Thank you hurricane Ike. Not for the destruction that was caused, but by the lessons that are learned. Today there is an article about how the waves and wind unearthed a Civil War era ship that had only been partially uncovered before. Now all 136 feet of it are seen. The history buffs down there are amazed by it. They are all ready studying it and saying that they need to protect it from more damage. They want to haul this thing inside. Wow! All this history was there all along, just buried by sand over time. I think our lives can look the same. We don't like storms in our life. They hurt, rip and tear our lives up. But yet, if we didn't go through them, we wouldn't have the history or the beauty that lies beneath the surface uncovered. So, when you are in a storm, hold on. It may hurt, rip and tear you apart…but, God being who He is has something of beauty for you to see when it is all done.

Massive Hurricane Ike weakened to a Category 1 storm Saturday morning after ravaging southeast Texas and battering the coast with driving rain and ferocious wind gusts as residents who decided too late they should have heeded calls to evacuate made futile calls for rescue.

Some 30 miles inland, storm surge pushing up through Galveston Bay was sending water into a neighborhood near Johnson Space Center where they had made rounds earlier with a bullhorn trying to compel people to leave.

Even before Ike made landfall, Coast Guard helicopters had rescued 103 people in the Bolivar Peninsula near Galveston Island, said Petty Officer 3rd Class Ayla Stevens. "Some people were on roofs, some people in cars," she said.

Though 1 million people fled coastal communities near where the storm made landfall, authorities in four counties alone said roughly 140,000 ignored mandatory evacuation orders and stayed behind. Other counties were unable to provide numbers but officials said they were concerned that many decided to brave deadly conditions rather than flee.

"Some people didn't evacuate when asked," Bush said about the tens of thousands of people who may have to be rescued. "I've been briefed on the rescue teams there in the area. They're prepared to move as soon as weather conditions permit. Obviously, people on the ground there are sensitive to helping people and are fully prepared to do so."

But the biggest fear was that tens of thousands of people had defied orders to flee and would need to be rescued from submerged homes and neighborhoods.

"The unfortunate truth is we're going to have to go in ... and put our people in the tough situation to save people who did not choose wisely. We'll probably do the largest search and rescue operation that's ever been conducted in the state of Texas," said Andrew Barlow, spokesman for Gov. Rick Perry.

"We don't know what we are going to find. We hope we will find the people who are left here alive and well," Galveston Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas said. "We are keeping our fingers crossed all the people who stayed on Galveston Island managed to survive this."

How amazing. We are still cleaning up from Katrina, and people are still stupid and even selfish enough to not evacuate when they are told they need too. The last two statements just blow me away.

We have to send our people in, risk their lives, take their time to rescue people who had a chance to do it right the first time. I like how the Governor said they were "people who did not choose wisely". What a great thing to say. It is true that they did not choose wisely when it came to life or death.

Then the "we don't know what we are going to find" statement. They are just hoping they find some people who are still alive. Someone who might have made it through the storm. Even though they had been asked to leave and had been given a chance of salvation BEFORE it got bad.

I know that these were all written in response to Ike, however, I think I have read them out of scripture in some form or another.

Church, we have to grab a hold of the depth of these statements, and choices, made by people in Texas. We have to understand them in spiritual ways. We have people around us that are not heeding the warnings that are being given. Yes, there are people in this world who are not making commitments to follow Christ, but they are not the ones I'm talking to here.

If you notice, these people of Texas knew better. It's not like this is the first hurricane they have experienced or at least read about. But, they still made the choice to not go to safety, not to get out when they could. Church, fellow Christ follower, this is too many of us. We know better, we have heard the bull horns yelling, we know where safety is, we know we must get out…but we sadly refuse, choosing to hold on and do what we want. We have been given the chance to get out of the world for a long time, but we are too stupid, deciding we will ride this one out. We CAN NOT be participants of this world and not expect to get overwhelmed by the waves of sin and the winds of Satan, not to mention all the stuff that gets picked up and flung at us. Why do we still sit, expecting that nothing will happen to us? Ignoring the warning bells. Turning a blind eye and a deaf ear to the worldly things in OUR life.

Jesus said for us not to be a part of this world. Light and dark can't mix. Light is suppose to take over darkness, not become it. Are we happy enough to be un-salty? Jesus says later on, that He won't take in those who have refused to come out of the world, remember the hot and cold and luke warm thing? I know that it is tough. I don't say these things with condemnation, but with love and sorrow. I don't say this with judgment or blame, but with a burden for the church. I say these things with what I believe is just one more warning from the Creator. A warning that right now it is not too late, but we must get ourselves out, before it is too late and what we hear is not the bull horn…but the trumpet blast! Then it's too late.

As I walked in I noticed all the familiar sights, and smells, of a gas station bathroom. Shocking white walls with you don't want to know what stuck to them. White tile floor that hasn't been cleaned since the Reagan era, even though the little sign on the wall said it was cleaned by someone named Ivan at 3:15 that very day. I won't describe the condition of the urinal or the toilet, I will leave that to your imagination. The garbage can was over flowing not because it was full, just because no one can possibly put the paper in the can…the floor is good enough. The mirror resembled the bible verse about looking into a mirror that gives you a bad refection, although I don't believe the author was referring to gang writing like the case was here. Then the smell…over done deodorizer to cover the other fragrances that would normally pierce your nose. All these things seemed very normal to me and so they didn't stand out quite as much as one other item did. This one thing seemed very out of place, very not at home, very different. However, my eyes were immediately drawn to it. Drawn, and then couldn't pull my eyes away from it. No, it was not a dispenser of certain pleasure items. It was a wreath. A little wooden wreath. With small flowers on it. About 15 inches in diameter. In most cases it would blend into the background, but here it stood out. It kinda shouted at me…'Help, I don't belong here. Everyone stares at me when they come in here. I am out of place.' At first I thought I should rescue the poor thing and at least just throw it in the garbage so it didn't feel so bad. Then I thought to myself (man I am doing way too much thinking in a men's room on a short trip) I kinda like it where it is. It seems to draw my attention away from all the filth and slime that is around me. As much as that poor little wreath seemed all alone in a place it didn't belong, I seemed drawn to it, almost connected. (ok, now I'm scaring myself…but stick with me). I couldn't help but think of the verse about us as Christians not belonging here on earth. Our citizenship is in heaven. We don't belong here. Aliens if you will. I started thinking (there I go again) that we should be like that little wreath in a dirty men's room. In this world of filth and slime, we need to be the ones who have something that catches people's attention. We need to be so thick with Jesus that people can't help but stare at us. We need to truly look out of place in this world. I heard someone say the other day, 'if you are too comfortable with this world, maybe you should check your address. You don't belong in this world.' TRUE! We don't belong here. We, everyone, was created for a different home. A place called heaven. My prayer is that we can look so out of place in this world, that people have to stop and stare at us. Wondering why we look out of place. Then, we need to be ready with an answer for the hope that we have. The story of what Christ did for you, and the story of what Christ can do for the world. Sadly, I think that we just blend into the world so much that we just look like another part of a dirty men's bathroom (the world) that no one sees a difference in us. Is there something that is attractive about you for the world? Is there truly something that sets you apart? Is there something that screams…'I don't belong here. Everyone stares at me when they come in here. I am out of place.' My son offered his coat to a friend the other day at a party. The friend was cold and my son had something to offer him. So he took of his coat, put it on his friend and said nothing. The friends response to this was, "that's the problem with you damn Christians, you are just too nice." Yes!! My son stood out like a wreath in a dirty men's bathroom! I'm proud. Now, it is our turn. Stand out like a wooden wreath man. Shout it out that this world is not where you belong. Show that you have something else to offer. Well, gotta go. I got some shouting to do.

There used to be an ad on TV LONG time ago, I will be showing my age here in just a second, that was for a stock broker firm named E.F. Hutton. They had these ads where someone would be carrying on a conversation in a noisy restaurant and mention that their broker was E.F. Hutton. When that was said, all noise stopped and everyone turned an ear to listen to the conversation. Then this anonymous voice would say, "When E.F. Hutton talks, people listen." If you remember these ads, you are as old as me…or even older in some cases. Of course, some may not remember anything, and that is a sure sign of being even older. Sorry, I digress.

Well, I had an E.F. Hutton experience yesterday…just not about stocks. I had a God experience yesterday. I heard Him speak! And, I actually listened this time. Now, it wasn't an audible voice, instead it was through His direction into His written word, the Bible. I have been struggling for some time with a comment/command that God gave me a few months ago. I really felt that I needed to fast and pray for a week and ask God for clear direction in my life and to have vision on how to proceed. Well, I got this amazing revelation from God. Here is what He said…"Keep doing what you are doing." Now that may sound wonderful to you, but to me it was confusing. My fault, not God's. I was praying for direction and vision and clarity because I didn't think I was doing anything and didn't feel as though I was accomplishing anything, and God comes up with this bit of wisdom…keep doing what you are doing. I thought maybe God had gotten confused . 'God, I'm not feeling productive, not feeling like I'm doing what I should be doing, not really even feeling like I'm doing anything, and you want me to keep doing it.' I talked to my wife, my mentor, my board…they all said the same thing. God is right, keep doing what you are doing. Funny guys, maybe you didn't hear me the first time…I DON'T KNOW WHAT I'M DOING SO HOW DO I KEEP DOING IT! So again I ask God, talk to my wife, my mentor and my board…and again…same response. Frustrating that they all get it and I don't. Auggg! I continued to whine about it, cry about it, pour out my heart about it, whine some more about it, and seemingly nothing was happening.

FINALLY! Yesterday I was praying before our morning service and felt led to some passages of scripture. As I read them, I couldn't help but feel so overwhelmed with the fact that this is what God had been saying to me all along. See the problem was this…I WASN'T LISTENING! I don't know why. I just wasn't, couldn't, didn't want too…something. But yesterday I finally got it. I heard the voice of the One who loves me, is fond of me and created me tell me what it is that I have been doing and need to continue to do. It literally felt like a ton of weight was lifted from me. Serious. What a relief. When I got done writing down what God was saying (which I recommend doing when God speaks) I had to stand up and scream…YES! YES! YES! It was a better scream than what I did at the Spokane Shocks game the night before when they won again. (15-1, and off to the playoffs!)

I guess what I want you to hear on this today is, listen…God is speaking. He doesn't speak in code or make things confusing just to get a laugh out of it, we make it confusing. Ask the people around you, ask God for clarity, do exactly what it is He says to do. Trust Him. Walk in faith knowing that He is the One who holds the future. For crying out loud, He created the future, I think He can take care of us in it! So, if you see me anytime soon and you think, 'geez, is he ever gonna do something different. Is he ever gonna change what he is doing,' take it up with God. My job is just to obey, not make up the rules.

So, I have to go now. I need to get back to what I was doing before!

Judges 1

Many of the different tribes were suppose to drive out the Canaanites, or other tribes God didn't give the land to, but they didn't. For whatever reason they didn't do it. Some of the reasons even seemed logical (Canaanites had better weapons, more people, knew the area more, etc.) but yet the Israelite tribes did not obey God. They even tried to make it sound good by forcing them into hard labor. But not full obedience. This became a big problem for them later, as well as for us now (Islam). Had they been obedient, things would have been different, even better.

My obedience to God needs to be the same way, 100%. I need to remove all the sin in my life so that it doesn't destroy me later and so it doesn't destroy my family later. If I don't deal with these things now, my family will be dealing with them in the future. In much worse ways. Sin always grows. I must, not through my own power, ways or wisdom, but through the power of God, get rid of this sin. Allowing the Holy Spirit to do his work in my life and also listening and responding to the voice that I hear. Not blowing it off. Not trying to justify what I am doing or want to be doing…just do what God asks. Do what the voice, the one that I am certain is God's, is asking me to do. I can't put my sin in hard labor camps and expect it not to grow stronger and come back to bite me. I must let sin be killed…for good. Seeking and spending time in the presence of God…doing what I know God wants me to do and say (no matter the desires of man around me)…learning to trust that when God speaks and I obey, then my present and my future are much brighter. I need to respond to God in this manner not just for me, but for my family.