus Christ released me. I personally watched LA over the past year and a half and my spirit bears witness of who he is and that Christ is Lord of his life. The same temptations we face on the outside are just as strong on the inside of the prison, so if he can walk straight in there, I know he can do the same outside. We will miss his Moses-like leadership, but know that this is just the beginning for him. God will do great things with this mighty warrior for the kingdom. He now shares the same testimony as Paul who said from a prison that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me! Just imagine, this brother has been in prison about as long as I have been on earth and He loves the Lord more than people I know who have been in mansions for 30+ years. Do you know anyone who has a life sentence? LA is living proof that they can beat it with the help of the Lord.

Keep brother Mark in prayer. He is the brother who sent the $300 love offering to Gethsemane in February. On January 26th I preached the sermon "God Is Not Abel" using the text in Genesis chapter 4, where Cain killed his brother Abel, when he was really angry at God. This young man came to me immediately following the service and said he wanted the name and address of our church. Within 2 weeks we had received an offering from the Department of Corrections, specifically from brother Mark. These are our brothers in Christ who have a zeal for God and not just lip-service. Mark has a life sentence very much like LA had. God knows the plans he has for Mark. His future is bright because he believes God's word. God will release Him in his own way and in His own timing, however the church is not separated by walls. The church can only be separated by fear. When we love perfectly we do not fear the judgment that is to come, nor do we fear the judgment of others. Join me in loving on our brothers in Christ, knowing that we will be judged by others. In the end, those that judge us will be judged by God and we will judge none. Mark gave in one offering what many church goers give in a whole year. They are getting a free meal and tipping God as if they did something. Mark gave his best offering as did Abel and even though Abel did not get to enjoy a long fruitful life on earth, he will enjoy even greater in eternity with his heavenly family.

Separate From Your Baggage & Keep Quiet

I recently spoke from this subject Separate From Your Stuff and Keep Quiet. The message was stirred by some reading and reflecting about a King named Saul. He did not want to become king and when it was time to swear him in, he was hiding in the baggage, because his tribe had to travel a fair distance for the great day. At one point in my engineering career I traveled heavily. I can remember being gone 5 to 6 days per week and being a weekend dad just to keep from losing the house. During that time I learned how to do two things well. Separate from My Baggage and you guessed it, "Keep Quiet."
Baggage
When you travel a lot, baggage begins to become a nuisance, because in the airport you are not allowed to leave your bags unattended. After a while, even a 10lb laptop starts to feel like a 100 lb weight hanging from your shoulders. When you have bags, your hands are not free to DO anything.

Are Your Hands Free?

Are Your Hands Free?
I learned how to release those bags onto the belt and then patiently wait for them to come off the belt. I also learned to be quiet or you are sure to be a suspect for security checkpoints and other airport nonsense. Well, every year we have the opportunity to separate from our baggage of items we carried through the previous year. When we carry anger, unforgiveness, bad habits, and even memories of people we lost; they will eventually weigh us down.
The Cabin
 When I was taking short trips and needed few clothes then I would check my bags at plane side, but even on those trips I had to separate from my stuff because there is only so much room in the cabin. Your mind is like the cabin of a plane and it was never intended to carry all of the things we attempt to carry there. Some argue that we don't use the majority of our brain's computing power, however much of that is by design. Every cabin has free space, just like pages have margins. When your brain, life, or heart is full of stuff that you refuse to separate from then you get weighted down and your plane will not be cleared to fly.
Fly High
Any day you are not flying high, you can guarantee there is some unnecessary or unwanted baggage in your cabin. Is your cabin clear for takeoff? Shh… Don't Answer that! Every time you bring that stuff up, it weighs you down, so don't even speak of it. Low flying planes usually do so because they have many stops, but a plane flying high is not planning to stop any time soon.
Talk about where your plain is getting ready to go next. Attitude determines Altitude, but baggage is the limiting factor. The more you talk about your destination, the less relevant your point of departure becomes, even when you have a connecting flight. Some flight connections are there to settle us, humble us, or refocus us. Your current location has nothing to do with your Final Destination and everything to do with your Preparation!

The Lion, The Bear, & The Philistine

Last Sunday's sermon from 1 Samuel 17 was for the moment in our lives when we know that we have to face someone that nobody else wants to face. It is the person that makes you queasy inside and you don't even like walking near them. You avoid them at all costs. If you have not met that person yet, then you may be that person. Goliath was a reality for Israel and if Israel does not deal with Goliath, then Israel will always live a defeated life.

Original art by Charles Wright who I met 3 days later.

The Lion
The lion represents strength and many call the lion the king of the beasts. David tells Saul that he caught a lion by the beard and killed the lion who had a sheep in its mouth. Satan is much like a lion (1 Peter 5:8) who walks about seeking whom he may devour. We can destroy the presence of Satan in our lives when we are sober minded and vigilant according to the Scriptures. God has not given us a spirit of fear but of power, but of love and a sound mind. (2 Tim. 1:7)

The Bear
The bear represents size and strength that unashamedly comes in to take over. Bears do not have good vision, so they do nut hunt well at night like Lions do. This means we have enemies that will sneak up on us and others that will walk directly into our faces daring us to do something about it. The bear is monstrously strong and their claws always remain visible unlike the lion who has retractable claws.

Charles Wright drew this with a pencil freehand!

The Philistine
The worst of all enemies on the planet is humanity when they have their minds twisted and bent on the destruction of others at any cost. Goliath represents the danger of empowering mankind with great wealth, strength, and wisdom. All of these are great qualities, but in the wrong hands can lead to disaster. David was not the wealthiest, strongest, or the wisest. David had one thing going for him that the others did not. David did what he was doing in the Name of the Lord. David killed Goliath with a sling and a stone that he pulled from a brook. Let the Lord lead you beside still waters today and restore your soul so that you may face Goliath with one rock. The rock you must have is Jesus, the rock of our salvation. He's all we need to overcome our enemy. David spoke to his enemy before he killed him and we too likewise must be bold as a lion with our tongue and strong & unashamed as a bear with our faith so we can let our enemies know that we are not afraid of them, because God is with us. The Lord will deliver, when we hope in Him.
 May the Lord deliver us from evil, may His kingdom come and His will be done. Amen!

Colossians 3:17 - And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus...