Guest Devotionalist -- Pat Patterson

"If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? -- Matthew 5:46

A GOOD DRUNK

By: Pat Patterson



Yeah I'm a Christian, but I had me a good drunk the other night.....

No, really. Found him lying in the middle of the street, bump on his head and a bottle by his side. He was about fifty something, dressed in simple clothes and stinking like a sack of dirty laundry. With slurred speech and the sweet, slushy scent of cheap alcohol lingering on his breath, he was about as common as can get.....

.....a real good drunk.

I chuckled. I'm a paramedic. I've seen it all before. It should have been a simple call-pick him up, throw him on the stretcher, and give him a ride to the ER for observation, oh, and by the way, pray for him-but it wasn't that easy. He became belligerent. Then he wanted to fight me. Then he went and opened his mouth. I won't tell you what he said. Christians don't use words like that. Or do we?

Well before you go pointing your finger at me, that man's words hurt. He hurt my pride! He made me angry!! What was I supposed to do, just stand there and take it? No way! I flung the words right back at him as fast as I could. After all, he deserved it. I was only trying to help him. Right?

Well, we all know the answer to that question. I was wrong. Dead wrong.

You know I've been a Christian for over thirty years, and you'd think by now I'd know better, but for me it's not that simple. I seem to make one mistake after another, failing the Lord in so many areas of my life that recently a thought has been heavy on my mind:

What does it really mean to be a Christian?

Does it mean never missing church? Attending the right Bible studies? Smiling at other Christians, and never uttering a foul word? Well, I believe Jesus answered my question when He said, "Love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you."

"But, Lord?" I say. "Are you serious? Even him?"

If I close my eyes, I can picture Jesus hanging on the cross. If I use my imagination, I can see myself kneeling at His bloody feet. But if I put aside my pride, my arrogance, and my selfish ambitions, I can imagine that man kneeling by my side-dirty clothes, stinking breath and all-and suddenly, suddenly, everything becomes crystal clear. We're both sinners. Christ died for both of us.

I failed that test last Saturday night, it's true, but Jesus used my failure to teach me a valuable lesson. He showed me what it really means to be a Christian, and He used a good drunk to do it.....

Christian Devotions




Pat Patterson is a novelist and an Instructor of Emergency Medical Services at Wake Technical Community College in Raleigh, NC. He's also an EMT-Paramedic with over 16 years of experience.

"If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that?"
Matthew 5:46

Do.... Do Not..... There is No Try

"But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness." James 3:17

I walked the mountain with my friend today. I asked if I could trail along, he said, "You can't keep up." I said, "Oh ye, of little faith."

The path was steep. Very steep and my legs held out, but my lungs…that was a different matter. He sprinted up an incline, I crawled and all along, though I couldn't see him, he kept shouting, "You dead yet?"

I had to stop and rest, having bad lungs isn't an excuse－it's a physical fact. But all the while, I kept saying, "You go ahead. I'll get there." And I did. Eventually.

The last part of the walk was a detour. You see, my friend, I think felt sorry for me, so he altered the trail we took. But it was a pretty neat detour, because the reward was sitting beneath a huge overhanging boulder looking at the creation of the Father, talking about the wonders that God managed to make in seven short days.

That climb was a hard one and half way up I was crying to the Father to give me air. I was choking. "Just get me to the top. I'll do it however you want -－ even if it's on my hands and knees." And you know, there was point, it was on my hands and knees. I was frustrated and a little mad the walk was so hard, but wow －the reward worth the crawl.

Sometimes we have to go to our hands and knees before the righteousness comes. Growing in the Father isn't easy. He tends to sprint the steep sections of the walk and leave us behind. That's a little scary, looking up and not seeing the guide. Still in the distance, we hear Him calling－we simply have to listen. Learning the meaning of His love may occasionally mean crawling alone, becoming submissive to His will. Something we struggle and wiggle our way clear. But when bend at the knees, press our palms to the ground there is traction and there is success.

So, I lost a bet today--sorta. I made the efforts. To quote Yoda from Star Wars, "Do....Do Not....There is no try." We either get to the business of knowing God or we don't. There is no try. Is your walk always standing or do you crawl? Trust me, crawling helps. It's a slow process, nothing good is easy, but when you do, the reward is worth the effort.

Guest Devotionalist -- Sue Payne

"But the Lord said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." - 1 Samuel 16:7

Changed Before My Eyes

By: Sue Payne


I remember attending a certain church service about ten years ago. It happened to be the weekend the Christian Motorcycle Association held their annual conference and conducted their meetings and activities at the church. Rick, the head of this particular chapter, was slotted to give the message at each of the Sunday morning services.

As he was introduced and stepped to the platform, my mind immediately began to judge. He wore black leather pants, boots, and vest. His hair was long and curly. His face weathered and scarred. He was not attractive by my standards and I wondered what the pastor of the church was thinking! Sadly, I sat there feeling almost threatened by his presence.....then he began to speak.

As he shared about his life of abuse, neglect, violence, drugs, and alcohol, pity began to push out my feelings of judgment. No wonder this man has such a tough exterior, I thought. His testimony continued as he recalled how God had pursued him through "the valley of the shadow of death" and how his grandmother had never missed a day covering him with prayer. At this point, this tough character of a man began to cry.

The threatening presence I had felt just minutes before suddenly was replaced by the presence of a "Holiness" I had never experienced anything like this. Literally, this man changed in front of my eyes. Here was a man who truly knew Jesus. It was then that I first realized what it was like to really see the "Jesus" in someone. I was in the presence of the Lord because Jesus had chosen to testify His love for me through Rick.

You may be thinking; How can a person's appearance change before my eyes? This is possible, but only when you look at an individual's heart through the eyes of Christ. God opened my eyes that day.

I've heard it said that the heart of a matter is a matter of the heart. The next time you find yourself judging another person's character or appearance, remember that we are all made in the image of God. Ask the Lord to show you how to look beyond the outer appearance and see the "Jesus" within.






Sue Payne is a freelance writer whose articles have appeared in home schooling newsletters and church news bulletins. Most recently one of her articles took second place at the Delaware Christian Writer's Conference. She is experienced in curriculum planning and design and uses her writing skills to encourage and teach others. Sue lives in Delaware, is married, and has two boys whom she home schooled for a total of fourteen years.

HE SAID - SHE SAID - May 16, 2008

DreamsWork - He Said

“We were like men who dreamed, our mouths filled with laughter. Our tongues with songs of joy when the Lord brought back the captives.” Psalms 126:1-2
This morning the clouds moved in, turning my world gray. The enemy spoke from the fog, lobbing doubts. Causing me to question the light that I knew to be just beyond my reach. The attack was predictable but still deadly. “You are not,” “You never will,” “Why do you try?”I cried out to God, listing my fears.
Then I heard another voice. It, too, carried the haunting tone of despair. “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
Later that morning a good friend of mine called to fuss at me because I dared to complain about the grayness of my world. Imagine that. Here I was looking down at the mud between my toes, wondering how I was gonna get unstuck from my melancholy mood and she said, “cheer up.”

What kind of silliness is that? I hung up on her.There was another dreamer who suffered doubt, who saw his dreams tossed into the pits. We find the beginning of that story in Genesis 37.“Joseph’s brothers noticed him from a distance, and before he came up to them, they plotted to kill him, for they said to one another: ‘Here comes that master dreamer!’”
The enemy hates our dreams, detests the visions God places within our hearts. For he knows if he can steal our heart and silence our prayers, then he will move us further from God's purpose for our lives.But God is faithful. That is why my friend fussed at me. She was reminding me to give in to God, give up to Him, and get down with my bad self — to fall on my knees and pray. To cry out, as Jesus cried out in the garden. To beg for mercy as Joseph begged in the well.
But it is not enough to dream. We must move. We must step forward in faith. Our dreams are not the destination, but they do point to the Promise Land. The vision God has placed in you is evidence of His hand massaging your heart, keeping your hopes alive until at last, you reach that good and pleasing land he has prepared for you.
What is your dream? What vision has God placed in your heart? Say it out loud. Commit it to paper. And then find a team of faithful prayer partners who will petition God on your behalf.When you do, you may find that His joy has replaced the clouds of doubt, filling your mouth with laughter and your heart with a new song.
I pray it will be so.



She Said -- Holy Cow
We were like men who dreamed, our mouths filled with laughter. Our tongues with songs of joy when the Lord brought back the captives." - Psalms 126:1-2

Work was over-it had been a long day. Call-in's, car issues, you name it, employees found any reason to bow out of work. The day was full of stress. My shoulder ached and my neck so tight it sent streams of burning down my arm and into my fingers. I was happy to shut the computer down and walk out the door.
I hopped in my SUV and headed to the church. There was work to be done there. When I started the car, the radio came on to the local Christian station and I reached up and punched the sunroof button. The back of my neck warmed, easing some of the tension. I flipped my right signal light and headed up the on ramp of Highway 93. I glanced in my side mirror for on-coming traffic and began to merge.
That's when I saw it. Eight-foot tall legs as big around as porch columns and utters-yes, utters dangling in the wind. Had I have been industrious I could have rolled the window down and milked that rascal. I smiled. Then I chuckled as the truck passed and I was able to merge behind the giant plastic cow. My speedometer said 45 mph. but I tapped the brakes because there was something inside me that said, "You don't want to be too close to the rear of that cow incase of a sudden stop. Who knows where you'd end up?" The cow tail flapped from side to side, spinning in circles, twisting around and I lost it. I completely lost it.I started to laugh out loud-in fact, I laughed so hard I snorted which only served to make things worse.
Forced to pull to the side of the road and laugh it off, I realized God had answered my prayers. Earlier in the day, when the stress was heavy, I pushed the door to my office closed and shot God an arrow prayer. "Ease this tension Lord, some humor would be nice."
He provided. There are times when life presses hard against our shoulders. Sometimes finding the laughter-the joy, is hard to do. But our Father loves us dearly and He wants us joyful. When His children are happy, when they are enjoying the idiosyncrasies of life, God smiles, too. Like any parent, He longs to bring the depth of His love into fruition. He wants to ease our frustrations and pain. The Father wants us to dream of the joys of life, and he wants us to hope. These are the things that help make us complete.
The next time I ask God to ease the tension, I'll be better prepared for His sense of humor. Until then, I'll still giggle at His Holy cow.

Thursday, May 15, 2008

RADIO PROMO
Listen to WCQR 88.3 RADIO PROMO for Christian Devotions

Just Call Me Cin!

Just Call Me Cin

If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. – Revelation 20:15

Somewhere along the way I acquired a nickname. Cin. I’m not sure where it started, I think in email correspondence, but through the years I find myself signing letters or notes to my close friends as Cin. It would be nice to remember who dubbed me that illustrious name , I can’t remember—only that it’s been a very long time.

There are few with whom I feel comfortable enough to sign my name with homonym. After all Cin can be highly misunderstood. Over the years it’s become a bit of a joke, but those who dare to refer to me with this name, are friends who I love fully and completely. I chuckle at the names I’ve been assigned—things like Tennessee, Princess (there’s a joke there), Kayro (talk to my brother about that one), and today, my dear friend Eddie names me “Little” (again there’s joke there). The point is Cin is a pretty presumptuous title.

If you didn’t know me, you’d think folks were calling me sinful.

When you’re stuck with a name like Cindy it’s bound to cause you some grief. It’s not a bad name—it’s friendly sounding, happy, but it does nothing for you when someone wants to shorten an already short, two syllable word.

I’ve always been convinced that the minute I say something ugly, God thumps me. Maybe God and my mom were in cahoots. She said, “What can we name her? Something pleasant and happy.”

God says, “Cindy. That way people can shorten it to Cin and I have an easy in to rebuke her.”

Sadly enough I have to admit that I am sinful at times. We all are. We’re just not all fortunate enough to have a homonym as a name. You could say C-I-N s-i-n-s. One way or the other I have a constant reminder of what not to do and I am grateful for the gentle tap on the shoulder when I slip. God loving instructs me when I goof.

I have names for my friends, too. Baby, Chickie, Sweetie, and Goofball, and each one who gets those little names, knows how very much I love them. Names bring about a certain familiarity about us and every time one of my buddies sends me an email or an instant message and refers to me as Cin, a smile crosses my lips because I get just how much they care for me.

Regardless, the only name that really counts is the one written in the book of life. There are two things in this life I hope that I manage to accomplish. The first is how I look at things, how I see them. Then I hope the day I die people will say, “She had her Father’s eyes.” Secondly and most importantly, when the book of life is opened and Jesus begins to read, that this is one C-i-n that is not mistaken as an s-i-n. I want more than anything for my name to be in that book. Are you making the efforts to have your named penned in the book of life? This is one time it’s all in the name.

Drive-Thru Religion

DRIVE-THRU RELIGION

Listen to Drive-Thru Religion, by - Cindy Sproles

For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. - Galatians 5: 17 & 18


Sometimes I have to ask, "God, why don't You just say what You want me to do? Why do I have to figure it out?" Why not cut through the hoopla and formalities and just get to the point? I feel like so much time is wasted going through the "process," when the direct method is faster and easier. I know-He has a plan for me.


There are times that the Father places a thought in my head and it won't leave me alone. The idea spins and twists itself around my brain cells like an ivy vine. But that's all it is-an idea. When I try to write it down it looks silly. When I mention it, it sounds dumb, and when I make a half-hearted attempt at figuring out the plan, I usually foul things up.


So, I ask again. Why not just give me the plan, tell me the steps, let me pull my team together and run with the idea? What's so hard about that? There are times, I don't have a clue how to pray, much less what to pray for. Friends offer advice. They tell me, "Pray for what you want," but that seems selfish. Others say, "God wants you to have abundance, so ask." That feels pushy. Sometimes it's hard to differentiate between what our desire is and belongs God. Therein lays my point. "God, why don't You just say what You want me to do?"


We return to the age old remark, "God never promised being a Christian would be easy." I know that. The ideal Christian lifestyle would be to pull my car into the drive-up, roll the window down and place my order. "I'll take an order of "tell me what to do," two sides of answers, and one order of forgiveness to go." There now, that wasn't hard was it?


Here's the thing. When God tosses me a hint, if I'm not on top of things, Satan snags the fly ball, I miss it all. I flounder. My order never comes to my car, and worse yet, I paid the price to a non-refundable world. Having God give us the answers in advance would be nice, but we'd never learn. We'd never grow in our relationship with Him. If He gave us everything, we'd never have a need for Him. We'd never learn to depend fully on Him. My guess is, even though God has a plan, He probably still ponders when He hears me pray. So, I wait for His hints, listen quietly for His whisper in the wind, then try my best to obey.


No drive-thru religion for me. It's just practice, practice, practice-prepare, and when God is ready, I will see everything clearly.