Stupid Cow!!

Yesterday I was ticked off at that stupid cow...


I was mad at the cow...

The cow that trampled the young man who works for me...

Broke some of his ribs...

So, in turn, he called in sick...

This caused quite a problem yesterday in the schedule of the retail store I manage...

Stupid Cow...

I was mad at the boy...

Because his ribs were broken...

I was mad at the lady...

because she had made other plans and could not come in to cover the shift...

I was mad at the girl who had the audacity to go wedding dress shopping on her day off and not sit at home waiting for me to call her in to work...

It was Wednesday!!

I needed to be at church, but now I had to sty late at work to deal with a mess started by a Stupid Cow...

Church starts in 30 minutes, I m barely going to make it in the door in time...

And what is this????

A customer needs my attention SPECIFICALLY??

OK..

He looks me in the eye and says, "I know you are trying to get to church..."

Whoa!

How in the world did he know I was headed to church?

I slowed my frantic pace and began to listen...

Listen...

Not only to the customer, but to HIM...

"Where do you go to church, Myron?"

I turned to him, handed him a card and told him I was the pastor, and I might get fired tonight if I don't make it to Bible Study on time... 

The folks at the church just can't get enough of my preaching!! haha

I boxed up his wife's boots, when the next question came, "What religion are you?"

Pentecostal...

"Really, I was raised Pentecostal!"

"Where?" I asked.

"Do you know where Diboll, Texas is? Also, there is a huge campground in Lukfin that I used to attend all the time."

Wow.

While I was preoccupied with the agitation I felt toward the Stupid Cow, God was positioning me for purpose...

If the Stupid Cow had not trampled the boy...

and the lady had not already had plans... 

and the girl had not been wedding dress shopping...

I would not have had the opportunity to meet Mike and his wife...

The steps of a good man are ordered of the Lord...

Relax...

Do not buck and pull against His hand when it leads you out of your routine...

He just might be positioning you for purpose...

Ananias, don't resist the leading toward Straight Street...

God is positioning you for purpose...

Jesus sat outside the city and told his disciples to go in to the city to "a place where two ways met" and there they would find a colt tied...

Never forget...

God knows where his colts are tied...

The colt might have felt overlooked...

abandoned...

under-utilized...

frustrated...

But he was positioned for a purpose...

and...

had he pulled away from the position he was in...

he would have missed the greatest ministry opportunity that would ever come along in his lifetime...

Friend, if you get out of position now, you will not be able usher the Savior into your city...

Don't let your anger at a Stupid Cow cloud your vision of where you are being led...

Driving Under The Influence

Recently I was involved in a discussion where this question was asked:

"How does a pastor reach all segments of society in his city?"

I submit that the answer is found in Driving Under the Influence...

Drive the streets of your city...

under the influence...

tears clouding your vision...

begging God to open doors to reach into your community...

and then be willing to walk through the ones He opens...

weep as you see toddlers playing outside in nothing but their diaper...

while daddy sits on the porch drinking away their grocery money...

as you see the yard service cutting the lawn of the lawyer who owns half the real estate in the area...

and beg God for an in-road...

Yup...

It's called DUI

Driving Under the Influence..

get a burden...

Stop praying for God to GIVE you a burden...

and GET a burden...

it is your choice how much you decide to carry...


and remember...

burdens not accompanied by a plan lead to the most frustrated pastors who leave after 2-3 years...

make a covenant with the land...

and stay...

A burden for the lost does not leave room for career moves...

Do I have this down to a science?

Absolutely not...

But it is the only thing that will work...

It is what will fuel your marketing efforts...

The Sound of the Church

⁴⁶And they came to Jericho: and as he went out of Jericho with his disciples and a great number of people, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the highway side begging.

⁴⁷And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out, and say, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me.

Imagine the sounds this man heard on a daily basis…

Daily he heard the sounds of children playing in the streets…

Women talking as they made their way to the wells carrying their empty pots..

The sounds of their feet making heavier steps on the return home…

Sounds of the animals…

The donkeys pulling the load of the carts…

The lambs being hearded skittishly

All of those sounds were there today…

But then…

There was a different sound…

It was a change in the atmosphere…

It was a sound he had never heard before…

It was the sound of the followers of Jesus Christ…

The sound of the Church…

There are a lot of sounds that are heard by those in our communities…

But…

The Church should give a different sound…

A peculiar sound…

What sounds is your church making?

His knowledge that Jesus was present was solely dependant upon the sound of the Church…

Pastors, give a certain sound…

So you saints can echo that sound in the street of your cities…

The certain Sound of the Church…

Just because...

Samuel was just a lad...

A miracle baby...

became a miracle lad...

We know he saw much more than little eyes should absorb while hanging around the temple...

Eli's boys were doing their thing and getting by with it...

And Sam is just doing his best to be faithful...

Soon...

After he has been tucked in bed...

A voice speaks to him...

And he runs to Eli...

Again the voice speaks...

And Eli is the destination of choice...

The third time, he says "Here I am, Lord."

Just because you are called does not mean you are ready...

Just because you are called does not mean you can discern the voice...

Just because you are called does not instantly qualify you for certain things...

One must hone their gift...

One must perfect their gift...

Paul told us...

1 Corinthians 12:31
But covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way.

Just because you have been anointed does not mean you have learned a more excellent way...

Too many guys are making moves into certain arenas...

Just because...

Be careful of the dangers of just because...

How many times as a kid did Mom or Dad tell you not to do something, and you ask, "Why?"

Only to have them answer, "Just because."

They knew something you did not know...

Just because...

Why should I spend more time discerning the voice?

Just because...

A Familiar place…

It did not take long…

Just a few moments were enough to re-kindle that old feeling…

Brought on by that familiar place…

Many a morning had been spent at this familiar place…

Early mornings…

Mornings sometimes spent with others…

Sometimes alone…

A business place…

Many a meeting had taken place there over the years…

Agreements were made…

Plans were changed…

Adjustments were made…

Nothing really notable about the place itself…

But rather the agenda covered…

Just an dimly lit prayer room at Royalwood UPC…

But when I knelt there a couple of days ago…

I remembered the meeting held and issues settled in this dimly lit meeting room...

That old familiar feeling was still there…

Because HE was still there…

He never left…

The familiar place…

Do you have a familiar place where you life can be changed and restructured through the power of prayer?

Many people have a place…

But it is not FAMILIAR…

Get a place and spend some time there…

Enough time to make it familiar…

 

Buds or Blossoms?

The other day, it fell my lot to do some work around the church...

Easter is coming...

Need to fix up the flowerbeds and freshen them up with new colors, etc.

My day led me to Houston Garden Center...

There I began to browse through the different plants and shrubs which were available...

While examining a particularly beautiful blooming shrub, the individual who was with me made the statement...

"When choosing the proper plant for your garden, do not look at the blossoms, but rather the buds."

I was astounded at the simple wisdom of this statement...

It matters very little what is blossoming on the plant right now...

The more important thing is the potential for future blooms...

What is there right now will wither away...

But the buds indicate the life held within the plant...

When facing decisions...

and choices...

regarding the future of your life, family, and ministry...

Choose buds over blooms...

There may be a place available that looks great NOW...

But what will it look like when the current blooms are no longer present...

and there are no buds on the branch...

Choose buds...

Buds do not beautify immediately...

Buds have no smell...

Buds are almost invisible to the casual observer...

However, buds are the indication of a secure future...

Blooms look good now, but wither quickly...

Someone reading this is facing a decision regarding your future...

Choose the buds rather than the blossoms...

Captive...not slain.

1 Samuel 30

   ¹And it came to pass, when David and his men were come to Ziklag on the third day, that the Amalekites had invaded the south, and Ziklag, and smitten Ziklag, and burned it with fire;

   ²And had taken the women captives, that were therein: they slew not any, either great or small, but carried them away, and went on their way.

As bad as a day could get...

David's emotional forecast was bad and getting worse...

Still on the run from Saul...

And driven away from the Philistines because of his feigned madness...

He and his ragtag band of misfits made their way back home...

As they neared the city, smoke filled the horizon ahead...

Thick, black smoke that could only mean one thing...

Fear and horror gripped the men as their pace quickened...

And over the next swelling hilltop, their eyes fastened upon the scene and their worst fears were realized with a sickening feeling in like a brick in their stomachs...

Ziklag had been destroyed...

Completely...

David and his men were devastated...

They wept until there was no more power to weep...

In fact, his followers discussed stoning him...

   ⁸And David enquired at the LORD, saying, Shall I pursue after this troop? shall I overtake them? And he answered him, Pursue: for thou shalt surely overtake them, and without fail recover all.

You know why God told him to overtake them and recover all?

Because the women and children...

Which they loved so dearly...

Were merely CAPTIVE...

not SLAIN...

Your life might look like the smoldering ruins of Ziklag...

The small purpose and position of Ziklag...

Lies ruined by fire and smoke...

And the things you hold so dearly have been stripped away...

The tears flowed freely at first...

But now you "have no more power to weep."

You shall pursue...

Overtake...

Recover...

All...

You will recover all...

Because your "ALL" is not slain...

Merely captive...

And...

Like David...

When you walk back in to Ziklag...

You will be returning with more than you lost...

For God has a way of repaying...

I have seen His way...

They are Captive...not Slain.