GROWING SEEDS: "Jesus IS Coming.....Soon!"

 

 

Shortly after we moved to Mt. Vernon in 2001, I remember losing a bet with some friends over the Dallas Cowboys.  See, I never quite got over the Jerry Jones firing Tom Landry incident and hadn't been able to root for the Cowboys since February 26, 1989...the day Tom Landry was fired.  My penalty for losing the bet was I had to wear a sign, front and back, on the NE corner of I-30 and Hwy. 37 here in Mt. Vernon that said, "I Love Jerry Jones" for four hours one Sunday.  I was humbled....I was humiliated....I was thankful no one knew me in town.

A few Sundays ago, I crossed over I-30 and saw this man standing on that same corner holding a large hot pink sign that read, "Repent!  Jesus Is Coming!" I sat through half a green light to snap a photo of this brave....yes...B-O-L-D man standing there for the world of Mt. Vernon to see proclaiming a message he knew we all needed to see.  Did he lose a bet?  Or was he just betting we all needed to be reminded of this message?

As I sat there staring at the man with the hot pink sign, I couldn't help but wonder if I had his same boldness to tell the world "Repent!  Jesus Is Coming!".  Do I love my Jesus enough to share this news with the stranger stopped at the red light?  Would I be embarrassed that you, my friends...my family...would see me standing there practically begging you to "get it"? 

We are so quick to judge those who practice their faith different from us...and I'm first in the Guilty line, friends.  Before God and I became BFF's, if I saw someone in church lifting their hands in praise...totally moved by the Holy Spirit....I would be embarrassed for them.  If I heard someone yell out "Amen" during the sermon, I'd get a whiplash looking to see who said it.  What's interesting is, I was perfectly at-home lifting my arms at a football game or yelling out "YES!"" when a touchdown was made. Kinda makes you think, doesn't it?

But the closer I get to God, the bolder I'm becoming.  If I ask you if you know Jesus, it's not because I'm nosy, it's because I care what happens to you.  If I say I'll pray for you, it's because I long for you to feel God's arms wrapped tightly around you comforting you. If you see me lift my hands in praise, just know I'm boldly and humbly standing at the throne of God at that very moment, eyes closed, holding the hand of God.  I feel His breath on my soul and my emotions are so raw, they leak out my eyes.  I pray....I PRAY....you feel this too.

Jesus IS Coming...SOONER than you think.

GROWING SEEDS: "White Space, New Chapters & The Thorn"

"....even though I have received such wonderful revelations from God, so to keep me from becoming proud,

I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud.

Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. 

Each time He said, "My grace is all you need.  My power works best in weakness." 

2 Corinthians 12:7-9

I have often wondered what Paul's thorn in the flesh was.....a bad back?  Headaches?  Arthritic knee?  Does it really matter?  It makes him so real to me....him talking about this thorn much like we all have digging into our flesh.  Jesus' disciples rarely talked about things like this, but I am convinced God allowed Satan to place that burden on Paul (us), possibly to strengthen him, possibly to help him be a better preacher, better person, better example of God.  Wouldn't it be a waste of good paper here in 2 Corinthians if I didn't take that example on myself? 

"We miss the lesson when we pick at the thorn. 

The enemy would have us be so blind by the pain of the thorn that we can't see the beauty of the rose garden. 

Look past the thorn - His grace is enough for the thorn He chooses not to remove."

Wow.

Sometimes.....I feel as though God allows my thorns to prepare me for a new chapter in my life now that I've caught my breath from the last chapter.  I'm not sure what the next chapter holds.....more Pain?  Hurt?  Disease?  Death?  Truth is, none of us know what the words on the next page says.....what lies around that next corner we can't see around....but we do know God is there standing next to the mess ahead of us.  It's scary and although I don't fear the future.....I want to slow down and approach it cautiously.  I want to be sure my hand is out for Him to grab and walk it out with me. 

"Father, whatever is around the corner for me, hold onto me....let me feel Your presence.  Open my ears so I can hear You whispering.....open my eyes so I can see You....just like the white egret flying over me right now.....circling....making sure Danger knows Your presence is there.  Step me out of the white page of the last chapter into the next chapter of unknown.  Secure my breastplate....strap my helmet on.....and lets do this together.  Amen."

GROWING SEEDS: " "The Same God Who Led You In.......Will Lead You Out."

 

 

"In some way or other, the Lord will provide.

It might not be my way.  It might not be your way.

And yet in His own way, the Lord will provide."

In much the same way I tend to use our personal flood years ago as a measuring stick of time, we Americans will always use 9-11-01 as a means of measurement in the history of our lives.  Chuck and I had been married four years when September 11 occurred.  His Multiple Sclerosis had not yet taken over his body and we were enjoying life as much as I'd ever enjoyed anything.  Life was good...it was safe....and we had no worries.

And then the clock ticked over to 7:46 am CT....

We remember what we were wearing....what we were doing....the confusion and shock we felt that beautiful sunny Tuesday morning that forever changed the way we look at the 11th day of September.  A notch in the measuring stick of time had just been created.  And we now worried about tomorrow.

Between the cloud of dust and debris, we saw America kneel and pray in desperation.  Prayers of protection and healing....of rescue from the evils of this world we wake up to each morning.  Many people prayed for the first time in their life that day....desperately needing to focus their blood-shot eyes somewhere other than the hole where there once were two skyscrapers:

“Turn your eyes upon Jesus.....
Look full into His wonderful face...
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of His glory and grace.”

And I am reminded of my own bloodshot cried-out eyes from the Red Sea moments that have happened in my life over this same measuring stick of time. 

And although many lost their lives that fateful day, even more didn't.  They experienced a "Red Sea" rescue, much like the Israelites ..who, scared and fearful...grabbed their children and helped their elderly parents cross between the walls of water as the Red Sea was miraculously parted just for them.  They followed the path where only faith alone could walk, until they reached the other shore.

"The Lord will make a way for you where no feet have been before.

That which, like a sea, threatens to drown you, shall be a highway for your escape."

Charles H. Spurgeon

GROWING SEEDS: "Can You Hear Him Whispering?"

 

Eighteen years ago when Chuck and I moved to the lake from Dallas, the only stores we were familiar with in Mt. Vernon were Brookshires, Vaughn's Catfish and the Exxon Gas Station.  Oh, and I almost forgot....a restaurant called Barnstormers with a cool plane hanging from the ceiling where McDonalds now sits.  It would be another 12 years before I realized we didn't live in Mayberry.....that there was another "side" of Mt. Vernon few of us knew about. 

Fast forward to 2014.  A single, young 22-year old local Librarian named Anna Hood was also noticing we didn't live in Mayberry.  She saw the kids who had no where to go after school hanging out in her corner of the square at the Library.  She befriended them...kept watch over them....taught them life lessons from the safety of the Library, and they fell in love with Ms. Anna.  She saw a need....she took a leap of Faith...and she opened The Bountiful House; a non-profit temporary after-school "home", complete with its very own family that included mentors, tutors, teachers and people like you and me just wanting to make a difference.  And because of her strong Faith and Trust in God, she never once asked for money.  Nope...not once.  And God always provided.

In the Spring of 2019, the Hilltop Baptist Church building located right smack in the heart of Mt. Vernon and across from where most of the kids live, was donated to The Bountiful House as a place to grow this little family, touch more lives and make an even bigger difference in the children of this sweet town.  I'll never forget driving up the road to the future "Bountiful Place" for the first renovation meeting two months ago.  I was expecting maybe 20 people....but the place was packed!   Volunteers filled the donated church to the brim!  Electricians, plumbers, concrete contractors, roofers, sheet rockers and general contractors were all sitting together ready to change the future of Mt. Vernon; all because one young Librarian had the Faith of a mustard seed.  I just couldn't stop smiling.

And neither could God.  Without His whispers continually on the hearts of many in this small town to donate their time, their pocketbooks, their skills and their hearts to secure the futures of our children in Mt. Vernon, this extensive project would not be happening.  It's in the whispers, friends...the same whispers that stilled the winds and the water...that whisper to our souls.

"He said to them, “Where is your faith?” They were afraid and amazed, and said to one another,

“Who then is this, that He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey Him?” 

Luke 8:25

Lean in.....can you hear Him whispering? 

GROWING SEEDS: "Follow My Voice Back Home"

 

 

When Chuck and I purchased our first Garmin GPS many years ago, he felt sure he had unfolded his last giant paper map taking up real estate in the glove compartment. The Garmin was bright and shiny and he was the first of his friends to get one.  He smiled like an awkward-skinny-toeheaded little kid with a new GI Joe.

Our first trip with Felix....yes, we named the GPS....was in the motorhome headed to Florida.   Having Felix with us was like having a third member of the family that shared information only when we needed them to.  We felt so smart when Felix traveled with us.

Until we ignored his commands.  Then we'd hear, "Recalculating", "Make a safe and legal u-turn" and, maybe it was just my imagination, but it sure seemed Felix would take a bit of an "attitude" with us when we didn't take his suggestions. 

Truth is, we had agreed to put our trust in Felix on this journey and yet, decided midway to ignore him and go out on our own.  It's the same way with God.  We place our trust in Him....we listen to His directions...until...we come to a road that looks better than the route he has mapped out for us.  We think we know best, so we leave the safe road and choose our own way.  Before we know it, we find ourselves at a dead end; confused, scared, and we're frantically asking how to get back on the "right" road. 

And that's when everything has to be "recalculated". 

But here's the really awesome part of this story:  Although WE changed locations, God's location never changed and His voice will always guide you home when you ask Him....even when you make a wrong turn.  He will bring you home no matter how lost you are...no matter how far you have roamed. 

Listen for His whisper to you...."Return to Me with all your heart....Follow My voice back home." 

GROWING SEEDS: "Come...Let Me Walk Through Life With You"

 "Come...Let Me Walk Through Life With You"

liz etheridge

Many years ago, I found myself in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico on a small fishing boat for an 8-hour deep sea fishing excursion. A storm was brewing ahead of us and about 45 minutes into the eight hour day, most everyone was hanging off the side of the railing giving up their breakfast. Somewhere between throwing up the eggs and the toast, I remember thinking, "I'd give everything I own for a helicopter rescue right now." I was desperate...I was scared....and I wanted off that boat!

It's interesting that most times God doesn't detour us around life's difficulties. He leads us right through the big fat middle of the storm....where we get hit in the face with the blinding rain, the hurricane-force winds and we become intimate friends with the railing on the boat. Where

life's journeys take us through cancer, through train wrecks, through miscarriages, through heart attacks and yes, even through death.

We tend to say, "Father, show me how to go AROUND the storm....how to pass OVER the fire.....how to AVOID the waves altogether." But He smiles that loving smile of His, looks us straight in the eye and says, "No, I want you to understand I'm deeper than the water, My presence is more mighty than the wind. And I want you to be able to trust Me in any situation, and the only way you're going to learn that is by going through the storm, not around it."

"When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, Liz."

Isaiah 43:2

And then He holds out His strong and scarred hand to us and says,

"COME....let Me walk through it with you."

GROWING SEEDS: 'I Have Found My Rest"

 

 

"The leader of the synagogue,

indignant because Jesus had cured on the sabbath, kept saying to the crowd,

“There are six days on which work ought to be done;

come on those days and be cured, and not on the sabbath day.”

My siblings and I grew up in a home that believed your salvation was based on keeping the Sabbath.  It was a required church law in our home, and we were expected to keep it if we were going to live under their roof.  It was the "most important" law to keep, Dad believed.

Keeping the Sabbath law in our home looked a little something like this:  On Friday, before Sabbath began, the house had to be cleaned, the car gassed up since we weren't allowed to purchase gas on Sabbath, and Saturday's family meal had to be prepared in advance.  Once the clock arrived at the exact minute it became sundown on Friday, the TV was turned off, secular music was stopped and the Sabbath had begun.  The 24-hours of Sabbath, from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday, allowed us only to play religious games, attend church, visit with church friends (not neighbor friends) and watch the hands of the clock s-l-o-w-l-y tick by till sundown Saturday night arrived.

Sabbath, in my home, didn't look a thing like Jesus ever hoped or wanted us to experience.

As I became an adult, I began to understand the true blessing and meaning of this day I had so dreaded as a child.  I discovered it had nothing whatsoever to do with keeping a stringent and exhausting list of rules and regulations or keeping a certain day of the week, but rather, was a hand-wrapped Gift placed in my life for EVERY day of the week to help nudge me closer to God.  I discovered it was His Son that was my much needed rest. 

He took His royal robes off in Heaven, stepped down to earth and walked through the same mud we daily walk through, which now allows us to view Sabbath differently than the Jews did.  Sabbath is no longer about a certain "day" or all the many rules the Jews had to uphold in order to properly honor the Sabbath.  The Sabbath was now a Man; our precious Savior. 

GROWING SEEDS: "Terri Reeder Coleman"

 

 

The beautiful lady in this picture is Terri Reeder-Coleman. 

Terri was not just beautiful on the outside, but more importantly, was stunning on the inside.  I had the amazing privilege of knowing her personally...of spending time visiting, shopping and living life with her.  She loved life....and she loved the Lord more. 

You never saw Terri without a smile on her face.  She lived in Rockwall, but one of the places she loved to be the most was right here in Mt. Vernon...on Lake Cypress Springs at her Mom, Lena Mae Reeder's, home.  There was a sense of peace, quiet and communion here for her.  She had been through many difficult years of cancer and being here, I believe, helped her forget the struggle for just awhile. 

She was always ready for a new adventure...whether to Efurd's Peach Orchard where she whipped off her wig and posed under an antique hair dryer, or to the Pittsburg Prayer Chapel where she went straight to the kneeling rail, bowed her head and gave thanks.   Thanks for the family she was given in this life on earth....thanks for the blessings of two twin children she dearly and deeply loved....thanks for the life she was allowed to live during her 54 years on this earth. 

And today, we offer thanks.....for Terri Reeder-Coleman. 

One thing Terri "always-always-always" wanted to do when she'd come visit her Mom is go work in our Church Library.  Even in her weakest times, she loved helping organize the books, filing the library cards and decorating the room.  Her love for children and reading is the reason we are celebrating her life today by dedicating the Children's Section of our Church Library in her name.  I honestly can't think of anything that would have made her happier.

So as you tour the Terri Reeder-Coleman Children's Library section today, whisper a prayer of Peace for her family as they remember the unending love they received from this amazing woman. 

You will never be forgotten, Terri.

GROWING SEEDS: "Celebrate Failure"

 

 

A few months ago, I read an article by a lady named Sara Blakely.  Sara is best "known" for inventing Spanx; a female undergarment that takes our natural "rolls" and gives the illusion of a woman's idea of perfection.  Yea, this is probably news to you men, but my bet is, most every woman reading this either has a Spanx in her drawer or wants one. 

Sara's article was on Failure.  Celebrating Failure to be more exact.  Captivating topic seeing as Spanx generates more than $240 million in sales each year.  But she tells an interesting story....a story that we should tell our kids as we load up their backpacks for school on Monday....our spouse as they head out the door to a job they don't like....and to ourselves.  I, like most of you, have had a great deal of failures in my life, but when we pause and think back on that failure, many times we can see the "good" two steps ahead that wouldn't have happened if not for the failure.  I'd like to share a little bit of her wisdom with you today:

"Growing up, my Father used to ask my brother and me at the dinner table what we failed at that day.  Which was so interesting....he'd actually celebrate it.  And he'd actually be disappointed if I didn't have something that I'd failed at.

So I can remember saying, "Dad! Dad!  I tried out for this and I was horrible!" And he would actually high-five me and say, "Congratulations, way to go!"  And what it did was just reframe my definition of failure.  Failure, for me, became not trying...versus the outcome.  My Dad would encourage me that anytime something didn't go the way I expected it to, I should write down where the hidden gifts were and what I got out of it, and I started realizing that in everything there was some amazing nugget that I wouldn't have wanted to pass up.  Once you redefine Failure and realize that failure is just not trying, then life opens up to you in so many ways."

Friends, Sara was taught that one of Satan's most powerful tools in his arsenol is the Fear of Failure...a fact we should teach each of our children and ourselves.  But we have an even more powerful tool; we have the power within us to Celebrate Failure. 

Take that, Satan!

GROWING SEEDS: "What On Earth Are You Doing For Heavens Sake?"

 

 

We are confronted by an “either-or”;

either we love God,

or we love earthly goods."

(Dietrich Bonhoeffer)

Funny the things we remember as a kid.  For some reason, I still remember what my older brother's high school response was when the yearbook editor asked him, "What do you want to be when you graduate?".  His answer?  A Millionaire.

Yes, my brother was counting that future money even before the graduation tassel was moved to the opposite side of his head.  He could see the big house with the nice lawn....the sports car in the garage....the cash in his pocket.  His goal in life was to be a millionaire.

Fast forward 40 years. 

God constantly and persistently tapped him on the shoulder, whispered non-stop in his ear and desperately tried to get his attention.  And what do you know.....it worked! 

He's now 60 and using his work earnings to pay tithe in his own unique way by helping others.  He sends large amounts of his monthly wages to God-centered organizations to help further the Word and keeps only enough to meet his simple needs.  He lives modestly, drives a used car and works long hours.  He's a wonderful man.

He has also discovered that by using his hands as a form of tithe, his spare time can be better served by serving meals to the homeless at a downtown Dallas shelter.  There's always a stack of $10 Walmart gift cards in his center console to hand out to those in need who cross his path....

.....and he realizes he will never be a millionaire. 

Because he chose something "better" than being a millionaire.  He chose a life of Giving instead of a life of Taking.  He chose to serve instead of being served, and he chose GOD instead of his original goal of GREED. 

I tell you this because I believe we ALL struggle with wanting our "treasures" here on earth.  The financial security, the "things" around us that bring us comfort, and we wrongly and quietly believe they will provide us the joy that God cannot.  But it's an illusion, my friends.  It's a mask the enemy has placed over a HUD home to make it look like a mansion. 

"The things of this earth will grow strangely dim"

My brother taught me the journey is so much better when we lighten our load....when we replace the burden of living for our life here on Earth for the forever life in Heaven. 

"A person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God."

Luke 12:21