Thanksgiving becomes thanksliving

See if you can top this for your Thanksgiving.

Our first granddaughter was born two days before Thanksgiving Day. A few days before and one day after she was born, I went in the hospital with heart problems.

The cure? Sedate me and give my heart an electric shock!

My heart was found to have atrial fib. That is when the upper and lower chambers of the heart are not in sync. As a result, the heart does not pump blood efficiently. That led to shortness of breath, dizziness and anxiety.

I think I just described many local churches in Slidell.

Different members of the local body have different ideas and agendas which results in not working well together and illness in the whole body.

A body does not grow unless health is restored. Neither does a church.

I also say it describes lack of cooperation between Christian congregations in Slidell. Many are so focused on meeting their own budgets, baptisms and attendance goals they don’t have to time or resources to help ministries like CCC, Crisis Pregnancy Help Center or one another.

Some are even shutting down.

Want a radical idea? If your church meets for mid week prayer meeting, have someone make a report about another local congregation. Pass out the information like the name of pastor and leaders in the other church along with the church address.

Then pray for them.

Ask God to bless them and build unity among brothers & sisters in Christ in our area.

Then write them to tell them you will be praying for them. (If you really want to touch them, then take up an offering that night and mail it to their church to use as the LORD leads them to use it)

Results? They (the world of non-believers) will know we are His by our love for one another.

Who will be the first to try this?

Family…fun…faith

For several days our first grand child stayed at our home us while his mom was giving birth to his little sister.

Our household is two parents and two college aged daughters at home.

We thought “how hard can it be to watch one little boy for a few days?” Harder than expected.

We still have not found the TV remote. Our new remote is to call out to whoever is sitting closest to TV to adjust the volume.

Conner was into everything. . He was a bundle of boundless energy and curiosity. He loved walking the dog on his leash in the house. Several times he pulled on the dog’s legs to see if they would detach. Thankfully the legs remained attached but the dog is seeing a therapist!

In the midst of it all, God spoke to my heart.

I am like Conner in so many ways. Restless when I need to be restful. Worrying about getting my own way and expressing discontent or whining when I don’t..

The best way to get Conner to sleep was cradled in someone‘s arms. We best rest when we are cradled in the arms of God’s love and grace. He wants simple fellowship with us.

What touched me the most during Conner’s visit? It was the times my family remarked when Conner and I sat together how much he looked like me.


That’s how it is when we relax with our heavenly Father. We begin to resemble Him. 

People are attracted by the family resemblance.

At this time of year, many people want to be part of a family. 

Why not introduce them to God’s?

Well Done Good and Faithful Servant

Ps 116:15 “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his faithful servants.”

Today I mourn the passing of a great man of God, Zig Ziglar. He was the patriarch of the self development and positive attitude movements. Zig, who had spoken so many times heart to heart with Jesus got to see Him face to face on November 28th

If you ever heard Zig by tape, CD, YouTube or MP3, you know that he had a distinctive voice and style. It took getting use to but was comforting after a while.

.As I reflect on Zig’s life I think of three key concepts- Faith…family…future.

He had deep faith that controlled all he was and did. He taught Sunday School for years in the Dallas area. He sowed seeds of the Word of God in hearts of generations for many years.

Family was foundational for him as well. Just two days before he died he and his wife celebrated their 66^th wedding anniversary! He wrote a book about the death of one his children called “Confession of a Grieving Christian.” He had balance. Zig did not see everything as sunshine but understood one best saw the light against a dark background. He trusted God’s heart when he could not see His hand.

Finally, Zig was committed to the future. He encouraged people to plan their future. He told people set their visions and dreams and put them on paper. Perhaps worse than living an unexamined life is to live one unplanned. Our motto should be if the Lord is willing we will do this and that, and at least have a plan and path to pursue.

If God wants to change you , He certainly can

Just ask the Apostle Paul who used to be called Saul.

You Are God’s Art

“For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do”. Ep 2:10

We are created individually within the plans and purpose of God. That is one reason life is sacred. Plus we were created in His image. There is a difference in our lives as works of art and those you see in a museum. Life in God is not just something to be looked at but to be lived.

God does not just want to display you for the world to see and for them to go “Ooh and Ah!” He wants you to do that which He designed for us.

This verse clearly states that God has good works He has planned in advance for us to do. One of the challenges in life is discovering His plans for us.

Let me suggest that with His plan is His pattern. The pattern is not doctrine, Bible principles or Bible stories. The pattern is a person…Jesus Christ. Jesus is the pattern for how we are to live and love. He demonstrated what God intended for man to be before the Fall. We are to be one who Loves God. God communes with us and speaks to us so we hear Him. We should repeat what we hear Him say. We should do what we see Him doing. The Christian life has only been successfully lived by one …Jesus Christ. It is not possible in our own resources.

That brings us from plans to pattern and finally to power. God never asks us to do or be anything He has not equipped us to be. It is the Holy Spirit who is the power in us to fulfill the plans and duplicate the pattern of Christ in our hearts and lives. He is our power

Four key words…purpose…plans…pattern…power.

A Final Word

Many of us know the two great commandments. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength and love your neighbor as yourself.

What about the third one?  In John 13:34 Jesus said, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.”

Jesus told this to his disciples as he was facing His last week before dying.  Ever have those times when you were having a conversation without someone that turned out to be one of your last with them?   Wish you would have paid attention better?  Sometimes death comes so unexpectedly there is not time to say good-bye or treasure final moments with loved ones.

Final words carry a lot of weight.

Jesus was telling his followers then and now that there is a distinctive trait that will demonstrate they are truly His followers.
We get caught up in things we can observe as opposed to an attitude of love.  We think people are good followers because they go to the right church, attend often, give some, have a position of leadership or something else we can observe.

Why is it important that believers love one another?

It is what the world needs and they are looking for authenticity…acceptance…unity.

It is fulfilling God’s ultimate intention. He wants to call and redeem a group of believers who will so walk in unity and love that the world will notice.

Recently in Slidell, this type of love and unity was demonstrated. With over 1,000 people participating in the Life Chain, we demonstrated a love for life, God and one another.  We took a stand and were not regarded as a collection of individuals, but a body of believers in which Christ lives.

May this happen more often.

Pauls’ Pattern for Prayer

Parents love their children. When we pray do we pray the best for them or just temporary relief?

We can produce a laundry list of externals to pray for such as finances, protection, healing and help.

But somehow, the list doesn't really express it. Jesus' heart for His people runs much deeper than material and emotional needs, and it's His heart that we want to touch and reflect as we pray.

What does God want for your children.? Begin to study the prayers of Paul and see.

In Ephesians 3:14-16, Paul began one of his most beautiful prayers. "For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man."

My prayer so often begins with externals. I bow my knees unto the Father and ask Him to grant a host of material and circumstantial needs. Since we live so close with our children, we know the nitty-gritty of their lives, and that's where our focus tends to go.

But Paul didn't have this luxury. He was separated from his churches by a great distance. He didn't know their day-to-day problems, so his prayers had to reach much farther — much deeper — much higher. God, I think, arranged it this way.

Paul's prayers teach us to focus first on the heart: the soul, the "inner man." Let’s not focus primarily on the physical things or changes in circumstance. Our children need mighty hearts. When we're strong inside, we can handle great trials. When the glory of God fills us, its joy and beauty will spill over to meet the difficulties in our paths. That friend struggling with temptation; that sister who has cancer; that young man taking exams: what they need most is to be strengthened with true might, by the Spirit of God, in the deepest places of their hearts.

The Menu is Never Enough

Hard as it may be for you to believe, I like to eat. Living in Louisiana makes it easy. Slidell offers a wonderful choice of restaurants. One can get seafood, burgers, Italian, Mexican etc.

What I’ve never done is go out to eat and be satisfied looking at the menu. I let the menu guide me where I want to go as far as ordering, but the menu is never enough. Sometimes I note how attractive the menu is, the words to describe the items and even pictures. Still, I want to eat.

Occasionally, the servers describe the items you are considering and stimulate your taste buds into overdrive. Still, bring me the food!

I think our spiritual lives are like the situation I just described.

There are many locations to get spiritual food here in town. A variety of denominations, traditions, speakers, styles of worship, etc. You get to the location, and they present the menu, that is the Bible in different formats. The servers or ministers can describe the wonders in the Word and the reality of Christ in a way that stimulates your desires.

Still, you want the meal.

Don’t stop short by just reading the Bible or taking another’s word.

Get to Jesus Christ Himself.

John 6:35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.

The Bible is to point us to Jesus and guide us into a relationship with Him. So many believers are living below their opportunity. They study the Bible in classes, accumulate big notebooks and hundreds for principles for living...but miss the One Whom is the focus of the Word. He is the Word John 1:1.

You best know Jesus based on personal relationships, not a set of principles.

Get to Jesus…only He can satisfy you.