#68 George

This past week I was on vacation and made visits to 4 Civil War battlefields in Tennessee. For me it was a way to get a better understanding of the war. Each battlefield has it's own story, it's own history and it's own outcome. But something they had in common was unimaginable death and suffering. The picture above is from the Military Cemetery at Stones River Battlefield in Murfreesboro TN.  There are more than 6100 Union Soldiers buried there. Of those 2562 are unknown. The soldiers who could be identified have the name, state and sometimes rank and company listed. But, most of the unknown have a simple cube shaped marker with a number inscribed on top for location purposes. Also, there are a few with just the first name like my friend George. I call him "just plain George". I was walking through the cemetery reading the names and where they were from when I came across George. The thing about it is that you can tell the unknowns very easily, the maker is just a cube. But for George and a few others they are still unknown. My heart sank as I thought about the families of these men. George was someones son, brother, cousin, friend and maybe even a husband and dad. The family would have know that he died in the war and possibly where he died. They could have gone to Stones River and looked through the burial list and found a listing the says "George ----- First Interred at Shelbyville, #A68".  It would have taken a little work but they could have found him.

But here is something I didn't know until I visited these battlegrounds. The Confederate soldiers are not buried in the Military Cemeteries. They were the enemy and most were buried in mass graves. No headstones, no ceremony, no proper burial. At Shiloh National Battlefield as well as most others, due to health reasons, all the dead where buried in shallow graves on the battlefield. The Union soldiers were later moved to cemeteries while the Confederates where not. There is as many as 11or 12 of these mass graves at Shiloh. However only 5 have been identified and are now marked. This makes me sad too. These men had families just like the Union soldiers however their families never had the chance to find and visit their graves.

I say all this because of the political correctness clement we live in. There are some people out there who want the names of high schools and other public buildings changed because these buildings are named for people in our history who owned slaves. George Washington and Thomas Jefferson just to name a couple. Or they want statues of Confederate officers removed from public squares. I think before we make snap judgments about our history, based on our feelings, we need to look at the human loss and suffering of these men and their families. 

There were 620,000 men killed, 476,000 wounded and 400,000 capture or missing during the Civil War. That's over 1.5 million lives shattered.

What would happen today if we looked past our own feelings about life and looked at the suffering of others?

What would happen today if we tried to unite our country instead of dividing it over things that happened over 150 years ago? 

What would happen if we put aside our own agenda and looked for the good in each other today instead blaming our past for the bad? 

What would happen today.....

Perseverance

I haven't posted anything on here for a long time because I have spent the last 2 1/2 years in school working on a bachelor's degree. Now that school is over I plan to make posting a regular thing once again.

So why did I go to college? Well, I have a great deal of life experience in areas that many people struggle: failed marriages, addictions, financial difficulties, job loss, etc... Through His forgiveness, redemption and guidance I have overcome these problems. Several years ago the Lord put it on my heart to help people through these struggles. However, in most cases in order to do this professionally one has to have a college education. That is the main reason for going to school at this stage in life.

Going to college is not an easy task. It is a total leap of faith. I had to put many things I really enjoy on the back burner for a while in order to do the best I could with the time I had available. Through hard work, diligence, and total commitment to school I have graduated with honors. Now I will be able to use my life experience combined with the education to make a real difference in the world. Was all the time, effort, inconvenience and expense worth it?  ABSOLUTELY! and I would do it again in a heartbeat!

James 1:4 (NIV)

Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 

What would happen today if we used our life experience to help others? What would happen today if we took a leap of faith and followed God's calling? What would happen today if we put aside the things we enjoy to open time to do the things God wants us to do?

What would happen today...?
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Anger

The other day I had coffee with my friend Gene. I met Gene 6 years ago at a Wild at Heart small group he was conducting in his home. He's a great guy, awesome husband, father, grandfather, business owner just one of those guys you love to be around. He was our team leader on my last trip to India, so we've had a chance to spend a lot of time together.

During our conversation over coffee he looked me square in the eyes and asked me this question, "Are you angry?"

I replied, "I was last week but not today."

Without blinking an eye he said, "Yes you are. There is something going on right under the surface with you and you better figure it out. Being angry is like having vaseline on your glasses, you can't see anything and you can't just wipe it off you have to really work at cleaning it off." Then he went on to say, " If I were you I'd really study this anger thing, search scripture, books, websites, whatever it takes because if you don't you'll never be the man God wants you to be, your anger will block your vision.

I have been extremely busy these days with school and working several part time jobs to make ends meet, it seems that I don't have time to do everything I want to do. So as a result I've become resentful, negative, bitter, disgruntled, joyless. I've let the enemy use my busyness against me as an excuse to blame others for my own discontent.

Am I angry? I guess I am, I just couldn't see it.

Later that day he texted me this verse:

 Ephesians 4:30-32 (NIV)

 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. ³¹ Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. ³² Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

What would happen today if we called each other out on the things that are blocking our communion with God? What would happen if we really worked at cleaning the "vaseline" off our glasses and saw where God was leading us? What would happen today if we admitted our faults to God and another human being so they would no longer be on our shoulders?

What would happen today...?

Follow

What would happen today if we made time to be alone with God? What would happen today if we stood still long enough to hear His voice? What would happen today if we put all of our troubles at His feet? What would happen today if we gave Him our undivided attention on a regular basis?

What would happen today...?

Mark 1:35 (NIV)

Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.

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Caged

 

I recently made a trip to the Potawatomi Park Zoo in South Bend IN. It was one of those "alone time" with God days and I thought it would be a little different to go somewhere other than out in the woods or to the beach by the lake. I walked around and saw all of the animals on display, the smaller ones like the prairie dogs, river otters, and some of the monkeys seemed to be content in their little environments, but the big cats were very bored. The little animals were running around playing and having fun while these guys just sat there a stared off into space. I made little noises to get their attention but they ignored my like I wasn't even there. I just happened to snap this photo just before he laid his head down as if he was bored to death. Lions are fairly lazy animals in the wild anyway, they only get up and around to hunt or eat, but in captivity they just seemed hollow.

I think that's how we feel sometimes, captive, caged, stuck with no way out. We go through life day after day just putting in our time until something exciting comes along but most of the time we are just plain bored. Or we get caught up in sin looking for excitement and we get caged by that sin and spend a lot of time covering up our mistakes. But Jesus changes all that, He sets us free. When we surrender to Him and turn our will and our lives over to Him we are redeemed, forgiven and set free.

What would happen today if we turned ourselves over to the care of God each and every day? What would happen if we were set free from our sin by the One who Loves us? What would happen today if we stopped staring off into space bored to death and started living with joy in our hearts? What would happen today if we stopped looking to sin for excitement and ask God into our hearts to do His work and love others as He loves us?

What would happen today...?

Romans 6:21-23 (NIV)

What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! ²² But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. ²³ For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Journey

 May 20, 2008

 May 6, 2011

Our whole lives are a journey, and on that journey there are many paths. When we come to a fork in the road we are faced with a decision, do we go this way or that? If we go the wrong way the consequences can be devastating. But if we follow God's path the rewards are incredible. When we stand at those forks we have to ask ourselves: "What is the fruit of my decision?" "If I do this is it going to honor God?" "Will I be a better person and will it have a positive effect on the people around me?" If we can answer yes to these questions then that's the way to go, if not then we need to step back and reevaluate our motives.

Three years ago I made a decision to go to college at the age of 47. God put it on my heart to go to school and get a degree in Human Services so I can go out into the world and help people become the person he made them to be. My past life is littered with the fruits of bad decisions: drug and alcohol abuse, failed marriages, financial difficulties, shame, guilt, fear, resentment, and self-centeredness. But now that I'm following God's path the fruits are much different: joy, peace, confidence, open-heartedness, love, and compassion. Even though the past three years have been tough, walking across the stage to receive my diploma was worth every minute.

What would happen today if when we came to a fork in the road and stopped to ask ourselves these questions? What would happen today if we followed His path for us? What would happen today if we prayed for His direction? What would happen today if our influence on others helped them follow his path?

What would happen today...?

Psalm 119:105 (KJV)

Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

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Doubt

We spend a lot of time making decisions about life. Where do we use our time and effort, what's the best way to invest our money, who do we build relationships with. Life is full of big decisions that can have great benefits or costly consequences. Life is an ongoing process that at times can be overwhelming or other times it's a breeze. Even though we have all of this going on there is One Who never changes. I think one of the hardest things to do is to not doubt His power, grace, and love. We are human, so we get caught up in everyday life and forget that He is our reason for living. We tend to try to do things on our own. It's not that we don't believe, it's that we get distracted. The enemy is always trying to keep us from hearing from God, he puts doubt in our head and we fall for it all the time. But when we push those doubts aside and rely on God we can do anything.

What would happen today if we believed in our Faith? What would happen today if we walked in the path that God has laid out for us? What would happen today if we trusted God enough to turn over the hard things in life to Him? What would happen today if we put our mountains at His feet?

What would happen today...?

Mark 11:23 (NIV ©2011)

“Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them.
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Whatever

I was walking through church on Monday morning and found this little card on the floor. The children's ministry hands these cards out to the kids every week, each week has a different verse. When I picked it up and looked at it I really didn't think much about it, but the more I thought about it I had to ask myself this question: Do I do what it says? Unfortunately the answer is no. I get sidetracked, distracted, and sometimes I just don't care. But that's not the attitude we are suppose to have.

What would happen today if everything we did we did as if we were doing it for the Lord Himself? What would happen today if we put our whole hearts into our efforts? What would happen today if we helped each other to remember that God wants us to do everything was if are doing it for Him? What would happen today if every man in America lived this way?

What would happen today...?

Colossians 3:22-25 (New International Version, ©2011)

Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to curry their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. ²³ Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, ²⁴ since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. ²⁵ Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for their wrongs, and there is no favoritism.

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Alone

There is one thing that God wants from us more than anything else; a relationship with Him. The only way to build a relationship with anyone is to spend time with them.

Jesus modeled this for us several times in the Scriptures. He spent time alone with the Father.

What would happen today if we followed Jesus' lead and made time for the Father? What would happen today if we set aside time to intentionally be alone to pray? What would happen today if we went off to a solitary place even in the rain and cold to let God recharge our hearts? What would happen today if our relationship with Him was so strong that nothing could come between us?

What would happen today...?

Mark 1:35 (NIV copyrite 2011)

Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.

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Frustration

Scholars estimate it took Noah around 100 years to build the ark. Once the ark was finished he had to collect all the animals 2 by 2. Let's listen to a conversation between him and God.

Even Noah got frustrated with the job the Lord had commanded him to do. That can happen to us too. Following God's call is not easy, if it was, everyone would do it. But if we do just as He commands the rewards far exceed the inconvenience.

What would happen today if we follow God's commands without arguing with Him? What would happen today if we let His will become our own? What would happen today if we remembered the covenant that He made with Noah and lived our lives on purpose?

What would happen today...?

Genesis 9:12-16 (NIV ©2010)

And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: 13 I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14 Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, 15 I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. 16 Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.”

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