ATTN: All Saints of God! MAN YOUR BATTLE STATIONS!

Last week my pastor used the example of a luxury cruise liner vs a battleship to explain the expectations many people have of church.

On a luxury cruise line you tend to get to do what you want, when you want, and how you want...any time you want...and you have people to wait on you left and right. At no point to you have any weights of responsibility. (Not that I know this from personal experience, mind you, but I would definitely be up to doing some personal research on the matter!)

In stark contrast, I have been upon the military's USS Texas Battleship in the Houston Bay. There was nothing "beautiful" about the ship. It was the most awful color of gray I have even seen. But it was HUGE. (at least to the eyes of a 9 year old!) I sat in the seat of the automatic gunnery on the top deck, I lay down on the cold and hard "cot" in the smallest of confined compartments in the "brig". If there one thing that was clear...even to a 9 year old, was that this ship was about BUSINESS not PLEASURE.

The USS TEXAS is the last of the battleships, patterned after HMS Dreadnought, that participated in World War (WW) I and II. She was launched on May 18, 1912 from Newport News, Virginia. When the USS TEXAS was commissioned on March 12,1914, she was the most powerful weapon in the world, the most complex product of an industrial nation just beginning to become a force in global events.

The analogy of the luxury cruise liner and the battle ship stayed with me all week. And Oh yes! I must tell you how HUGE the anchor was on that battleship!! OH MY!!

Our church has been going through an "awakening" or a revival of sorts. We have entered a season of warfare that is keenly felt! You leave with a sense of urgency and determination. When the prayer chain e-mails come to the inbox you feel the call to arms on behalf of your fellow troup members-- you engage in battle- front line battle. Without a doubt...we know we are in the throws of a spiritual war.

As I was thinking about the fact that "we battle not with flesh and blood but with powers, rulers and principalities"... my memory drew me back to my college days when I was a huge Carman junkie! That man could just tell a story that would stick with you for a lifetime!

As pastor was talking about the battleship, I could hear a line from Carman's song Revival in the Land run through my mind...."Attention all saints of God! Man your battle stations!!"

If I can get the you tube video to link up here, I'd like to share one of my favorite Carman songs with you!

Looks like you will have to go to this link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UoBS3bREBaQ&feature=related

Dawn

In search of the Anchor that Holds

I woke up early this morning. That is a rare thing for this work-a-holic insomniac who likes to burn the midnight oil. I woke up with a song on my heart.

Have you ever woke yourself up singing in your head?? Then all day long that song is STUCK in your head? Depending on the song, I sometimes wonder if that could be the whisper of God speaking directly to our spirit.

This morning I woke up with this song running through my heart and mind:

MIGHTY TO SAVE (by Hillsong Australia)

Everyone needs compassion
A love that's never failing
Let mercy fall on me
Everyone needs forgiveness
A kindness of a Savior
The hope of nations

Savior
He can move the mountains
My God is Mighty to save
He is Mighty to save
Forever
Author of salvation
He rose and conquered the grave
Jesus conquered the grave

So take me as You find me
All my fears and failures
Fill my life again
I give my life to follow
Everything I believe in
Now I surrender

Shine your light and let the whole world see
We're singing for the glory of the risen King...Jesus

I have to admit, with all the songs that have ever been stuck in my head, this tops the list! You have to agree that it sure beats, "this is the song that never ends, and goes on and on my friend...". I think all parents would agree!

So back to waking up early with a song on my heart...

I went and made some coffee, grabbed my Bible and sat down at the dining room table to read. Recently I shared that I have felt lost, sort of drifting away into nothingness, and emotionally disconnecting and distancing myself from people. My one prayer this morning was "God, help me find that anchor!!"

I really felt drawn to the book of Ephesians this morning. The book of spiritual warfare...that sounded exactly like prescription I needed! Antibiotics have nothing on scripture when it comes to killing an infection of the heart and soul.

After years of reading scripture, unless I am in deep STUDY mode, I tend to just skim over the long lists of genealogies, and the basic introductions and move to the heart of the message.

But this morning was different. I was absolutely DRAWN to how Paul introduced himself to the Ephesian church. How he acknowledged their faithfulness...and right there in the first chapter introduction was the ANCHOR I was looking for. It was something I have always known, but I sure needed the refreshing reminder!!

Ephesians 1:22-23
...and He has put all things under His feet and has appointed Him [Jesus] the universal and supreme head of the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all [for in that body lives the full measure of Him who makes everything complete, and who fill everything everywhere with Himself.]

What is the ANCHOR? The church. The body of Christ. The people God himself has surrounded you with in a local body of believers. His promise to us is that the FULL MEASURE of Himself is found within those people through spiritual gifts and the ministry of the Holy Spirit.

No wonder the Bible tells us not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together!

Confession: physically I have not forsaken my local body of believers. But emotionally, I have secluded my heart behind walls thicker than the walled defenses of Jericho. Forgive me! For that I am truly sorry and I will work hard to overcome that emotional barrier.

Love, Dawn

Spiritually Lost...

.
Have you ever felt yourself drifting away from the things that anchor you and give you roots?

Mentally....emotionally....just drifting away?

Recently I have felt as if I have been drifting. In an attempt to get re-anchored, I found myself really pressing into prayer. With motherly concern for my children, I had a specific burden to be praying for them...deeper and with more ferver...with passion. I was grasping at straws when I went and bought a book called Prayers That Availeth Much for Mothers.

I was looking for something that could help me identify specific areas to pray about that may not have come to my mind concerning my children.

I started reading the introduction.

Thats when it happened...

The writer began using the scriptures on which she was basing her book and ideas...and before I realized what I was doing, the mental conversation in my head began...

"...blah, blah, blah...yada, yada, yada...."

WAKE UP CALL!!!

Did I just "...blah, blah, blah...yada, yada, yada...." the SCRIPTURE??

I sat the book down and began a real heart-to-heart with my Father God.

(This is probably a NO BRAINER... but I probably should have started there as opposed to some extra-biblical book's opinion!)

The more I prayed and confessed of my drifting condition, I strongly felt the Lord keep telling me, "DISCERN...DISCERN...DISCERN."

I picked up the book again and re-read what had sent me into the pit of sarcasm so quickly.

I went from thinking that I was completely spiritually LOST to thinking that maybe...just maybe... the context in which she was using the scripture was just THAT repulsive to me. Maybe it was discernment that just rejected what she was saying? (...and a gentle nudge that I should probably work on my use of sarcasm!)

I will quote the book in blue so as not to confuse it with scripture (red letters), or my opinions in normal black text....

There are many different types of prayer, such as a prayer of thanksgiving and praise, the prayer of dedication and worship, and the prayer that changes things (not God). All prayer involves time and fellowship with God.

WHAT!!??!! Back up a minute!! The PRAYER that changes things..NOT GOD?? You've got to be kidding me!

Prayer, apart from GOD, changes nothing...the GOD who hears our prayers changes everything!

Why in the world would someone go to such lengths as to actually spell it out that prayer (not God) changes things?

The prayer, in and of itself, is just words of expression from our hearts. In faith we offer those prayers to God and He responds to our prayers....which brings me to my next beef with the book!

Again, quoting from the book:

In 1 Timothy 2 we are admonished and urged that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be offered on behalf of all men (1 tim 2:1 AMP). Prayer is our responsibility. Prayer must be the foundation of every Christian endeavor. Any failure is a prayer failure.

Excuse me??

Be angry and sin not....Be angry and sin not....Be angry and sin not....Be angry and sin not.... ok, I needed to meditate on that one before I opened my mouth without my brain in gear!

Any failure is a prayer failure.

So any prayer that is not answered just the way we prayed it, is a failure to pray correctly on our part? Or does not God have the authority to tell His children NO? or wait?

That just reeks of a two year old throwing a tantrum and demanding their own way, all in Jesus' name, of course. It reminds me of a song we used to sing in church a long time ago that that just sent ice through my veins... the song proclaimed, "Answer us! Answer us! Send your fire, send your rain, Answer us!"

Again, it all brought back visions of a spiritual temper tantrum to my mind. Besides, if we are demanding God to send the fire and rain, is it possible that we are truly not asking in the right spirit anyway??

The book of James ,the Bible says, "You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures."

It is possible for us to ask something of God and get no response. That is not a problem of prayer or a failure of prayer...that is God being merciful and giving us opportunity to see the selfishness of our own hearts and the wrong motives we entertain...and the chance to repent and pray in accordance to God's will-- not our own.

I really have a hard time when I see people get abused spiritually with a name-it-claim-it, blab-it-grab-it theology. It really turns God into a puppet on a string who dances at our commands. It seems the lines of authority get confused in that kind of theology...and nothing could be further from the truth. God does not answer to us. He responds to us. He responds sometimes with a yes, sometimes with a no...and often with WAIT.

When we start demanding that God answer us, we may find ourselves perfectly humbled before Him as we place our hands over our mouths and LISTEN to Him for a change. Brad always says that the Bible tells us to humble ourselves before the Lord...because if HE has to humble us it wont be pretty!

OK...I will climb off my soap box for now. I just needed to rant.

I think this all hit me at a hard time this week. I had one horrific doctor's appointment this week. I always wondered if the day would come when a doctor would start a countdown on my life expectancy. And it did.

The doctor explained to me that my body is at an extreme standoff with itself. (no schitzo jokes, Tami!!).

The Lyme disease has really damaged my thyroid, pituitary gland and the hypothalmus...all hormone regulating, necessary parts for the body to metabolize food and my medications.

My metabolic process is NOT working. That means my body is not fully receiving the benefits of the Lyme treatments because my body is not metabolizing the meds...and the food metabolic issue is leading to weight gain (oh joy thats what I need!)

She and my Lyme doc feel we need to approach this with a 2 tiered approach. They suggested a bariatric weight loss surgery to drop some quick weight so that will drastically change the metabolic rate and possibly kick it into gear so that the antibiotic regimin will be effective against the bacterial infection of Lyme.

I guess it is like giving a car a jump start with jumper cables.

She said if we don't get the metabolic standoff cleared up, I will not be here this time next year.

So the medical opinion is out... they give me 12 months to live if we cannot get the metabolic system working again.

So I am free-falling into the hands of God...there are no more capable hands than HIS.

Insurance will not cover the surgery.

So I am trusting God to heal me or provide a way where there seems to be no way... knowing full well he may say yes, no, or WAIT.

In the mean time... we are doing what we can physically by starting an exercise program and changing eating habits...but both docs have little hope it will help since the infection is in the metabolic system...they emphatically are pushing surgery.

Between the insurance company and a God who answers prayers, I tell you where my faith is placed!!

God alone is ABLE!

Sorry for rambling all over the place today! It just aggrivates me when people place their faith in prayer rather than in the GOD who answers prayer. We should be careful to place our faith and trust in GOD himself...our prayers are nothing without HIM!

Blessings,
Dawn