I woke up today and found that everything has changed in the world. The mass shootings in Orlando, Florida had occurred while I slept. Over 100 people had been shot. 50 are dead and they say the 54 in the hospital are in critical condition. They are expecting more to die. Between 1935 and 1945, Nazi Germany killed over 50 million people and over 80 million Germans died. The whole world became incised and fought a world war. Today if this story last a week in the news, it will be surprising. What has happened? Why don’t people rise up against this? How many disasters has this country gone through since 2000? There are natural and man-made disasters. And they are growing in intensity. Right after Hurricane Katrina, a few brave pastors began to say it was the hand of God. Almost the entire religious community came against them, saying that this wasn’t true. I will tell you a truth. It was the hand of God in all the disasters. And you wonder why they are happening? I don’t wonder I know why they are happening. Right after 9/11, the churches in this country were filled looking for an answer. It lasted for about 3 months until the US Government became their savior. Everyone thought that their problems could be solved with guns and bullets. That is what the terrorists believe. In the past 10 years, people have been leaving the church because they didn’t find the answer to their questions. If anybody should have the answer, it is the church of Jesus Christ, the people of God. Why isn’t it so? It is time for the people of God to repent of their sins and ask God to renew and restore them. Because this is the only answer that has lasting results.

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How far back can you remember? Can you remember when you were 5 years old? I can remember kindergarten. I was 4 years old. I can still see my teachers in the first few grades. My journey actually begin the day I was born. I can’t remember anything that far back, but it started then. As I grew older, I have a picture of wanting to be a fireman or police. I followed my older brother and cousins into football. But after getting run over several times, football wasn’t for me. I was too small for sports, so I worked at odd jobs. When I reached high school, I had a paper route. I kept it for all through high school. I had a beautiful singing voice and used it all through school. As I turned 13 years old, my voice went from soprano to baritone. But it still does work. I catch myself singing songs out loud. People look but I don’t care. A young friend just graduated from high school. I told her about my graduation. After the principle handed out the diplomas. We began walking down off the platform. I had a frown on my face. My mother tried to get me to smile. But it had hit me that my life was changing. It would no longer be the same. And that journey frightened me. I wanted to go to college. I thought I was all grown up. I stayed busy in college. If fact too busy. I made mistakes and it cost me plenty. But I was on that journey and I was going to finish it. This is where the part of my journey cost me plenty turned into pain and bitterness. In all of my journey there was and still is an unseen hand directing my life. Have you ever had your name called at a great distance? You can hear your name but not know where it is coming from. I am glad God kept calling my name until I answered the call.

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When I was in college, I joined the US Air Force ROTC. The first 2 years are like basic training that everyone receives in the military. Then in your Junior and Senior years, you go to Officer Candidate School. Before you can move on to OCS, you have to pass the written exam. It is a standard military test. But in the Air Force you have to be able to recognize planes in the air. The test showed planes at different angles. You were to tell whether or not they were coming or going. This part of the test I failed because of my depth perception and I had some night blindness. This eliminated me from the Officer corps. I later on enlisted in the Air Force and serve 6 years. My friend went on to become a jet pilot. He served in Vietnam and was a decorated veteran. I still have problems with depth perception. What is funny is that I wear glasses. I am farsighted. I can see for miles down the road, but can’t read a book at 2 feet. When I am driving I can spot a police car before their radar sees me. My sons were always amazed at that. I can read signs that are over 1 mile away. It is funny how my eyes work. Yet for years I couldn’t see the signs of the time that were in front of my face. All I could see was the pain in my heart. It clouded my life to the point that it blocked out the world. But more importantly it blocked out God’s attempt to rescue me from myself. God never stopped trying to reach me. Until finally He got through to me. It took almost 30 years to do so. But I am thankful that God never stopped trying. I know that if I had not responded to God, I would be dead today. Take a step back and look at what is around you. And you will be surprised at what you see. Because God has already been there. Stop and recognize your redeemer for who He is.

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I used to defend myself with a wicked tongue. I could slice a people in two with my tongue. Most people wouldn’t recognize me before I met God and wouldn’t want to be around me. I had a bitter and angry heart that would spill out of my mouth. It was almost as if I was crazy. I know I hurt many people that I didn’t want to. But I couldn’t stop it. I felt that I had to defend myself. I thought that most people were out to hurt me. I wasn’t alone either. I have run across people who were just like me. If it had not been for God’s grace, I don’t think I would be alive today. It was a death spiral. All I ever wanted was someone to accept me for me, warts and all. I was introduced to a man who accepted me. He made no pretense that I had to change before being accepted. I recognized Him almost immediately. Of course, this man is Jesus. He had known me from birth. He also had been talking to me all along. His love for me became apparent. That is what drew me to Him. Once, I had accepted Him, all the hurt, bitterness and angry seem to fall away. As I walked with Him, peace gripped my heart, where hurt was before. The funny part about it all was that I didn’t have to defended myself anymore. I didn’t have to worry about what the world had to say about me. It didn’t make any difference. There is the real reason why, because, My defence is of God, which saveth the upright in heart. And all you have to do is to turn around, face God and ask Him to forgive you.

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I agreed to go to my business associate’s church. We arrived about 10 o’clock, one Sunday morning in September. There were about 500 people in this church. Everyone seemed friendly. I shook hands with several members before the services started. It was wall to wall people. I don’t think they could have put any more people in this church. The service began. Everyone began to sing songs led by a group on the stage. I started looking around at all the people. It was interesting that everyone was paying attention as the songs were sung. I have heard people sing songs in my church. But I never saw so much intensity or I should say sincerity. No one was interested in what the person next to them thought. They were singing to God and to Him alone. When the singing stopped, everyone sat down in silence. The preacher came up to the podium and made some announcements. Then he began to preach. I watch the people as he preached. I wanted to see if it was’t real. I wasn’t going to commit myself to anything that was real. I was so tired of fake messiahs. They had drained the life out of me long enough. As I watched the people, the preacher stop in the middle of his sermon and said, hello. I used this expression and never heard anyone else use this term. I turned toward the preacher and heard out loud, what more do you what. I looked around to see who was talking to me. And no one was even looking at me. From that point on, I know that my prayers were answered. I had found what was real. I also found the peace of knowing that I had been looking for all of my life. My friend asked if I wanted to go up to meet the preacher after the service. I said yes and my world change forever.

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Before I knew who I was, I stumbled around this world like a drunk man. I didn’t know where I was going or what I was doing. And of course, I had no peace of mind. It almost drove me crazy. The worse of it all was the loneliness. Because I didn’t know who I was, no one wanted to know me or be around me. This led to a lot of anger and bitterness. That was one reason why people didn’t want to be around me. But as I moved forward everything accumulated into a big mess. I don’t know if they just took pity on me or what. But 2 men invited my brother and I to join their business. One of them was a manager of a local cafeteria. We would meet every weekday morning about 1 hour before the business opened. We would have coffee and talk. I would usually arrive before my brother. When I got a cup of coffee, I would sit and listen. These 2 men would talk to each other about what Jesus was doing in their lives. They never directed their testimonies at me. But they spoke about God for me. I listen for almost 3 months. Then they asked me one day if I would go to church with them. I said yes. I wanted to see for myself what was going on. Their church was about 500 people. Everybody was polite and shook my hand. I wanted to know if this was really real. Or was all these claims just smoke and mirrors. I kept my mouth shut and listen and looked. It was the strangest church I had ever been in. But that wasn’t going to stop me from finding out. And boy did I find out.

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All our lives, we want to dwell in safety. Our parents provided some safety. Our community to some extent and even our city we live in has provided safety. But in this world of violence, more and more people have told me that they don’t feel safe. It is an unnerving feeling.  You become afraid and that fear begins to control your life. Soon, fear has complete control of your life. And thus, it brings violence into life, in an effort to be safe. As King David said, why does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord God for He shall never slumber or sleep. There is a children’s song about King David, it says that David could run through a battle and never be hurt. God promise him that he would not see death until God had established his kingdom and he had a family. David became fearless. The enemy army feared David. With the world going crazy, we look for someone or something to make us feel safe. Unfortunately, too many people look to man for help. There isn’t a man in this world that can provide safety to anyone. Beware of the man that says he will bring peace to the world. There is only one person who has the power and will to bring safety back to this world. His name is Jesus. And all you have to do is to ask for it. And you will receive love, joy and peace. As King David said in the psalms, I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, LORD, only makest me dwell in safety.

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The bible says not to make a vow lightly. It says that if you make a vow and don’t keep it you are worse than a heathen. It also says a good name is worth more than riches. The bible also says in James 5:12 “But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath: but let your yea be yea; and your nay, nay; lest ye fall into condemnation.” What the bible is talking about is being honorable. It is showing us that we should live this way for our own conscience sake. How many times have you taken short cuts to achieve your goals? And those short cuts made you feel bad about what you were doing. That is your conscience hurting. Any person can destroy their own consciousness. Usually it gets cut up a little piece at a time. So you don’t see all of it at once. But when you do see it, it can grieve your soul unto death. I have seen people get sick and die because of this. People who are not religious do live honorable. Because it is satisfying to your being. I have always said you do what is right because it is right and not because it is convenient. This is living honorably. I also found that the weight of not living honorably can crush you like a boulder. It happen to me. So I find that you can’t live without honor.

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My father went into Normandy on D-Day +1. He was a combat engineer. He followed the troops all the way to Germany. He had a picture of himself and his brother looking out the window at Berchtesgaden. My dad fought in the battle for Alaska first. Then fought in North Africa. And finally landed in Normandy at D-Day+1. When he came home, he never wanted to talk about his time in the army. He had seen too much. He wouldn’t even allow guns in the house. When he came home, his old employer offered him a job in Bermuda. Mom said she wanted to go. But dad said he had traveled the world and seen enough for a life time. Dad wanted to go to college to be an engineer. He started but his first son came along. He left college and began to work to support his family. Even though his dream was college and career as an engineer, he never went back. He worked in the Post Office until he retired. Then mom and dad began traveling around the country in their motorhome. Mom and dad both believed that traveling gave you an education. The kind that you couldn’t get anywhere else. When we were all at home we would travel across the country every summer. I never saw my father complain about not getting his way in life. He lived his life for his family and did what was necessary. I did see him get on his knees every night and pray. Often when I would look at the newspaper after my father read it, there would be engineering problem worked out on the pages. Honor and Integrity can’t be taught like math or science. It has to be learned by example. My father was that example to me.

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Yesterday I was talking to the young man that cuts the grass in my yard. We had a good conversation. He has his own business of mowing lawns. I found out that he was in the army, a veteran of Iraq. Not only a US Army veteran, but he was in the 101^st Airborne, an infantryman. He also was in Iraq the same time my second son was there the first time. He told me that his squad was in a Humvee and ran over an IED. 2 of the troopers were killed. He was burned over 50% of his body and had shrapnel in him. They medevac’d him out to Germany and finally to Ft. Sam in San Antonio. When he arrived in San Antonio, his wife came to visit him with her boyfriend. He divorced her while he continued to recover. The army eventually retired him from the service. He settled in our area. He met a young widow with 3 young girls. He married her and settled down here. He told me that his oldest girl just graduated from high school. He was so proud of her. He doesn’t need to work because of his retirement. But he said for his own sake and his family, he is working. I teased him and said, yea you got to pay for 3 wedding. We laughed. But he wasn’t going to stop just because things went wrong in his life. He has honor and integrity that comes out of him as he lives his life to the fullest. I am glad I have gotten to know this young man. I just wanted to shout, hooah.

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