Wednesday Word: Feed My Lambs

It’s another Wednesday Word. This feature has been the most liked on the blog. I don’t know if it’s the video or my commentary or both. Whatever it is, I’m glad it’s touching you. Let’s get to the video:

Wow. You know, I needed that video. I’ve told you my stories of how I tend to run away from God’s calling on my life to serve in various areas of my church. Aaron here talks about Peter denied being with Jesus. In so many ways, we as Christians tend to hide the fact that we are His followers.

Why?

Fear of being ridiculed. Fear of being rejected.

We need to stop.

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Wednesday Word: Finish Your Race

Another Wednesday Word. We’ll start with the video and then we’ll talk about it:

Good stuff, there. There’s a quote I’ve seen somewhere. Lord knows I don’t know the exact saying of it but I got the gist. A lot of times, when we quit, we don’t realize how close we are to finishing.

The father helping his son finish the race reminds me of Philippians 4:13. We can do all things through Christ who gives us strength. This includes running our race. We have the ultimate resource: God. He can help us with anything. On our own, we’re not going to be able to do much. God knows this and He’s made Himself constantly available.

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Dante vs God Part 2

Welp, here we go again. This one is a little more humorous. God is funny sometimes.

Round Two: Christmas Cantata 2013

If you are new here, I’m sorry but, I’ve hit on a lot of details already. My regular readers are probably ready to decimate me if I go into it again.

Last year, the show went badly for me. Emotional, mental, and physical breakdown all came together that Saturday.

People tell me all the time that I’m the man for the job. I disagree strongly. I believe that there’s plenty who can do so much better than what I’ve done. I spent 2013 gagging at the thought of going into the flames again. Next thing I know, there’s a new director and new script that looked rather complex. Still, this new director came at me hard. For one, she told me of quite a few people that recommended me for the job of lighting.

See, when I heard of the new director and new script, I wasn’t going to volunteer myself. She was going to have to track me down or get somebody else. She must’ve asked people who could handle the lighting and they said me. Great.

So yeah, I wasn’t going to get involved unless she asked me. And, even then, I wasn’t going to just jump in like it was nothing. In August, she started making moves. One of the moves was to take the miming team, which was a bunch of teens and some kids and axed their usual part in the previous cantatas. My sister is in the group so I was aware. Also, Nia is part of it too.

By the way, I have a fear of mimes so hearing that they wouldn’t appear didn’t kill me inside. But, the church absolutely loves them. Whatever.

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Dante vs God Part 1

Before we start, this isn’t a headline ploy to drag you here. This year, I’ve literally called God out on a few things. Considering how great and powerful God is, this probably isn’t the best thing to do. But, I’ve been doing it big time this year. There’s a few things I’ve challenged God on. Let’s take a look.

Round One: Foodbank

I mentioned how I finally found my role at Foodbank. I briefly mentioned how I told God that I wasn’t gonna go back unless certain things happened. Okay, so, I’ve gotten used to talking to the clients at foodbank who sit in our “waiting room” waiting for their number to be called so they could get their food. Right now, it’s me, and a couple of…er…older gentlemen. One guy tends to engage the crowd while the other does this sort of sermon. Me? I always tend to do a little of both. I’m all about the future. And I understand that, at some point, I’ll have to step in as the head…I don’t even know what to call it.

But, like I said before in my original post, going to foodbank is a pain more times than not. And, a lot of times, I just go there and sit there while the other two guys handle it. There have been a few times where I’ve been the only one so I would step in to handle the “service”. As usual, the rubber band that I am, there was eventually one incident that set me off. See, one of the clients ended up shoving one of our volunteers in their quest for food. The victim? A ten year old girl. This girl just so happened to be Nia, one of my assistants for the cantata. I’ve grown attached to her so hearing about this hurt. She’s 11 now so time has passed but, it was then that I was ready to tear heads off. Considering that both of my little sisters volunteer there, I considered what would happen if some fool pushed my sister.

And it was then that I had to call it a day. See, I used to help people carry their food to their cars. It got tiring because they would do this towards me. They also played mental games. My favorite was how they would ask me if they were supposed to get meat of a canned good or type of produce. For the record, we prepare each bag the same. Each thing has the same stuff. Exceptions? We do give extra for families of the larger size. Also, seniors get a little something every once in a while. There’s a program for them that I forget what it’s called but it’s something from the state. Other than that, you get the same stuff. Some people try to get over though. No problem with that; I expect them to do that. Just don’t drag me along for the ride. They would turn to me as if I’m supposed to storm the castle on their behalf for them to get something. I never went for it. I always claimed ignorance. Whether I knew or not didn’t matter.

Anyway, I had to get away from it and the other stuff. So, I went to the other side. And it’s kinda cool. They are a different people on the other side, which amazes me. I’m the only person to have done both sides so I see both sides of the people. They are so nice and calm on the waiting side. It’s amazing. But, still, I was on that side when I heard about the shove. So, I called it a day. I tried to convince my mom not to let my sisters go back. No avail. Me? I was out.

But God was like “Nah”. I knew what I had to do. But I didn’t want to. I’m Jonah like that. So, I decided to hand it over to God. Here was my offer to Him: I’ll come back when I need to. If there’s a need, then I’ll step in.

What I am about to say might put God in a bad light, especially if you’re not a big fan of His.

One of the gentlemen had a stroke shortly after my offer. Now, some might say God did this. Me? Nope. I figured God was letting me know that I was needed because He saw the stroke coming. I just have to be ready because both of these gentlemen are…over 60…ish. And, males in this country don’t hit 70 on average. Just saying. Anyway, I embraced this incident and go to foodbank as a way of training myself for my eventual emergence as the head…guy…or something.

The key for me is that God wants me there. I think I know why now. Oh, I’m still Jonah about it. I usually go there kicking and screaming. But, I have to be ready to do God’s will. I have to suck it up and move on. If God wants me to do this, I will.

So, that’s part one. I’m not going to let you know how many there are yet.

Daily Good News 35: Jesus Is Born

You can’t possibly be surprised I went this road, are you? This is one of the best things to happen to the world. Not all of you agree with me, and perhaps are seriously considering hitting the backspace button. That’s fine, but, if you don’t know the story of Christmas, at least read this story.

Ah yes, Jesus being born is good news for all of us. It was the start of a plan to save us all from hell. Sounds good to me. Again, hit the link if you haven’t. I’ll leave you with this:

Isaiah9-6

 

Have a great day.

-DALANEL

Daily Good News 32: Blankets for the homeless; Wondergirl inspires her local town.

It’s Friday and this is the start of probably a stressful weekend. I can’t even promise I’ll be posting on Saturday. You already know I don’t post on Sunday. But, I’m gonna fight through it.

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One of those few quotes that make me think. I’ve got a couple of stories for ya.

First, a donation of blankets will keep some homeless people a little more warm this winter:

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