Day 22 - The Preacher Blogs

My apologies before you read for the lack of eloquence tonight as my wife has given me (Jason) this responsibility for day 22.

Today began early with a return trip to Southern Dental in Carrollton.  Our appointment was for 7am so we arrived about 6:45 and waited in the lobby with my now new friend from Cuba- who introduced himself as follows:

"Hey!  Do you speaka da englas?  Well Me very little!  I from Cuba- my wife over dere- she Spani- You probably never understand me"

So it was me, a Cuban his Spaniard wife and a Ukrainian in the Lobby at 6:45- At this point I'm thinking I should have been more on time!  Denys was mostly asleep and my Cuban friend was sharing his disgust with Obama (that I understood as it crosses all language barriers).  As everyone arrived I was invited to go back with Denys and sit right in front of his chair.  I love Denys and was glad to be there with him...however I am not a fan of dentist office noises- especially the drill!  I've never seen it from that angle however and am almost certain that I will not cry the next time I sit in the chair now that I realize it is not an 18 volt Dewalt with a 3/8 in bit

I do still here the noise in my mind and it creeps me out.

Denys however could not have been more calm.  Two cavities filled and one old filling fixed with no Novocaine!  Way to go Denys.  (I asked for some and was rejected)

Thanks be to our God for His servants!  The Doctors Mr. and Mrs. Drew donated their time and service for Denys.  That's right- no cost!  I tried to pay and expressed that people had given us money for this expense however I was told to spend the money on Denys and to keep them informed as to Denys' future. THANK YOU DREW FAMILY!!!

Let me say if you are looking for a dentist- try this place.  If you are not looking for a dentist try this place.  Yes they blessed us and Denys, but more importantly they loved on Denys as well as provided extremely professional service (not to mention they are in a really cool historical house!)

The rest of the day included a trip to MiMi's for chicken dumplings (everybody say Yeah!) and ice cream, oatmeal pies, apple pies, rice crispy treats..... the list goes on and on- it was MiMi's

It was so good to see Mamaw up and about showing glimpses of her old self again.  Thanks for your prayers on her behalf.

The afternoon featured bicycle riding in the yard and a special appearance by Papa Jim who carried Jonah, Millie and Denys across the road to ride the bikes on the track.  They loved it- however Denys was a bit disobedient on the way back across the street and rode his bike instead of pushing as instructed by Papa (and did not look for cars).  I understand that a death threat from Papa Jim translates to most any language including Ukrainian so he got the message never to do that again.

Next Tuesday is looming- pray for us but mostly pray for the will of the Almighty in Denys' life.  We want him to know Christ and live out his purpose.  We want him to have a forever family

If God is God . . .

This morning I read a new blog written by a dear friend from college. I was excited to see that she is now blogging because she is rather a gypsy and difficult to track. In fact, I don’t know that I’ve seen her since leaving Athens nearly twelve years ago. Interestingly, she is also using blogging to help develop discipline in her life. As you well know I began this blog with the same goal and I am thrilled to see how she will use this challenge. I am greatly encouraged that I am not the only female nearing her mid-thirties who struggles with discipline!

As she progressed through her post I was disheartened to see revealed her belief that the lives of humanity would be more full and fulfilling if we opened ourselves to “The Voice.” My friend goes on to describe this voice as an inner guide that will lead to happiness and prosperity if only we would take the time to listen. Though I want to chalk this up to Jiminy Cricket singing, “Always let your conscience be your guide,” she takes the definition of this voice one step further and permits this voice any number of names including, but not limited to: inner wisdom or connection to the life force, intuition, the divine, the great spirit, the universal intelligence, God.

Now guys, I love this sweet friend and I am certainly not knocking her attempt at a better life. I think there are entirely too many of us, myself included, who live life too safely and miss out on the adventure and abundance that is freely offered to us. I also know many people who claim this Deepak Chopra-style of religion and are completely satisfied to be guided by their inner goodness to a life in which they claim fulfillment. This voice is she is seeking to find can be one or more of the many things she named or something completely different and lacking a name, but it cannot be any of those things and also be God.

You see, by definition if there is a GOD then there is no other god. If there is an absolutely powerful creator-being in the universe he cannot and would not have created something as powerful as himself. A belief in a definite God does not allow for a belief in lesser beings or pseudo-gods that can also be omnipotent, omniscient guides. Sure, you are free (especially here in the USA) to believe what you want to and define God by whatever definition you so choose. But if you are honest and truthful at some point you must come to the question – If there is a God, a true GOD, how does he define himself?

And dear friends, this is nearly the entire reason, concise and definite, I believe in One True God and I believe that God is indeed the God of the Bible. The God of scripture has defined himself clearly and declared himself knowable to a dark and wicked humanity (in whom he has stated there is nothing good – certainly not anything worth seeking to follow). There is no other god in the universe claiming absolute truth and, if God is God, shouldn’t he have a corner on that market? I will be the first to admit that our Americanized, antiseptic Christianity has done the One True God few favors in helping the world understand who he is. The last hundred years have found churches to be social halls filled with brain-dead drones rather than gatherings of believers excited and changed by the understanding of what God has revealed about himself. But, because he is God, he has chosen to awaken an entire generation to the understanding that we don’t have to guess and decide for ourselves who God is; he has clearly revealed himself in scripture. We just need to take the time to investigate what he has revealed and not wallow in what we think we know or someone in a pulpit has told us we should believe.

Tonight I won’t go in to the veracity of the scriptures and how they have proven themselves truthful and trustworthy throughout history. I just wanted to take a moment to ask you to think about how you are defining God and what you are calling a god. Are you wasting your life worshiping an idol of your own imagination you call God; who is comfortable and loving, but lacking in every other attribute the Bible claims of the One True God? If you are searching for a god who can indeed make your life fulfilled and fulfilling look closely at what you give credence and what the gods you choose to follow are claiming. If your findings point toward anything other than a God who has defined himself in absolute truth, absolute power and absolute authority I would sincerely question any claim to god-ness made.