God & The Stryper Concert.

My brother and I went to see Stryper in concert this past September. My mom gave us the tickets as a Christmas gift. So we had to wait nine months to be able to use them. It was a really long nine months, let me tell you. As I opened the box that my ticket was in, I felt the urge to see if I could get into the venue before the show to pray for & with the band. That's it, just pray. Wasn't looking for autograph's, free tickets, photos or anything else. I had this feeling all the way up to the day of the show. I tried contacting the band. Nothing. I tried contacting their management. Again nothing. Reached out to the venue. You guessed it, nothing. So I'm like "alright God, if you want me to do this, You'll make a way." My brother and I made a plan for the day of the show. It was on a Saturday in St. Charles. Almost our backyard. We decided to get there really early and see what would happen. We walked right into the theater just to see what was going on, we were able to catch some of their sound check. Awesome. They finally kicked us out because they were setting up for the meet and greet. So we went to dinner at the pizza place right across the street. My brother was determined to meet them, in someway, anyway. We finished dinner and then decided to walk around to the back of the theater. There was a van waiting there with a driver-security dude, to take the band back to their hotel before the show. We waited and waited. Finally the band comes spilling out of the back door towards the van. We decide to make a move. We had to go by the van to get into the show anyway. So we started moving that way. As we walked in front of the van the lead singer was sitting in the front seat. He waves to us. We wave back and keep on walking. We get a little way past the van when I take a look back. The side doors are wide open and the guys are there, just chilling. The driver - security dude was nowhere to be found. I turned to keep walking up the sidewalk, when I heard God say "Keven, here is your chance." You wanted this moment, now here it is." So what do you think that I did? Of course I jumped at the chance. God couldn't have made it more perfect. I walk over to them and said hello. You could tell that they were expecting something completely different. An autograph? A picture perhaps? I told them that I am a pastor from just down the road and if I could, I would really like to pray for them. They were all about it. Excited even. I laid my hand on the lead singer, and started praying. I prayed for the band, the show, their guitarist who was ill at the time. I prayed that every note that was played and every word that was sung would point people to Jesus. That was it, simple and to the point. They were very grateful for the prayer. Told them goodbye and then I went on my way. No hidden agenda. Just pray for them and leave. The whole thing was like God saying to me, Isaiah 55:8-9 New Living Translation (NLT)8 “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.9 For just as the heavens are higher than the earth,so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts. I thought that there would be no way that this would ever happen, with nobody ever getting back to me about my inquiry. But God, He made a way! For that I am thankful, for God is good.
P.S. By the way, we caught a Stryper Bible. Gods way of putting an exclamation point on the night.

Lukewarm!

Everyday after work, I go for a 2ish mile walk. I walk around our neighborhood, listening to my Ipod and looking around at the scenery. This time of year is really beautiful with the changing colors of the leaves. Today I came across a tree that was still half green and half orange/redish. I looked at it and thought, "man this tree doesn't know what it wants to do. Stay green, or change colors like the rest." It was like it wasn't sure if it wanted to stay in summer mode, or change into fall mode. It made think about what Jesus said about being lukewarm. Revelation 3:15-16 Living Bible (TLB) 15 “I know you well—you are neither hot nor cold; I wish you were one or the other! 16 But since you are merely lukewarm, I will spit you out of my mouth!" Jesus wants us to be all in, or all out, but not somewhere in the middle. Kind of like some people. They call on The Lord all the time, for everything (HOT). Then you have people who don't call on The Lord at all, thinking that they can do everything themselves (COLD). Then there are the people who bounce back and forth between calling on The Lord only when they need Him, and then leaving Him out of their lives when they think that they don't (LUKEWARM). There are people who come to church occasionally for a few weeks in row, then you don't see them for months at a time. I call those people lukewarm. They're in and then they are out, and then the cycle continues. Jesus wants us to be either hot or cold. He will spit these people out because they are lukewarm. It's almost as if they can not decide if they want to be fully committed to God or not. Kind of like this tree. Half of it looked like it wanted to stay in summer mode, while the other half was getting ready for fall. Can't have it both ways. Same goes for us.

Cherish The Time!

I encountered a father and daughter playing catch softball while walking around our neighborhood tonight. The daughter threw a "wild" one to her dad and it came straight to me. I stopped it, picked it up and threw it back to the dad. That's when God said to me "cherish the moment." Not for me to cherish that moment of returning the softball, but to tell the dad to cherish the moment of playing catch with his daughter. I told the dad that I really miss that. Playing catch with my daughter. You see, she is a junior in college and is not at home any longer. My, how they grow up so quickly. So I started thinking about the things that we used to do together. I used to read to her before bed. The same book every night. I started to skip pages just so I could get through it quicker and be done. Cherish that moment of reading to your child. How I would love to go back and read to her again. No matter how many times she wanted to read the same book, and not skip pages this time. We would watch the same Disney movie over and over and over again. We had to buy the dvd versions because the vhs tapes were wearing out. I can not stand the movie 'Mary Poppins'. But to be able to watch it one more time with her, and not make stupid and dumb comments about it. It was a movie that she loved to watch. Cherish that moment of sitting there, watching your child (children) look at the screen and watch the movie. Oh to play games again, to go the park, push her on the swings, "higher daddy, higher." Chase her around, play hide and seek, or tag. Cherish these moments parents, they will be gone before you know it. Children are a gift from God. Not a nuisance or a bother. May we treat them that way.

Weeping!

This past weekend, my wife and I went down to visit our daughter. On Sunday we were able to attend church with her. From the very first chords of the song 'Holy Spirit' to the last chords of 'The Great I Am', I was weeping the whole time. See, the week before we left for our visit, God did some amazing things in our lives. I mean He is always working in us and through us, but this week was extra blessed. So when the worship band started playing 'The Great I Am', I couldn't help but think back to the previous week and be grateful and thankful for what God had done for us. I have heard this song many times before, in fact it is one of my favorites, but on Sunday, the lyrics really spoke to me and so did God. He kept telling me that "I am the great I AM." I AM your provider. James 1:17 New King James Version (NKJV) 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. We had bought a newer car for our daughter and were delivering it too her. God provided all of the financing, gas and food for our trip. Then He said "I AM your comforter." Philippians 4:19 New King James Version (NKJV)19 And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. He knew that we needed this car, and He gave us comfort that we did the right thing by buying it. "I AM your protector." Psalm 18:2 Good News Translation (GNT)2 The Lord is my protector; he is my strong fortress.My God is my protection,and with him I am safe.He protects me like a shield; he defends me and keeps me safe. A couple of times on our trip, I was almost run off the road by semi-trucks that would swerve into my lane. Thanks be to God, I avoided them every time. Then on the way home we ran into a monsoon. It was raining so hard that we could hardly see. Again, The LORD protected us, and kept us safe. Thank You Jesus! I could go on and on about Him being the Great I AM. No doubt about it. He is greater than anything that I'll (we'll) ever face. He has no equal. He has no rival. He is THE GREAT I AM!!

Corner of the Table.

I was following a friends two year old child out of a room one day at church. She walked out the door and came precariously close to the sharp, pointy edge of a table just outside the door. My friend told me that she knows how to come very close and yet not get hurt. That got me to thinking about people and sinning. How close can they dance on the edge of sin, without really sinning. My thought was, why would you even want to be close to that line. The gray area as it's called. One misstep, or stumble and next thing you know, you are in sin. Why play around? Get as far away as possible. Two steps towards God, are two steps away from sin. The closer you get to God, the farther away you get from sin.

I know the Bible says in Romans 3:23 New King James Version (NKJV)23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

Romans 6:23 New Living Translation (NLT)23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. I don't know about you, but I want to be in the glory of God.

Ephesians 2:4-5 New Living Translation (NLT)4 But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, 5 that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!)

Thank The Lord for His mercy. For giving us life even when we don't deserve it. So why would you still want to walk that close to sin? Where you can die, be removed from God's presence, I choose to walk closer with my God and get further away from sin and all it's consequences. So thank you for the lesson little one. Even though I doubt you even know what you did. God Bless!!

Ode To My Mom!

My mom has always supported me. From the time I was born 51 years ago, till right now, as a grown adult. Everything I have ever done in my life (well most things) my mom has supported me. I have made some pretty dumb decisions or choices I'm sure that she would/did not like. For the most part she has supported me and my brothers. From buying us our first baseball gloves, so we could play catch together. To attending all of our little league games. All of our concerts, plays and whatever else in grade school, she was always there. As we moved up in our baseball system and started traveling to different towns to play ball in, she was there. She had to work, but yet she always found time to make it to our games. She taught me how to drive and then provided a car for me to drive. Playing high school football, she was there. Even though I never played, she would still come and sit there anyway. She would always take on the arduous task of having to wash my grass stained uniform pants. She would listen as I started telling her about girls that I liked, and wanted to ask out. Then listen to me lament about my heartbreak about being turned down by said girls. As I grew into adulthood, she supported me there as well. As I told her I was getting married for the first time, she supported that decision. She even had the wedding at her house, in the basement. As I was going through my divorce, her support was unwavering. She told me that whatever I needed, she would do her best to help me out. Then when I met another woman, and was about to propose, my mom was the first call I made to let her know what I was about to do. Guess what? She supported that as well. Then a few years later, I decided to go ministry school. We all went out for dinner the night I told my mom of my plans. At first she wasn't so sure, but she supported my choice anyway. Her support has always been 100%. Always unwavering and strong. Never judging me or my choices.


She is the best mom in the world. You will never see me go on Jerry Springer, or any of those other trash talk shows complaining about my parents, childhood, or how I grew up. I love my mom and absolutely loved, loved, loved my childhood. We never went hungry. We always had clothes. Always had a roof over our heads and beds to sleep on. We never went without. My mom would sacrifice to make sure that didn't happen.

Deuteronomy 5:16 New Living Translation (NLT)16 “Honor your father and mother, as the Lord your God commanded you.

Mom, I sure hope that I have honored you with the way that I have lived my life. I hope that I have made you proud of the person that I am today. You have loved me un-conditionally all my life. I could not have asked for a better mother. I love you mom!!

God bless you mom!

Little Flashing Lights.

On our docks at work, we have what's called a dock lock. It is a mechanism that will hold the trailer to the dock with a hook. It curves around the trailers bumper to keep it from moving away from the dock. You activate it from inside the building. You push the lock button and a green light will start to flash, letting you know it is okay to enter the trailer. When you push un-lock, a red light will flash indicating do not enter the trailer. If the hook doesn't sense that there is anything there when you push the lock button, and alarm will go off and then you have to push the override button. The trailer is still hooked to the dock, but with both lights flashing, instead of just the green or the red.

So today as we were loading a trailer, I started to stare at the green and red lights flashing on the control board. According to the panel the trailer was both locked and unlocked at the same time. That got me to thinking about God and what He has said about the world. To be in it, but not to be of it.

1 John 2:15 New Living Translation (NLT)Do Not Love This World 15 Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you.

The green light flashing reminded me that I am in the world. Green means go, and be part of the world and take part in its wickedness and sinfulness. The red light means stop. Do not go any farther. Reminding me that I am not supposed to be of the world. God has called me out of the world. To be different than.

Matthew 6:24 New Living Translation (NLT)24 “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other.

The red and green lights flashing simultaneously had me thinking about the above verse. I cannot be both locked and unlocked at the same exact time. For I will hate one (locked) and love the other (unlocked). I would rather be unlocked and free for Christ who died for me and gave me life, than locked into they ways of the world, that lead to death and destruction.

I don't want to have to push the override button to choose Jesus. If there is ever a conflict, Jesus is my choice ALWAYS!!