Category Devotional

Jul 7 2011

The Blind Man Stood By

I have to preface this post.  I have never been a big fan of U2, not because I have anything against them, but because I’ve just never gotten into their music.  However, I do know that Bono is probably one of the kindest, most compassionate men that is walking the face of the earth in this present day.

Recently, my good friend Jason Bybee went to a U2 concert in Nashville.  You can read of his previous attempts to make it to a U2 show HERE.  On several occasions Jason has offered up some great suggestions for must have music for my iPod, so I was eager to talk to him after the concert to see how it went, and to see if I could finally get into U2.  This time, Jason had nothing to do with me becoming a fan of U2 and new music.  It was the artist himself that forever changed my impression of this dynamic band.  Read the article below:

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A blind man from Arizona had a lifelong dream come true when he was invited by Bono to jam with Irish rock band U2 on stage, myFOXphoenix.com reported Tuesday.

Adam Bevell, who started losing his sight at the age of 14, caught Bono’s attention at a U2 concert in Nashville over the long weekend.

Towards the close of the show, the band’s frontman spotted Bevell holding a sign declaring “blind guitar player,” indicating that the fan wanted to play and dedicate a song to his wife.

“[Bono] said ‘C’mon up here. Get this dude a guitar,’ and I thought no way man, there’s no way this is happening,” Bevell recalled.

Bono of U2.

INFphoto.com
Bono of U2.

“Dude’s gonna play some guitar,” Bono told the crowd.

With some help from Bono, Bevell performed his favorite song “All I Want Is You.”

“It was the greatest feeling knowing that I was playing with the greatest rock star in the world but he didn’t make me feel like that at all, he made me feel like we were in our living room,” Bevell said, adding that playing with U2 was something he had on his bucket list.

Bono is known for his generosity and humanitarian work around the world and he did not disappoint in this case — he let Bevell keep the guitar.

Bevell, who lives in Phoenix, Arizona, has been to at least 20 U2 concerts over the years.

 

You can watch the whole performance by watching the video below:

This guy was given a gift at the end of this wonderful ride of a lifetime that no one else can say they’ve ever received, and that’s pretty cool.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t take an opportunity here to make a correlation between this and a similar gift that I’ve received.  The greatest and most compassionate man to EVER walk on the face of the earth gave me an even better gift.  Jesus Christ, the perfect, sinless Savior, gave me a few things – his life, his heart, and salvation for an eternity – and I think that trumps the guitar.  The cool thing about the gift that Jesus gave me is that its not just for me, but its for us all.

 

Jun 28 2011

To Tell the Truth

Paul Harvey told a story that I remember my dad using in sermon illustrations as a child.  Four teenage boys were late to school one morning because they were goofing off and having fun.  They walked into their first period class with about 5 minutes left, and solemnly told the teacher that they were sorry they were late, and that they had stopped to change a flat tire.  The teacher looked at them and smiled sympathetically, and said it was too bad they were late, because they had missed a test.  However, she was willing to let them make it up.  She asked the boys to go to the four corners of the room, and she handed them each a blank piece of paper.  She told them the make up test consisted of one question, and if they got it right, they would pass the test.  The teacher then asked the question – “Which tire was flat?”

Jesus commands us to be truthful.  In Matthew 5:37, he says to let our yes be yes and our no be no.  In the preceding verses, he has told the Pharisees to stop their complex system of swearing and making oaths, because they were time and time again finding loopholes to get out of them.  For example, if you swore by Jerusalem, it was not binding, but if you swore towards Jerusalem, it was not binding.  This was not based on any law God had made, but again, it was a loophole they had created for themselves to get out of keeping their word.  They had a whole system that allowed and rewarded dishonesty.

We do this time and time again.  We say that we’ll pray for someone, and we never intend on doing it.  We say we’ll be there for a person, but when push comes to shove, other things are more important.  We do what we can to sell ourselves as true Christians, but when faced with actually doing it, we get out of it by creating our own loophole.

Jesus is encouraging us at this point to live a life that we would not be ashamed of in any way, especially in our speech.  Live a life so that if all the things you said and did were being written down, you wouldn’t have any problem with someone going back and reading it.  Do you think that would drastically change your speech?  Ephesians 4:25 tells us that we shouldn’t lie to each other, especially because we’re all in this world together, and we should work together for the good of the Kingdom, not against each other.  Colossians 3:9 tells us not to lie to each other because when we became Christians, we put that lifestyle behind us.

Its also not enough just to tell the truth, we must be truthful in our actions as well.  Our actions must match our language.  Otherwise, we lack the integrity to back up the truth we speak.  Nothing can be more powerful than when the world hears a Word of truth lived out in our lives.  The words you speak are amplified by the life you live.

Ultimately, we walk in truth if we walk in the path of God.  Every time God spoke it was truth.  Everything Jesus said and did, it was truth.  If we are made in his image, and we are to strive to live like Jesus, shouldn’t we do the same?

 

 

Jun 7 2011

Watch Out for Aliens

Ever since I was a little boy, I haven’t really been scared of much. I never really was all that scared of the dark. I wasn’t afraid of clowns or spiders. The only thing I was ever scared of was aliens. Yup, that’s right, aliens. I attribute that to a lot of episodes of Unsolved Mysteries on Wednesday nights after church, the show Amazing Stories which used to come on Sunday nights, and the fact that I swear there were aliens in our backyard.

I’ve always been scared of them as long as I can remember. Now of course, why aliens would come all this way to earth just to freak us out is beyond me. It just creeps me out. So on Wednesday night of this week, I did a class based upon my fear of Aliens.

You remember that movie Signs? I loved it, and hated it all at the same time. There were plenty of great spiritual applications though in that movie. Let me share my favorite.

Do you remember in that movie when they had boarded up their home, and headed down to the basement to tough it out? They placed a pick axe in front of the door, and hoped that would keep out the aliens (they can travel light years to earth but can’t open a door?). The little boy, Morgan, said that the aliens would be good problem solvers, and would find a way in. Sure enough, the basement used to have a coal shaft in it. As Mel Gibson and Joaquin Phoenix looked around for it, Morgan was standing in front of the shaft, and an alien grabbed him from behind. Just as Morgan said, they found a way in.

You know, Satan does the same thing. He’s a great problem solver. Just when we think we’re safe, in the privacy of our own home, protected by locked doors, alarms, and whatever else we may have, Satan finds a way in. We protect our hearts by going to church, participating in small groups, reading our Bibles and praying, but Satan still finds a way in.

And you know what the sad thing is? We aren’t easily scared of the power that Satan has. We jump and scream at scary movies, but we don’t flinch at all when we read of the fact that Satan is alive and well in the world.

Remember what kills the aliens in the movie Signs? Yeah, Water. I though it was cheesy as well. These terrible aliens are hurt by water. They have poison gas flowing through their bodies, but water will destroy them.


About the only thing, however, that will destroy the presence of Satan in our lives is…well, water. Being buried in Christ in the waters of Baptism cleanses our souls, our bodies, our lives. That water, which symbolizes the blood of Christ, is the one thing Satan can’t deal with. It drives him away.

At least for a while. Remember, we said Satan was a good problem solver. Becoming a Christian doesn’t make you exempt from Satan. Satan can, and will find a way back into your lives. Be watchful, Satan goes around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Satan is real, but my Jesus beats him every time.

May 17 2011

The Automobile Warranty and Jesus Connection

“As far as the east is from the west,

so far has He removed our transgressions from us.”

Psalm 103:12

Today, my wife’s car spent the day in the shop with a blown compressor and condenser.  This was an $1800 repair we had done just back in September of 2010, and it broke again on her on the way home yesterday.  With the Houston heat reaching 105 degrees in the summer, with the humidity at 110%, its obvious that it needs to be fixed.  Fortunately, the warranty covered the problem.  It was fixed 7 months ago, worked well for 7 months, and broke down again.

Kristen and I don’t have $1800 to throw at a broken AC unit every 7 months.  Its just not possible.  But that warranty really helped out.  The part is usually warrantied for 12 months/12,000 miles, however, our mechanic at First Tire and Automotive in Sugar Land, TX doubles the manufacturers warranty on all their repairs.  I wasn’t aware of this last night when I drove the car over to leave it.  I was worried, because even though we were within the 12 month time frame, we had driven 11,985 miles since the original repairs were done.  Not knowing about the doubling of the warranty sent me in a tizzy last night.

All I could think about was what we were going to do.  Were we going to have to fork over another $1800?  Would we just need to sell the car and get something else?  I started to panic, because we just don’t have the money to do either one of those things.  Imagine my relief this morning when the mechanic called and told me that the damage was covered under the warranty.  The best thing was that this warranty was free with my decision to go this particular mechanic.  Better yet, today he told me that if it happened again, that even though the warranty is from the original date of work, they would help in any way they could.

I sat at home all day today, since I had no car to go to the office.  I thought a lot about my life.  I’m covered under an eternal warranty given to me by God.  Its not something I paid for.  In fact, he paid for it himself.  All I had to do was accept it.  Thank goodness God has given me that gift.

I’ve screwed up a lot in my life.  I’ve done a lot of things that I’m not proud of.  I’ve acted in ways that many people would question whether or not I truly was a child of God.  When I start to stray away from God, I feel broken down.  I feel like all my “parts” just aren’t working right.  That’s when I remember that all I have to do is approach the throne of God and seek forgiveness.  He then does a complete system flush, and takes care of those sins.

The great thing about it is, however, that these sins aren’t recorded into a computer where he can go and check to see how long that forgiveness is good for.  As the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us!  Hallelujah!   This verse just describes it ALL!   It is just so awesome that God will forget everything we have done if we just ask Him to. I remember in the past when so called “friends” would hurt me or turn their back on me.  I know i have forgiven them, but I haven’t forgotten what they did.    That‘s a hard thing for us to do.  But God, He forgives and forgets like it never happened. we can let guilt build up in our human minds and continually ask for forgiveness,  but God says, “Forgive what?  I don’t remember any sin.“  I am so overwhelmed by His amazing love for everyone of us no matter how much we have messed up!  God is awesome!