Unshackled Moments ~ September 30 ~ Flying In The Face Of Fear

My wife Leah is afraid to fly, as in seriously near-phobic. I say near-phobic because I am not a doctor and can't diagnose her. Yet at this moment she is getting ready to ride with me to Houston, climb on a plane and fly to Florida. I asked my parents to be praying for her to have peace or less fear or something along those lines. My mother didn't realize how afraid Leah is, and when I shared with them how traumatic her last flight was, my father said, "But that was before...."

You see there are two reasons my wife is about to get on a plane, and they are both the same. Love. First there is the love for her daughter, who we are going to see. A mother's love can make her climb on an airplane when she's afraid. But the second reason is even bigger and more powerful. Leah has become aware of her Daddy's love for her in the past five years like she's never known before. I'm talking about her heavenly Daddy/ And when you get a taste of the deep love of the Father, there is a peace that comes with that that is even stronger than phobias. Perfect love casts out fear.

Love can set you free from fear. Is Leah afraid? Yes. Is she freaked out and panicking and in tears and hyperventilating? Not even close. Is it logic and understanding that flying is truly a safe way to travel? Hardly. It's all about love. Her Daddy's love for her that gives her some peace in a situation that she's not had peace in before, and her love for Amanda that gave her the courage to step out in faith and say, "Yes, I will fly," which put that power of that peace bringing, fear crushing, perfect love tot he test.

The love of God can set us free from fear as much as it can break the shackles of an addiction. Today let us all remember that we can walk free from dominion by fear in the name of love.

Unshackled Moments ~ September 29 ~ Life, The Universe, And Everything

I know that I've mentioned this before, but I love football. I'm pretty crazy about it. I get animated. I shout in joy and triumph when the team I am rooting for makes an amazing play. I roar in frustration and disgust when things go against us. And yes, I say my team as though I own it and we (We're about to score) as though I am somehow involved and a part of the struggle.

This past Saturday afternoon I stretched out on the bed to watch my team, the Texas Tech Red Raiders, play TCU. Yes, they are my team. I finished my degree at Tech, even though I received it from SFA. I leaned back against my back rest and watched the game on the television in the bedroom. It was crazy close, and the lead kept changing, almost with every possession. It was very exciting to me.

No, as much as I love football, especially college football, my wife does not. Leah is at best indifferent and ambivalent, but she'll tell you that she hates football. She just doesn't understand why her husband gets so psycho and obsessive about something so silly and for the most part boring. But while  she doesn't understand the why, she understands that I do love football. So she tries to be supportive and has never once asked me not to waste our time on such triviality. When I talk about it, I sound like an adult in the world of Charlie Brown to her, but she really tries to hear what I am saying. It helps her pay attention if I throw an "I love you" in the middle of the blah, blah, Red Raiders, blah. She knows that I love her more than I do the watching sports, and I limit myself to one college and one pro game a week most weeks during the all too short season of play. But while that self-imposed restriction seems like I barely watch football to me, it feels like a whole lost of football to her.

The question is how to spend time together without making her miserable and without making the watching the game less enjoyable for me. So sometimes she sits beside me and plays on the computer or reads a book while I watch the game. But Saturday she  lay down beside me and rested her head on my chest in the same position that she gets in to cuddle with me while we watch movies. If I didn't know better I would have thought that she was actually going to watch the game with me. A few minutes later I felt her breathing change as she drifted off to sleep with her head against me and my arm around her. I watched the game, but I never lost my awareness of her presence and that she was resting against me. When things went well for the Red Raiders I raised my free hand in celebration, but did so in such a way as to not disturb Leah. When they went poorly, I stilled myself and checked my reactions. There was no yelling. No reaction was allowed through the filter of my love for Leah and my desire not to disturb her.

This awareness and restraint didn't take away from my enjoyment of the game. In fact, it made it wonderful. I loved every minute of that time with Leah napping on me while  I watched football. I got to enjoy being with her and totally aware of her presence and watch the game at the same time. But what's the point? Why share this?

Well, it occurred to me that the time shared with Leah is representative of time with God. There are times of praise and worship that are dedicated to Him and making conscious contact with Him, just like there are times with Leah when nothing is going on but us and our relationship. Morning quiet time, evening reflection, church, prayer throughout the day are all times when the attention is on Him. But there are also times throughout the day when our attention is on other things. I'm not talking about something bad. We need to work and focus on our tasks, and we need to pay attention to the relationships in our life. There are other things that we do that aren't wrong, but if we are not careful we can become so engaged in them that we forget that the Father is right there with us. I want to become as aware or His presence with me, even during times of other activity, as I was of Leah napping against my chest Saturday. I want that awareness of His presence to enhance the experiences of the day. I want to be so filled with the peace and joy of His presence and so full of love toward Him that keeping that awareness is easy and keeping my reactions in check is as natural to me as having them in the first place. I believe that we can have that. It's all in remembering that I love Leah more than football and being with her and pleasing her is more important than any game that makes it easy to sacrifice time I would spend on self for her and makes it easy to put her first, even if it means I can't yell "Touchdown!" And it's all in remembering that our love for God is greater than the pleasure or the responsibility of anything else and that being close to Him and pleasing Him is the whole point of life, the universe and everything that we can do everything as unto the Lord and stay aware of Him at all times, in all things.

Unshackled Moments ~ September 28 ~ Infinity

Our sins are forgiven and are cast as far away from as that East is to the West. Why did the Spirit inspire this analogy? Because the difference between East and West is infinite. If a person begins to travel East and never turns, they will forever head East. But if a person travels North, it will eventually become southbound as they cross the pole. Northern travel will become southbound travel if you go far enough, and vice versa. It's important to understand that no matter what the distance between us and our transgressions is infinite.

No matter how far we go, we never cross a point where suddenly the direction we are traveling makes the Father closer to remembering the sin that He's forgiven. He doesn't promise forgiveness until we miss up again in a similar way and then suddenly throws the past back into the equation. Once it's under the blood of Christ our sin is never uncovered again. Not by the Father anyway. We can't stop the enemy from trying to make us feel guilty for things that are done and gone, forgiven, but we can choose to believe the truth of God over the condemnation of the enemy. And we can stop using condemning ourselves. Today let our goal be to walk in the truth that we are indeed forgiven and that the sins of our past will never be held against by God.

Unshackled Moments ~ September 27 ~ Don't Be Strong

Thursday I spent a little time with a buddy of mine who happened to be watching one of those reality shows that I don't particularly care for. So I wasn't paying the show much mind, but something one girl said caught my attention. The young woman has an issue that was causing her problems and was beyond her control to correct. At one point during one of those talk to the camera so the audience can hear what the rest of the people in the show can't moments, she said that maybe if she could show God that she could stay strong and not give up she'd be ok.

That was the saddest thing, and in a momentary lapse was probably the most real moment of this so called reality tv show. We feel like that sometimes I think. Like God is up there acting like a 7-year-old boy putting things on us to see how much we can take before we break. Here's another straw. Still pushing through itt! Here's another one. Broke the camel's back! When we start feeling and thinking like that it's easy to start feeling that if we can impress him (Oh cool, look how strong and determined he is!) God will take away our load and go play with somebody else.

The problem is that God isn't a 7-year-old with sadistic curiosity. He's our Daddy, He already knows how much we can take better than we do, and He loves us. God doesn't ever want us to show Him how strong we are. He wants us to show Him how reliant upon Him we are and how much we trust Him. When the load starts getting heavy and the pain starts, it's not the time to be strong. It's time to say Jesus share your yoke with me! That way if we're pulling a plow that isn't His, we can stop. That's easier. Or, if it is a burden or a thorn He's given us, His grace takes over where our determination to do it ourselves ends. The sooner that happens, the better and easier it is.

Unshackled Moments ~ September 26 ~ Get Your Lean On

Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is none upon earth that I desire besides You. My flesh and my heart fail; But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. 

- Psalm 73:25-26

We all have something we lean on. It can be anything or a variety of things. When we are at work we may lean on things like our intelligence and understanding of the job or maybe our physical appearance to succeed while at home we may lean on something entirely different to keep peace and make our relationships succeed. Sometimes what we lean on to make it through our day is not so good. I once leaned on alcohol and drugs to make  it through life. Sometimes what we lean on is what we've been given by God. I have an ability to write. I'm not the best writer by any stretch of the imagination, but I have a gift that makes writing enjoyable for me and gives me the talent to keep my four or five regular readers coming back. That gift makes opens doors for me to minister my experience, strength and hope of freedom from the things that bind us and the good news of the love of grace of God.

But I shouldn't lean on my gift. I mustn't just go on auto pilot and trust that my ability to write or to talk with get my through what I've been called to do. We are supposed to use our brains. God wants us to think. Whatever strengths we have should be used in a loving and Godly way to make our lives better and to accomplish what we need to accomplish. But while our talents and gifts should be used, they shouldn't be relied upon as our security and safety. They are tools.

God is our refuge and our fortress. He is our provision and our strength. He is our wisdom and the director of our path. He opens doors and protects us on our journey. We should use the gifts and tools we have to do our part in His will, but it is He, and only He, that we need to rely on, because there will be times, regardless of whether what we're leaning on is mental, emotional or physical, where it will fail or not be enough. God will never fail. Not only should we rely on Him, but we can always do so without our support failing.

Today let us remember that the tools we have be born with and the tools we have learned can be helpful and often should be used, but at the same time, they are not to be trusted as the solution. Jesus is our answer, and only in God can we have complete trust. Let's lean on Him today.

Unshackled Moments ~ September 25 ~ Benedict Arnold

Don't be a Benedict Arnold.

Do you understand what I just wrote? Most of us probably understand that if someone calls a person a Benedict Arnold that they are saying they have been or feel betrayed. They are calling the other person not an enemy but a traitor. It's basically the same as calling someone a Judas.

Judas was one of 12 special men called of Jesus. He spent three years at the feet of the Master. Arnold fought bravely for  years before and after his traitorous turn. Yet their names have become bywords, synonyms of treachery and hurt. In all the years that have past there has been no forgiveness or lessening of the damage to their reputations. In fact, in both cases, their failures are more well known than even in the time of their lives. People who know little about Christ or the Bible are well aware of the betrayal of Judas, and people who know little more about the Revolutionary War than that the United States won their independence know Benedict Arnold switched sides or at least that he betrayed the cause he swore to uphold.

Sometimes it may feel that way to those of us who have not walked a relatively faithful and clean walk. To those of us  who have played the prodigal and walked on the seedy side of unrighteousness our failure may feel like a permanent tattoo across our foreheads that can never be removed or covered. We try to turn the torment of the past into the testimony that helps others, but underneath is the pain and shame of the label...traitor, failure, screw up, sinner. It can bind as as surely as the sin that originally brought it on. The world never seems quick to forgive and forget, and the enemy wants to tie our past to every step we take into our future. A part of us often feels as though we deserve the limitations and shame as we surrender to the boundaries our mistakes place on us.

Let us remember though that whether the world sees it or recognizes it or accepts it, we have been forgiven. Jesus loves the broken, and His favorite thing to do is to put the pieces back together even better than before. David failed in so may ways. He committed adultery in such a way that it is possible that by today's standards it would be an abuse or power and considered sexual assault. Then he committed murder to cover it up. Yet he is remembered most as the writer of many of the Psalms and a man after God's own heart. Many examples exist of failures being turned by grace into something that God used. Let the grace of God set us free from the chains of limitation and shame because of prodigal foolishness. We stand clean before God, able by His power and grace to shine more brightly for Him than we ever shone in our rebellion against Him.

Made Alive

Dalyn Woodard shares on the first 11 verses of Romans chapter 8, emphasizing three aspects of what the Holy Spirit does in the lives of believers and the results of justification. The message, "Made Alive" is about 45 minutes long and was recorded at Nacogdoches Christian Fellowship on Wednesday, September 23, 2015. It's our prayer that you are blessed and ministered to as you listen. May God bless and keep you.

Unshackled Moments ~ September 24 ~ Beat With The Ugly Stick

A young girl walks through a play ground, and at every turn it seems the children who surround her pass around a stick and hit her with it. Finally in anger and tears she grabs the rod from the hands of her foes....and begins to  hit herself with it, as hard if not harder than she had been hit before. Worse, she  runs away with the stick still in her hand. She never tosses it away or breaks it. Instead, she hides in her room and beats herself black and blue. She carries the stick with her wherever she goes and becomes her worst abuser for years. Long after the other children have grown up and forgotten all about the day they beat her, she is continuing the assault.

Can you see it? Can you imagine this scenario? Do you read this and think the people around her should have stopped it? Do you think she is crazy? Do you realize that we are guilty of doing just what this little girl did? When we not only accept but take up the labels that others have beat us with but use them against ourselves, we are abusing ourselves with our enemy's weapon. Stupid, lazy, failure, screw up, clutz, ugly, unworthy, criminal, trash, addict....and on and on.

It's time to drop the stick. God says that we are His precious, beautiful children. He says we are fearfully and wonderfully made with something special, unique and good. He says we are valued enough to die for. Let us make a commitment label ourselves, and call ourselves nothing that God does not say about us, If it is not His description of who we are may we never define ourselves and abuse ourselves with it again.

Unshackled Moments ~ September 23 ~ Memories Of Ma

I knew this wonderful woman only as Ma Woody for years before I ever learned her real name, Ida Mae Bell Wells Woodard. Even folks who were not related to her in the small community of Liberty Hill, sandwiched between Dekalb and New Boston, Texas knew her as Ma Woody. But I was related to her. I was one of her many grandchildren and had the notorious distinction of being the only grandchild she ever spanked.

But what I remember most about her is the joy she had. I loved listening to her sing hymns like "Victory In Jesus" and "What A Friend We Have In Jesus" while washing the dishes, while churning  butter (yes she hand churned butter), milking cows and feeding chickens and pretty much every other aspect of the daily life of a farm wife. It wasn't a religious thing. A woman in a fantastic relationship singing romantic love songs would be a more accurate description. Her faith wasn't just a part of who she was, it was an inseparable  of being alive for  her as much as breathing.

I learned later in life that she walked the floor at night in prayer for my father when Dad was called to the ministry. There's no question that who she was, how she loved God and  her prayers made a major impact on the man and pastor that my father became. She wasn't rich by any stretch of the imagination. She wasn't a tyrant or powerful in worldly ways. She just quietly and consistently, without fanfare or splash, loved God, her family and those she came in contact with. She had no desire for personal glory or limelight, yet she touched more lives and made them better than almost any woman I ever knew.

I say all this to encourage us all to remember that we don't have to fight for attention or control to help and influence others. We can make a huge difference just by going about our day, all day, remembering that it is not our skill or strength that matters because our victory is found in Jesus and He is a friend like no other.

Unshackled Moments ~ September 22 ~ Lessons From My Pappa

This is James W. Tankersley, my grandfather.. In a little more than 25 years after this photo was taken, he would become my Pappa. As my Pappa he was my hero long before I understood how much of a hero he truly was. Before I could comprehend what the uniform meant or could imagine the beach in Normady he landed on at D-Day, I knew I wanted to be like this man...retired.

Seriously though I didn't see the early retirement because of health issues that nearly took him to be with the Lord before I ever met him and did take him too soon.I saw a man who loved to read and who loved me. He taught me to play gin rummy and poker. He gave me my first cup of coffee. He talked to me and treated me like I was special in a way that made me believe it. I hate the few memories of the times when I disappointed him and let him down, and while I wish he had lived longer I am grateful he didn't have to be there during my rock bottom years.

Pappa holds a special place in my memory and my heart, and he is the image I hold as my standard when. I look at the grandfather I want to be to my grandson, Baiden. But as much as a hero as he was, as wonderful a daddy he was to my mom and as perfect a grandfather as my memories speak of him, James W. Tankersley was not perfect, not even close. He had his shortcomings. He had his failures. He had his past with areas that brought him shame. There were things he wished he'd done better. There were things he wished he hadn't done at all. There were things that would have caused huge regret but didn't because God blessed him by bringing something good out of it. But that didn't matter to me. To me, he was never James or Jimmy, he was Pappa. I didn't know about all his mistakes and didn't care about the ones I knew about.

Today, he is once more my hero. I want to be like him. My Pappa didn't run from the past. In some ways he embraced it in a way that doesn't make sense to some people. He watched war movies regularly although the biggest nightmare of his life had been war. I can't explain why he would or could do that, but I understand it. I do the same thing with prison movies. That said, he didn't drag his past around with him and toss it into a room ahead of him. He didn't bring it into every conversation and interaction. The people who enjoyed interacting with Pappa didn't see a man who didn't feel he had a right to be respected or liked. They didn't see a man who felt his past and its issues disqualified him in any way from the blessings and relationships of the present.

I don't know my Pappa's shame. I know he never messed up as big and public as I have. But I know that in the time when my mother was a little girl, her parents where together via the broken road of divorce. This was a time long before divorce rates were close to 50%, before people said divorce about the same way as graduation. This was when divorce was whispered and rare and shameful. And my Mamma was my Pappa's second wife. Today that doesn't sound like any big deal, and part of me laughs at the idea of comparing that situation with being a felon. But in the 40's and early 50's, people were still moving to new towns and cities to try to hide things like divorce. Some businesses wouldn't hire you if they knew. And that was one thing that might have brought him shame that I never saw him cover himself in shame over. He just lived and enjoyed the good that God brought from what had been a bad situation.

Let us also learn from the past and enjoy the good that comes from it, but not let it disqualify us from anything that God wants to give us. We don't have to wear our shame and our past like a suit. In the words of God to Peter, "Don't call anything unclean which I have called clean." We have been made clean before our Lord, and we have the right as children of the King to live and interact with others as though there is nothing that disqualifies us from the good blessings of God, because there isn't.

Unshackled Moments ~ September 21~ The Rich Orphan

A broken and scared woman gave birth to a baby boy one dark night in a cold alley. She didn't have any choice in the timing and environment in which she gave birth and had no one to help her. Alone, she did everything she could and gave everything she could to bring the boy into the world, including her last breath. A homeless teen found the baby and saved him from the elements. She raised him the best she could and taught him to survive in a harsh and cruel world.

When the baby had grown to be a young man, he got sick. Near death he curled up on the sidewalk and waited for the end. A man saw him and had pity on him. He took the young man home, cleaned him up, treated his sickness and fed him. The man's heart filled with compassion and love for the orphan, and he decided to adopt him. But when the paperwork was being done it was discovered that the young man was wanted by the law. Some of the things he had done in order to survive, while understandable and natural, were against the laws of the land and required that the guilty one be put to death.

The benefactor felt heartbroken at the loss. So, he put his affairs in order and made a will that stated the young man would inherit his wealth. Then, he convinced the judge to allow him to take the young man's place. The orphan's benefactor went to the gallows so that the orphan could not only live but have the best of everything. A few months later, the rich man who once was an outlaw orphaned street urchin walked down the street and a filthy young man bumped into him.

It was obvious the young man had not eaten well or regularly and hadn't been clean in who knew how long. The dirty outcast looked up into the eyes of the rich man expecting the worse. He got it. The rich man pushed the young man away and cursed him. How dare he not look where he's going! He better learn to respect his betters! What he does to survive is illegal and immoral! The rich man called for the law while the orphan ran away.

Does this little tale make you want to slap the rich man in the back of the head and wake him up? Do you want him to remember where he came from and show compassion, love and acceptance as he was shown?  We'll all too often, that rich adopted orphan is us. We have been found dirty and needy and law-breakers. The King saved us, redeemed us, paid the price for our violations and has made us inheritors. Now that we are clean let us not lose our empathy, compassion and love for those who are not clean. Let us be ever mindful of what he called us out of. We have the chance to love others into the family. We have no business calling for the law and chasing them away or cursing them.

Unshackled Moments ~ September 20 ~ Trigger Or Provision?

There are times when it feels so amazing to have a period of prayer, or worship, or just feeling a closeness to Daddy for a while, and then suddenly, from out of nowhere, the enemy blindsides us and jumps us. It's like the more wonderful or powerful or life-changing the time with God is, the more life, the world and the devil conspire together to ruin it. It may even be tempting to think at times, "No, I don't want to spend time getting close to God, because whenever I get close to God horrible things go wrong!"

Tempting to believe that, but don't let the enemy rob you of your relationship with your Daddy and your strength. Remember the baptism of Jesus? The Holy Spirit descended on the Son in the form of a dove and the voice of the Father came from heaven saying "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased." That must have been sweet. How awesome to have Daddy announce in such a public and dramatic way that He's proud and pleased. That verse is Matthew 3:17. Care to guess what happens next?

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

This is the very next verse. I am pleased says the Father and the Spirit comes down and then before the glow of the praise can fade, the Spirit leads Jesus to the wilderness, a place of desolation and lack, where He fasts (doesn't have his needs met physically) for forty days and is tempted by a manipulative foe. And next? The devil left defeated, his temptations had failed and angels came and ministered to (took care of) Jesus.

Maybe we have times when it feels like this. We feel like God is pleased with us, like our Daddy especially loves us, like everything is wonderful, and before we can get from the prayer closet or the church building to our job or the grocery store it feels like we've been brought to a place of desolation and lack where God seems to be distant. What the frustration is that all about? And to make matters worse, here comes Satan trying to twist and manipulate our thoughts to get us to fall or forsake our relationship with Daddy. Hating highs and lows and not wanting what feels like bipolar spirituality the  thought comes to avoid the closeness and wonder of the good times with God to avoid the times of wilderness and warfare.

But appeasing the enemy never works well or long. Giving Satan the exact result he's going for, which is distance between us and Daddy and causing us to seek comfort, pleasure and the things of this world over the relationship with our Creator and the refreshing of angels, isn't going to keep him from trying to twist our thoughts and manipulate us into making things worse and leading us further down the path toward destruction. It's what he does, He hates us. The enemy is coming for me. And for you. He can not be bought nor appeased. He will come hard and fast or subtle and slow, but he's coming to steal what God wants to give us, to kill the life of relationship and the power that the Spirit gives us, and to destroy our life worth living, our peace, love and joy. But God knows. He knows what's coming and what we are about to face.

Jesus didn't get set up by the Father! It was never about something good triggering the bad that happened next in the life of Jesus or our lives. It was about Daddy seeing  the bully coming and spending some time with us to give us what we need to defeat the temptations, hold fast to what we know so that it can't be twisted and to see through the wiles of the enemy. So no matter what comes we can stand and say, "Nu'uh My Daddy is bigger and stronger than you and HE LOVES ME!" 

Let us not rob ourselves of the closeness that makes the wilderness not as bad and gives us the strength to go through it. The wilderness is coming. The enemy is gunning for us. Let's have the time with Daddy and be ready. The alternative is to feel down, depressed and distant from Daddy because of our own decision and then to walk unprepared, weak and doubting into the traps the devil sets before us. 

Unshackled Moments ~ September 19 ~ Where'd Daddy Go?

My wife and I were watching a television show we like, and there was an episode where a man had gone blind and become a famous photographer. Yes, in that order. He walked the city streets, guided by sound and scent, snapping images as he went. What he didn't realize was that his assistant followed him from a safe distance to make sure nothing happened to him, that he didn't get hurt or lost.

The idea made me think of parents I've seen who have known it was time to let their child do some activity on their own. It's one of the stages of preparation for leaving the nest. Can little Johnny ride his bicycle to school all by himself? The parent says yes, and gives a wave as the child pedals away. Then mom and or dad run to the car, or grab their own bike, or just walk the route on foot, making sure the child doesn't run into any trouble and arrives safely.  The child feels big and grown up, but the parents are still there, watching and protecting.

We are not to stay babies in Christ. We will never become "grown" to the point of independence from our Heavenly Daddy, but we are to grow and mature. What God calls us to always has periods where the road is rough and difficult to travel, where there is a lot of resistance that comes against us as we walk in what God has called us. So as preparation to help strengthen our commitment and bolster our faith, God sends us to the wilderness first, a dry place of lack where we can't feel the presence of God and the blessings in our life are hidden. The Father didn't even spare Jesus this. Before His ministry really went into full swing, Jesus was driven into the desert to be tempted.

He wasn't alone. We all have and will have times of dryness and feeling distant from God when it's not because of our walk. Not one of those times where we know, if we're honest with ourselves, that we've moved away and created distance between us and Daddy, but rather a time when we've spent hours, days, maybe even weeks seeking Him, crying out to Him, wondering where He's at. The giants in the land are threatening to make bread from our bones, the crops are failing from drought, and the wolves have scattered the flocks. We feel alone and threatened without help and without resources. "Where  are you God?" We ask. Instead of "I sought the Lord and He heard me," we feel like screaming that we sought the Lord and He was no where to be found.

Periods like that happen, and they're not always about us being in the wrong or out of position or not having faith. Jesus said that if we seek Him we will find Him, but He also said the Kingdom of Heaven (a place where the people of God are under the authority and protection of and aware of the presence of the King) is like a woman who loses a coin and lights a lamp, sweeps floors and moves furniture until she finds it. If we seek we find, but it's not a promise of instant gratification and seeking doesn't mean to glance. Sometimes God sends us through the wilderness to teach us to have faith in what and who we know and to prepare us for what is to come. But don't worry. Don't be afraid. It's just part of growing up, but the big secret the enemy doesn't want you to know is that Daddy is right there watching to make sure we're ok and that  we arrive safely to the oasis where He plans to refresh us in the living water of awareness of His presence.

Unshackled Moments ~ September 18 ~ Learning To Ride

Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.

-Matthew 26:41

When we who are drunks and addicts seek to find freedom from those chains of addictions, invariably at some point we will hear that we need to watch out for "trigger." We're told to not put ourselves in the situations and surroundings that led to drinking or using in the past. (Like breathing. Breathing while being awake was probably my biggest trigger.) To help fight the desire, the temptation, to go back to whatever addiction we have to change our people, places and things. But if we eliminate every old trigger to our addictions and behaviors, we will only make new ones if we don't find relationship with God that sets us free and fills us. If we do find said relationship we can go anywhere and be around anything or anyone without falling back into old behavior.

But if we want to be free, free from chemicals, free from selfish attitudes and emotions, free from the chains of any kind that have held us in bondage in the past, the first thing we need to do after coming to Christ to be set free is to learn to pray successfully. Prayer taps us into and allows us to access the power and grace of God to walk in His will, to deny our own and old way, and to resist the temptation to turn away or to turn back to where we once where slaves. Jesus didn't tell the disciples to prevent falling to temptation by avoiding anything or anyone. He told them to watch and pray.

But learning to pray may be the hardest thing for anyone to do. It's what, if one is like me, may be on our top 5 list of things we need to do every day and do more and yet it can also be the spiritual act that is easiest to cut short, leave out, put off till later, etc. That is because our flesh, our humanity if you will, doesn't want to pray. It has no desire to enter into the presence of the Most High God. Our mortality puts on immortality in the presence of God, and it does so by surrendering to the purpose and will of the One who created us, dying and being resurrected into new life. No matter how seriously the surrender at the cross of Jesus was meant, our old nature will fight it. And so first and foremost, the flesh must be fought and conquered, at least for the time, in order to pray well.

It's also frustrating that prayer isn't an intellectual pursuit. Books and books have been written on the subject. Some are good and some are bad, but none can teach a person to pray any more than a person can learn to ride a bike by reading a book. One learns to ride a bike by doing it. By getting on, struggling for balance and power to pedal before falling, then getting up and doing it again. Finally the falls become rare if ever. And prayer is the same. We can finds tips and suggestions that may act as training wheels, but the only thing that we can do to learn to pray is to pray and pray and pray some more, and to not give up when we fall flat on our face or skin our spiritual knees. Learning to pray well and establishing a prayer life is a process.

Every believer is unique, fearfully and wonderfully made. Every Christian has his or her own name that is special between them and God and that no one else knows. And everyone's conversation with their Creator is as unique as they are. Maybe not at first, when the training wheels are on, but by the time it becomes a part of life and the falls occur less, we all become original in our prayers. We have found relationship, and it is in spending time with Daddy in a way that is real and can't be imitated or learned from someone else that we find freedom and power to walk away from temptation.

Introducing The Holy Spirit

Dalyn Woodard gives a brief survey on the Holy Spirit. Who is the Holy Spirit and what is it that He does and doesn't do. We need the Holy Spirit in our lives and must not go to either end of the extreme in our relationship with Him. Not going to extremes means not running from Him or refusing to allow Him to operate in or through us but also not placing more emphasis on the Spirit than on the Father and the Son. The message, "Introducing The Holy Spirit" is about 40 minutes long and was recorded at Nacogdoches Christian Fellowship on Wednesday, September 16, 2015. It's our prayer that you are blessed and ministered to as you listen. May God bless and keep you.

Unshackled Moments ~ September 17 ~ Not Just A Job Interview

God wants you. He wants relationship with you. He wants to make you His and to have you receive and reciprocate His love. That's what He wants. You may have wondered "What's God want me for?" Well now you know. Jesus didn't call the disciples to Him to be apostles and fishers of men. He didn't call you for an aspect of ministry. When Jesus says come and the Spirit whispers the desire of God to our hearts giving us the gift of faith to respond it's not a job interview. Yes, Jesus knew the disciples would be apostles and told them from the start that He would use them. Yes, God has a special and unique calling for you that will enable His glory to be reflected in a way that no one else can quite reflect it, but that's not the why He wants you. That's secondary. When Jesus told the parable of the lost sheep, there was no indication that the sheep had anything that the other 99 didn't. It wasn't more valuable. It's wool wasn't gold. It didn't have a special job. It was just His, so He left the 99 to get it back. It isn't the will of the Father that any should perish. The Word took on flesh out of love for you, for me, and for everyone. It wasn't a way to get cheap workers or indentured servants. It wasn't to convince us to work for the kingdom. It was to bring us by grace into the family. Jesus wants you for you. He wants me for me. I don't know why Jesus loves me, but I'm glad that He does. Aren't you glad that Jesus loves you?

Unshackled Moments ~ September 16 ~ Sharing The Load

My back hurts this morning. I moved three steel tool boxes yesterday, and even though I did it the easy way, I still put some strain on my back. What's the easy way? Well, I lifted one end high enough to get a chain under the boxes, which were about six feet long, two feet wide and two and a half feet deep. Once I got the chain under it. I let it drop. I then wrapped the chain tightly so that it wouldn't slip, hooked the other end of the chain to the tractor bucket, and used the tractor to raise and move the bucket most of the way. Most of the way. That's where it got difficult and a little frustrating. I could only get the tractor just inside a 30 foot radius, which left me with a little distance, over terrain strewn with obstacles, in which I had to move my load to get it where it needed to be. So I unhooked the chain, and I stood the boxes on end and walked them corner to corner as the things in the way allowed, half-carried and drug them to where I could set them down. Only a few times, for a short moment, did I have all of the weight of any of the boxes on me. I used tricks of leverage and physics to lesson the strength that I needed to move my burden without doing harm to my already damaged back. There were a few times during the hour it took to move three boxes less than 50 feet that I felt that twinge and knew I would hurt later. But I kept going, because that's my job. I simply tried to be more careful not to take all the weight on. My boss came over after I had moved everything and was cleaning the rust off the boxes so that they could be painted. He said, "got 'em moved. Good job." He told me to paint the trailers that needed paint first and paint the boxes last, because they could weight if I ran out of time. Then he said, "Pretty heavy aren't they?" I nodded and said something about them being very heavy but I got it done. Then he said, "I figured you would carry the three as far as the tractor could go and then let me help you carry them to here," and then he walked away. Seriously? He told me to move the boxes. He showed me where they were and where he wanted them. He even told me to use the tractor to move them as far as possible that way. He hadn't said anything about helping me carry them from there. And he was on the phone. How long would I have had to sit around waiting on the clock for help with something I can do myself. I would feel like I wasn't working hard enough or doing my job. I wanted to impress him with what I could get done. I wanted him to remain happy he gave me the opportunity to work when no one else would. I wanted to feel his pleasure over my hard work ethic, maybe even get a little praise. Wait? Get help? Well, yes. If I had I wouldn't be hurting as much this morning. Eddie didn't say anything about helping me because he figured I would know better than to move everything myself. I've worked with him enough to know that he always calls me over to help him with something that could better be moved by two people rather than one. Better to move a little slower on one job than to get hurt and not be able to get anything done later. He's told me before not to hurt myself, and so has my family, and metaphorically so has my aching back. Foolish, stubborn self-reliance. Too smart for my own good. Too worried about not doing a good enough job. Too determined to please and impress with my own effort. We are told in Psalm 55 to cast our burdens onto the Lord and He will sustain (strengthen or support mentally or physically) us. Peter said we can confidently and comfortably cast our cares on the Lord, because He cares for us. Jesus said everyone who is worn out, weary, busted and burdened should come to Him and trade their load for His because His yoke is easy and the burden light. We've been given plenty of instruction not to carry our worries and weight ourselves. Then comes the calling, that task that God calls us to do. Whether it's a long term situation, like a ministry or career, or short term, like being there for someone who needs a hand or a listening ear. So eager to please our Daddy, to show He didn't mess up by giving us the task, wanted His approval and praise, we determine to do the job we have been told to do, to obey. And to do it well. But we forget the earlier instructions and examples that we've been given. God doesn't want to watch us struggle to get the job done ourselves, not even the smartest, easiest, least-damaging way. If we're not teamed up with Jesus to pull that yoke, then when people see the field that's been plowed they see us. God gets the glory when they see Jesus, and that can only happen when He's pulling the load instead of us. No matter how small or easy the task, God never wants us to do it alone. He hates self-sufficiency because it robs Him of closeness with us (working together is a way to forge a bond between two people that can't be broken), it keeps Him from being able to show His providence and grace to us (because we're so busy doing it ourselves we can't see the better thing He had planned to do) or show His power, providence and grace to the world that still needs a savior. Don't hurt your spiritual back. It's good to want to please the Father, to obey, to walk in what we've been called to. But remember that our way is not His way, and no matter how we manipulate and manage things to lessen the load we are still carrying burdens we're not supposed to carry when we do it alone.

Unshackled Moments ~ September 15 ~ Addition And Subtraction

Crowds flocked to Jesus. People tore the tops off houses to get to Him. They followed Him for days and miles. Yes, sometimes all they wanted was the miracle, and Jesus even said so. But there was more to it than that. They were after another miracle, the miracle of who He is. Jesus added value to the people He hung out with. He listened to them, really listened with His heart and with His eyes full of compassion and love. He spent His time with someone concerned with how He could be of service to them and not trying to figure out how to get something or boost Himself in any way. Jesus didn't drain folks. He didn't suck the energy from people. They didn't dread being around Him, because hanging out with Jesus wasn't exhausting. Jesus wasn't dry and needy. Jesus was full. Since He was full, His purpose in any encounter with a person never had anything to do with what He could get but was always about what He could give. He came to serve. He added to people's lives instead of taking. The only times He took were times that He took sadness, sorrow, sickness, loneliness, etc. When people encountered Jesus that left knowing at least one person in the world loved them, that they had value to at least one, and a little more about the nature of God than when the encounter began. That hasn't changed. People are sometimes afraid to give up their will to God, because they are afraid that somehow they'll come out on the short end of the stick. But Jesus wants to give to you, not take. If He does remove something, it will only be to make room for something better, something you'll want more, something more fulfilling and satisfying and lasting. We don't have to be afraid of surrender because no one wants more for us...more peace, more joy, more love, than Jesus. We will never come out with less when we give to Him than if we hoard what we have. Ever. So today, let us do two things. Let us be quick to surrender and spend time with our Savior, letting Him add to our lives. Then, powered by His love and grace, let us go through our day full enough to give and to add to the lives of those we encounter rather than pulling from them. But if we find ourselves unable to do that, if we are in a place of neediness, let us like the crowds of Galilee run to Jesus, climb trees and walls and tear up roofs to get to Him. Don't let anything stand between you and the only One who can meet your needs and fill you up.

Unshackled Moments ~ September 14 ~ The Crowd Went Wild

I love football. My poor wife, who is not a huge football fan, is very understanding of my passion, or as she puts it, my obsession, with all things gridiron. I do my best to enjoy the sport without imposing on her or making her a football widow, because as much as I love football, I love her much more. After all, she is my treasure and football is but a game. There are plenty of things more important. That said, to those who play and the fans, football is serious. Saturday night I stayed up to watch the end of the LSU Mississippi State game. I am a LSU fan, and the game was way too close to just turn off and wait till morning to find out what happened. It literally came down to the last 2 seconds. One young man bore the weight of the game on his shoulders. If he could kick a field goal from over 50 yards his team, Miss St., would win. If he missed LSU would win. Everything rode on that one kick. Thousands of people watched from the stands and more on television and online from all over. Some were praying that he made it. Others were hoping and praying he missed or that the kick was blocked. The kicker had nothing to do with the situation. It wasn't his fault in any way that his team found themselves down by two points with two seconds left in the game. A delay of game penalty pushed the kick even further back from the "he can probably make it" range to the "living on a prayer" distance he faced. Also not his fault. Yet although he had no responsibility in getting them in that spot, it was on him to get them out of it. He trained and practiced and joined the team for moments such as this. A whistle blew a fraction a second before the snap and a kick that went wide of the mark. LSU had called a time out, and although he missed, he would have a second chance. The failure became a practice kick. The snap came a second time. He stepped into position and kicked......wide the other way. He missed. LSU fans like me, rejoiced. Mississippi State fans grieved, groaned and griped. I can only imagine how the kicker's team mates felt to get so close to victory only to watch all hopes fade as the football drifted to the right of the goal posts. And the poor kicker himself? I have no idea if he felt more determined to practice more, or if he felt he failed everyone, or maybe he got angry, declared the situation wasn't his fault and blamed the quarterback and the delay of game penalty. I don't know. What I do know is that it made me think of the fact that there are times when we do what's right, when we are where we are supposed to be, doing what we are supposed to do and thanks to others' choices and or mistakes we find ourselves under pressure to do the near impossible to make things right. More times than not, we fall short. There's a reason near impossible is near impossible and not normal. It's hard not to get angry or feel guilty, to feel like a failure and fear rejection. But Jesus is there when we succeed and when we fall short. His arms are open to us and His love and mercy are new every morning. He gives grace and new chances and forgiveness as often as needed. He is our biggest fan, and He doesn't give up on us when we let the crowd down.

Unshackled Moments ~ September 13 ~ Giving The Last

There is a story in the old testament about a widow who gives to Elijah and gets an awesome return blessing. It can be found in I Kings 17, but the gist of it is that there is a drought that puts everything in short supply. The widow is out gathering sticks, and Elijah asks her for water, which she immediately starts to get for him. Then he adds a request for bread. She tells him she has none, only enough oil and flour to make a small bite for her and her son to eat as a last meal. They are starving. He tells her don't worry about starving, just make me some bread and there will be enough to make you and your son bread until the drought is over. She complied and didn't run out of flour or oil for days until it finally rained. I have heard this story used as part of tithing sermons and illustrations of giving in faith means you get stuff back. Neither of those is what this is about. This woman's gift to Elijah was not a tithe. First thing he did, which is often not mentioned, is ask for water in the midst of a drought. She never hesitates but goes to get some. This is not about tithing. It's about service. She can; so she will. There is still enough water left for her to give. Then he asked for bread, and there is not enough oil and flour for him and the last meal she planned for her and her son. In response to him telling her to go ahead and make it, that she won't run out, she does it. But the scripture says nothing of her great faith here. She didn't declare deep faith in Elijah being a man of God and speaking truth until later. At most this is about obedience more than faith. She may have had faith she wouldn't run out. Or she may have figured it didn't matter in the long run if she and her son had that last bite or not. They were still about to die either way. So why not let the prophet have the last of the oil and flour? But this is about a simple truth that what we give to God in obedience and service we get back. I'm not talking about some formula that says if you give God X he has to give back whatever. If you give to God like it's an investment in the stock market, that's not giving to God. That's trying to make God give to you. But when you give to God, for the purpose of giving to be of service, to bless and out of obedience, not worrying about when and how or even if you get a return, God blesses that. When we give love because we're told to, and it's needed. When we sacrifice our time, something way more valuable than money and something that can't be regained, in order to help someone and do what God has called us to do, He blesses our lives. And yes, when we give our resources in service to the King, not as an investment but out of understanding that they and our lives are His to use as He pleases anyway, then He, who takes care of what is His, will provide what is needed. The truth about giving is not that when we give God has to give back. It's not if you want this, do that. It's about love. It's Mom giving Dad his favorite part of the chicken before anyone else getting to fix their plates. It's about there being one popsicle in the freezer and the big brother giving it to the little brother instead of keeping it for himself. Sometimes, you discover a whole other box in the back. Sometimes it's the last treat of the summer and months before you see another one. But giving out of love like that to God and for God brings satisfaction and blessing into our lives that is way more than just whether or not we get more treats back. It's about service, which makes us more like Jesus and gives us purpose. And it's about obedience, which makes us grow.

Unshackled Moments ~ September 12 ~ Leave The Gun On The Ground

I had another prison dream this morning. I have had a lot of them over the past few months. I'm not sure why, but they were becoming almost nightly and bad. I got prayer Sunday and hadn't had one since until this morning. For some that may not sound like a positive answer to prayer, but believe me when I say that over the last few months five nights without prison dreams is a blessing and a miracle. Still, as one might imagine, I felt discouraged as I lay awake trying to get my bearings and slow my heart rate. At least this one wasn't too bad. It was one of the fantastical ones, where prion plays a part but in a non-realistic way rather than one of the "Hey, remember this? Doesn't this feel real and sucky and real sucky?" ones. I'm not sure why I had another prison dream after almost a week free of them unless it was all the remembrance from yesterday. "Where Were You When The World Stopped Turning?" Well Alan, since you asked, I was in D dorm 32 bunk of a transfer prison facility still trying to adjust to prison life while everyone told me that this wasn't the real prison yet, because transfer facilities were almost as different as county jail, and waiting for my permanent housing in one of the many Texas prisons. So anyway, I pretty much hate that song, and maybe all the 9-11 talk brought the dreams back, or maybe this one served a purpose. Maybe they all did, and I just haven't snapped to it. We left the prison on a Blue Bird (transfer bus) and went to Wal-Mart, which in the dream was apparently commissary. I mentioned it was a fantastical and non-realistic dream right? Right. One of my fellow convicts and I were talking. I can't remember his name, but this is the one part of the dream that was "remember me" in nature, as I actually did time with this guy. We just called him "Throwed," as in thrown off and crazy, most of the time, and that's what I called him in the dream. He was actually a pretty nice guy most of the time in both life and in the dream. But as we walked though an almost empty of food Wal-Mart, I guess prison commissary is always bad no matter how you dress it up in a dream, Throwed came across a handgun on the floor. He picked it up, and here came the crazy. I sensed that he didn't mean any harm when he picked up the pistol but had simply hoped that the threat would help him get some of the dwindling supplies before they were all gone. But once he had it in his hand, the gangster came out and the nice guy was locked away somewhere. Throwed was pretty much a modern day ghetto demonstration of Jekyll and Hyde, and you never knew exactly what would set him off. In the dream it was having a gun in his hand. He was about to start killing folks. I grabbed him and pushed the gun skyward so that all six shots went off harmlessly into the air. As soon as the pistol was emptied, Throwed dropped to his knees crying and saying he didn't mean to, he just couldn't help himself. I held him and tried to comfort him and help him even as the guards arrived to cuff him and take him to seg. Then I woke up. So why did I ramble all over the place trying to tell this dream before the fog burns off and the dream with its associated emotions fade away? Because I saved people from getting shot? Hardly. I didn't feel like a hero. I felt like a failure for not helping Throwed. There is a truth here buried in the weirdness of the dream. Throwed didn't want to get in trouble, he didn't want to hurt anyone, but he picked up the gun. We often don't mean anything bad or want to hurt anyone, but we see a situation out of control and instinctively reach for something that we've used to help in the past. Anything we use as aid in our situation outside of the will of God is a mistake, no matter what it is. We think we can control it or use it in a less harmful way than the destruction it's caused in the past, but once we pick it up, whether it be a substance or an emotion like anger or whatever it is, we go to Hyde. We've lost control and the crazy is back. It's a scary place to be in, knowing the ride won't end until someone or something stops it and not knowing how much damage will be done before it's over. It's like being in the middle of an argument and thinking "This is stupid. It's not important or worth the price to the relationship" and still not being able to stop the next stupid thing about to be screamed from an angry and has to win state of mind. So the words get said and the face of the family member or friend crumbles and the truth is evident. Too far. I've gone way too far. I didn't have control. I didn't mean to do it. I couldn't help myself. We can't help ourselves in that heat of the moment. Only the grace of God can stop a roller coaster before it naturally comes to the end in any other than a serious wreck. But we don't have to get on the ride to begin with. We don't have to pick up the pistol. The old tools didn't work right. The tools God gives us don't bring destruction. Today, let us go to our Daddy to meet our needs and not try to fix things ourselves with some variation of our natural instinctive choices of the past. Leave the gun on the ground.

Unshackled Moments ~ September 11 ~ Lest We Forget

In less than an hour many people on Facebook will go silent for an hour and forty-two minutes in memory of The Towers going down and the innocent men and women who died that day 14 years ago. Let's also take a moment to say thank you to the innocent God in man flesh who died a horrible and public death so that we could live and have freedom. It's easy to remember tragedies like 9-11, June 6 and December 7 where so many died in the name of freedom and so many heroes sacrificed themselves so that others could live. We honor the memories of the fallen. But only God's sacrifice brings true freedom, only He can give eternal life. Even on a day when so many memories demand our attention let us not forget our time with Him and lift up a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving.

Unshackled Moments ~ September 10 ~ Racing The Rain

There are thunderstorms cutting loose in my area at the moment. I just got in from work, and as I pulled out on my motorcycle to head home I got a good look at what the trees had been blocking from the work site. Nasty looking black and grey clouds in the direction that I had to go. I don't like to ride the motorcycle in the rain, especially in a thunderstorm. If I'm not prepared for it, i.e. packing rain gear, it's quite uncomfortable. The drops feel like needles at any decent speed, and it only takes a second to get completely soaked. I have a fairing (windshield) on my bike, and it's great for keeping rocks and bugs from hitting me in the face. It sucks for rain though. It does nothing to keep the rain from hitting you, but it does make it nearly impossible to see. Got through a thunderstorm with no windshield wipers, and you get the idea. So you have to stick your face around the edge to see where you're going, but even that doesn't help much, because I wear glasses now. Not to mention the windshield catches the strong storm winds and acts like a sail whipping me around and making me fight to stay in my lane, if I can see my lane. Basically, it sucks. It's miserably uncomfortable and dangerous. So I raced the rain. I prayed and gunned it, staying just ahead of the rain I could see falling in the not so far distance behind me. I made it today. It started raining on me as I pulled into the drive, and I said a prayer of gratitude and hurried to feed the dogs. It struck me though that all too often we respond to life the same way. We see the storm clouds on the horizon and feel the increasing force of the wind and run for cover, praying we make it to shelter before it hits. Sometimes those prayers are answered. Sometimes though we need to go through the storm to get to where we need to be.Regardless, if fear sets in and we feel the need to race the rain, to beat the oncoming storm or get out of it as quickly as possible, let's remember where we need to run to. God is our shelter and our refuge. We need to always race toward Him, and remember if He calls us to go through the storm, we can trust Him to keep us.

The Fight Goes On

Dalyn Woodard shares on why, since our former manner of life is dead and gone because of the grace of Christ's sacrifice, we still struggle with sin. If we could truly understand the power of grace that is available to us as children of God we could go through the rest of our life without sinning ever again, but it would never be us. We are not totally unrighteous because our spirit is righteous, but we are also not totally righteous yet because our mind and body are still clothed in humanness under the curse. There is a solution to the conflict of the righteous inner spirit and the carnal fleshly mind with its propensity to sin. The message, "The Fight Goes On" is about 37 minutes long and was recorded at Nacogdoches Christian Fellowship on Wednesday, September 9, 2015. It's our prayer that you are blessed and ministered to as you listen. May God bless and keep you.

Unshackled Moments ~ September 9 ~ A Mile In Their Shoes

All too often it's easy to isolate ourselves form anyone that we don't feel comfortable around or understand. If we can't relate or they don't fit in to whatever category we feel we fit into, avoid at best or belittle, criticize and ostracize at work. But we are not called to belittle and make outcasts of those who don't fit in. I'm not talking about being popular. I was not a "popular" guy in school. I was one of the outcasts and freaks, and believe me, the freaks can be just as snobby and prejudiced against the popular "normal" kids as the other way around. Each of us has our comfort zone. If someone doesn't fit into that zone or doesn't comply with the standards of that group, they don't belong. But Jesus called us to be like Him and do as He did.

So what is it exactly that God did? Well, God has His comfort zone called righteousness and holiness. Nobody seemed to be able to qualify. No one fit the standard. So God literally came down and walked 33 years worth of miles in our shoes. He made Himself available to the outcasts. He touched lepers, ate with drunks and prostitutes, and for those of us with reverse prejudice issues He also hung out with tons of pharisees. He never once condoned anyone's behavior that didn't line up with what's right, and yet He managed to love all of them, all of us. He loves us as we are, not as we should be. So no matter why someone doesn't deserve to be able to hang out with you, Jesus would welcome that person. And no matter what reason you may feel you don't belong, Jesus welcomes you. He knows how you feel, because He purposefully empathized with you and with me as He faced every struggle and temptation that we face. He didn't say you're not worthy get away. He said let me make you worthy come to Me.

Let us make more of an effort to practice empathy and love. It's easy to walk around and say what would Jesus do, but's let's remember what He really did do. He loved the unacceptable. He welcomed the outcast. He put Himself in our shoes and died in our place. Not once is there an example of anyone coming to Him, not a pharisee or a "sinner" who Jesus refused to associate with. How can we say we follow Him and do any differently.

Unshackled Moments ~ September 8 ~ Not Indentured Service

With yesterday being Labor Day, I spent some time thinking about debt. They are related. After all in the world of misheard lyrics the song most commonly gotten wrong is not :Purple Haze" by Jimi Hendrix. It's the work song from Snow White which goes "I owe. I owe. It's off to work I go." Ok, that's a joke, but there's some truth in it. While there is a small percentage of  the work force that works for something to do and to keep busy but doesn't need the money, that is not the case for most of us. I for one would minister full-time, but the back breaking labor that I do now I would do no more if my financial responsibilities were taken care of.

We work to provide for ourselves and our family, to pay for the things we need in order to live, and of course to pay for the things we want. Sometimes the combination of the those things is more than we can do, or at least do at once. A mechanical problem with the car, a flat tire, an unexpected hospital visit, and any number of other things can cause the need for a larger sum of money than we can easily access. Some parents felt it recently having to purchase what their children needed in order to begin school. So, we whip out the credit cards, and we do so without hesitation. Most Americans live in a state of indebtedness.

Part of the reason we don't hesitate to go into debt is that there is no longer a debtor's prison. We can't go to jail for failing to pay back our student loans. But there are places and there were times when if you owed someone and couldn't pay, you went to prison until your family could raise the money to pay the debt or you made arrangements to sell yourself into indentured servitude. At one time indentured servitude was the common way out of debt for most people. I owe Impatient Man too much money to pay. I lease myself to Cheap Labor Man for an amount of time that depended on how much I owed and how much he was willing to pay for the service I had to offer. Cheap Labor Man paid off my debt, and I went to work for him for a period of time. That period of time often became life regardless of what was negotiated, because while I work as an indentured servant it's hard to make additional income. So I either continue  to go into debt or my master provides for my needs in exchange for longer service.

We sometime feel this is the deal we have with God. Some of Paul's writing's lead to that sort of feeling. He writes about us being slaves to righteousness now rather than slaves to sin. We are bought with a price and no longer our own. But he uses the common slavery and bondage terminology to explain that we are now free from the dominion of sin. We are no longer slaves to the things that we were once slaves of. Our debt has been paid. But since we look at it as indentured servitude to God at times, we also approach serving Him with the drudgery and poor attitude that we approach a job we don't like.

But this is not how we should look at it. If someone came up to me today and offered to take care of all my debts, provide for all my needs in exchange for my service, and then told me that my service would be tailored to my gifts and abilities, they would provide training, guidance and supply everything that I need in order to do it, and the work would be the most satisfying and fulfilling work that I had ever done. All I had to do was agree to a life long contract of being taken care of. I for one would sign up. It's not a bad deal.

But even that is not what we find in our relationship with God. It's more that we are orphans, living on our own the best we can, but our best isn't good enough. We end up in debt and facing legal ramifications that are horrible. Then in walks our benefactor. He takes away the legal penalties. Then He pays all our debts. We are so thankful that we offer our servitude, but that's not what He wants. He wants a child. He says yes, there are things you can do for the family business that no one else can do quite the same way, and I want and appreciate your service, but I'm adopting you. You will be my child with a full inheritance and a relationship with me that goes far beyond Master and servant. You will be loved. That's what we have in Jesus, not indentured service.

Unshackled Moments ~ September 7 ~ Labor Day

Today isw Labor Day in the United States, a day where we as a country celebrate the lightening of the worker's load. The idea of a 40 hour work, weekends off, holidays off, etc. are all results of the struggles of workers and unions to provide a more fair work environment and keep people from having to work themselves to death to maintain employment. But let us take time this day to celebrate another lightening on the load. Jesus said, "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." Matthew 11:28-30

It's good to struggle to make things better, and on Labor Day we remember the struggle of those who made life a little easier for the working class in this country. But to find true rest and to lighten all our load, struggle isn't necessary. All we need to do is come to Jesus and let Him take it.

Unshackled Moments ~ September 6 ~ Stepping Out

Last night my wife Leah  showed me some video that was taken of our grandson during our recent visit with her son and daughter. Baiden, who is just a couple of months over two years old, is on a park playground stepping from one raised stepping "stone" to another. The width of the steps is right at the end of the range of how far he can spread his legs. He has his little hand in his Aunt Amanda's hand, and he's just going for it, completely trusting her to keep him from falling. He's stepping out and working his little legs for all he's worth, but it's not his strength and balance keeping him on the path and from falling. It's his aunt's hand holding his.

We need to be like my grandson. Without fear or hesitation, we can simply step out and walk from one stepping stone to the next leaning into the reassuring hold of our Daddy's hand. We do need to do our part. Amanda was not carrying Baiden. But no matter how much or how little our part is, we can trust that Daddy will do the rest. He will give us the strength and balance and whatever else we need for the journey.

Unshackled Moments ~ September 5 ~ Game On

Today is the day I have been awaiting with eager anticipation all year, the kick off of the Texas Tech Red Raiders football season. Since the final whistle blow of last season I have looked forward to this day and the weeks to come. The team is rebuilding. They don't have the stars of some of the other teams. They are not going to win every game, and it will be a miracle if they even make a serious running for the conference championship. The idea of winning a national championship is ludicrous. But I can't wait to watch it unfold, and it all starts in a few hours.

We can have that same enthusiasm of a football fan for what God is going to do next in our lives. He has a plan, and it's starting soon, whether soon is a few hours from now or a few months or a few years, He will be kicking off a new chapter in our life. We can get worried and afraid knowing that we are not as prepared as we'd like, or as strong as some others, or don't have the resources, or we can look forward with expectation at performing our best and learning what God would have us learn. He doesn't expect us to be perfect or to succeed on our own. In fact, self-sufficiency is the last thing He wants from us, so we can let that fear of failure go. He is waiting to pour out His grace to make up the difference, whether great or small, between what we can do and what He wants done.

There will be times of difficulty. Learning and growth always include some struggle and pain. Learning new things and new levels of  trusting God is predicated on walking beyond where we are, what we already know and stepping outside our comfort zone. Some may see us try to run with God's game plan and only see our shortcomings, criticizing us from the sidelines. That can hurt and be embarrassing. But others will see the glory, power, love, grace and mercy of God in both our successes and failures. We ourselves will have the pleasure of being on the field in the action of what God is doing. There is nothing greater than fulfilling the purpose of our  calling.

So today, let us continue to do the things we have been told to do. Everything we are called to do today, called to go through today is preparation for what is to come. Let's do it with passion and enthusiasm and a determination to do our best for the Coach who calls the plays while remaining reliant upon His instruction, guidance and power to pull it off. Game On.

Unshackled Moments ~ September 4 ~ Jesus Loves Muslims

Jesus loves Muslims....and as Christians so should we. Please read what I am saying before you get angry or dismiss this. It's important.  First, there are many groups trying to promote the idea of peace between these two religions preaching "love" and cooperation and compromise. They point out thar both religions have roots in Judaism and came from Abraham. They try to talk about how most Muslims respect the Bible and honor Jesus as a prophet. That's not what I am talking about. Jesus  is not a prophet and never claimed to be. He is either the very Word of God that spoke all creation into existence and came to die that we might have life, or He is a liar and a mad man. Choose which you believe.

No, we should not love Muslims because of who or how they are, but rather because of who Christ is. Do they deserve it? No. And neither do I. And neither do you. Grace is not about what we deserve. That's why it's called grace. But they're beheading Christians! Yes, they are. But....no buts. Jesus said if we love Him we will be persecuted. He said they're going to condemn us, hate us and kill us. This shouldn't be surprising anyone. He also said you're blessed when you're persecuted, so maybe we should stop all this I'm offended and need to retaliate against people blessing us. He also said love your enemy and pray for those who despitefully use you. He also said Father forgive them as religious hypocrites, soldiers and the sins of me and you nailed Him to a cross and killed Him. We weren't merciful enough to take His head. We crucified Him. A much worse way to die. And if we had been there, we would have either yelled for His crucifixion or fled from His side or stood there and wept without stopping anything. I nailed Him there. So did you. With every act of rebellion and selfishness I became the enemy of God and destroyer of His Son as much as any member of ISIS.

While we were still the enemies of God, Christ died for us. He did not say "these sinners are offending me, so I'm going to offend them back." He didn't require us to change or repent before He showed love. While we spit on Him and cursed His name and screamed crucify with our selfishness He willingly went to the cross on our behalf. Oh, and by the way, He also did that for every member of ISIS and every Muslim that ever was, is or will be.

God died for Muslims. He wants relationship with them. He calls them to Himself. It breaks His heart when they remain enemies rather than be reconciled to Him. Jesus is walking the earth today spreading His message that the kingdom of heaven is at hand, that we can be reconciled to the Father, that there is a way to relationship with our Creator, and that the Lord of Heaven and Earth loves us all. Did you know that, that Jesus is doing that here and now? Well, He is. Look in a mirror. If you're a Christian you are looking at a hand or foot or mouth or.....something, a part of the body of Christ. This is not metaphorical. This is reality. We are called to be His light in the dark, His ambassador to the lost enemies of God, to love as He loved so that the world that needs Him knows how to find Him. Christ lives in us, and if the world is going to see Him, it has to be in our actions and reactions.

That means that Muslims see Jesus when a father says "I forgive you" to the radical that just killed his wife and children who would not deny Christ.  In every act of love, forgiveness and grace they are shown they get a glimpse of the Living and Merciful God who loves them. What they do with that glimpse is their responsibility. But giving that glimpse is ours, yours and mine. Christians posting pictures on social media of bikini clad women eating bacon to return offense is not the way to show love. By the way neither is saying "you're OK as you are. Keep your Qua ran while I'll keep my Bible and we'll meet in the middle when we can." Love is saying "you are an enemy of God as I once was, but He loves you and so do I. Jesus died to set you free. I forgive your offenses and attacks, and I will pray that you find your way to Christ as I have. There you will find freedom, forgiveness, peace, joy, a life worth living, and love.....lots and lots of love.

Unshackled Moments ~ September 3 ~ Making Our Bed In Hell

Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence?  If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.

~ Psalm 139:7-8

These scriptures where used as as the verse of the day by a minister friend of mine, and when I opened the daily e-mail and saw them the memories hit me pretty hard and reminded me of God's faithfulness. You see, these verses became important to me during my incarceration. It's an awesome (as in truly  and extremely impressive or daunting; inspiring great admiration, apprehension, or fear;  breathtaking, magnificent, wonderful, amazing, stunning, staggering, stirring, fearsome, mind-blowing, jaw-dropping, excellent, and marvelous) that there is nowhere we can run that we will get beyond  the reach of the Father. Sure it's nice to remember that "if He leads you to it, He will lead you through it," but if you're anything like me, the worst and most painful times have been a result of not following His lead.

Sometimes we may feel like we can't cry out to God for help because the mess we're in is our fault. We imagine God acting like an upset parent saying "you made your bed, now lie in it." That's how I felt about prison. I did the crime and now I had to do the time...alone. Then one day I read these verses, and I lay in my rack and cried. Literally that morning I had made my bed in hell on earth, and it was my rebellious prodigal spirit that took me to that place. And here was a verse reminding me that the Father in the prodigal son story stood on the porch waiting to welcome his son home, not to berate him and condemn him or show some "tough love." Even though I put myself in that place and made my bed in hell I could find Him there with me. I wasn't alone.

No matter what you are going through today, whatever in your circumstances and situation may feel and hurt like hell, He is there. Even if you got there entirely on your own and it's all your fault and you deserve it, His presence is promised, and His mercies are new every morning. Like Jonah's days in the fish and my days in prison, you may have to do the time, but  you don't have to do it alone. Turn quickly to Him and let His love comfort you.

Unshackled Moments ~ September 2 ~ Road Construction

Yesterday I had to return something back in my old stomping grounds. As I rode my motorcycle down the highway I noticed that traffic the other direction had been reduced to one lane for road construction. After I dropped off what I needed to return, I headed back to Nacogdoches and decided to avoid the road construction. I turned off the highway onto what I remembered as a pretty smooth black top road that cut through to a farm to market highway and led into town the back way. Either things had changed or I remembered wrong.

A portion of the road didn't have black top. Part of it was white rock and the rest thick sand. Now, my motorcycle doesn't handle well in sand at all. It's just not made for it. Not only does it not handle correctly, but the fender fails to prevent the front tire from slinging dirt in my face. The next thing I knew I had to slow to about 20 mph and still had to constantly blink sand out of my eyes. Finally the road became black top again, but it wasn't so smooth. There were pot holes and ruts in it big enough to shake me to the point of pain, and there were too many to dodge.One hole couldn't be avoided because it sat right in the path I had to take across a one-lane bridge.Even though I had slowed to second gear it rattled my teeth and hurt my back.

It made me think how we often make the same mistake I made on a spiritual level. We spot something coming that will be inconvenient or difficult, and without waiting for guidance from the Holy Spirit we pick another route. Often it's a return to the roads we've traveled before, but they don't work quite like we remember or expect. The turn out to be even more difficult. dangerous and painful than what we were trying to avoid in the first place. This is even more true spiritually since when we turn off His path to go our own way, we leave the path of grace and find ourselves on our own.

Sometimes life gets hard and inconvenient. It can even be dangerous at times. There are times if we listen for direction that God will give us an alternate route around the situation. But there are also times that He wants to use that construction to do something in us. We're supposed to go through it. We may not want to or enjoy it as much. It may slow us down. But it's also the best route. When we head off down the roads of our own way, whether new or old, they never provide the safety and grace that God provides when we stay on the road He has chosen. And we often miss something He wanted to show or give us as well.

Today let us not be quick to veer off in attempt to avoid the construction in our lives. Let us rely on His grace rather than our old ways to get us where He  wants and needs us to go.

Unshackled Moments ~ September 1 ~ Fantasy Football

Saturday evening my stepson gathered with his father and friends and they drafted their teams for fantasy football. Yesterday evening I spent a few minutes thinking about the team I'd want to have. I'm listening  to Pandora in hopes of hearing again the advertisement with the code for the free entry into the fantasy football league I'd like to play. All over this country people will be spending a few minutes to full-time hours and more going over stats and projections and injury reports as they decide who to play, who to trade and who to bench week to week on their fantasy teams. Some people do it for fun. Some do it for the love of the game and competition with friends/bragging rights. Some people do it for money, as in enough money to live on money. But what it's all about is control, or the illusion of it.

It started simply enough. Fans who love certain players would be able to rate and rank those players against their buddies who love different players. My favorite quarterback could outperform yours even if he didn't have the best offensive line in the history of the game protecting him. Well my favorite wide receiver never drops a pass. So teams were made up of different players from all different teams and their stats are used to determine performance. It gives the illusion. If I could put together a team with these and those players I'd be unstoppable. See the stats even show it. But it's fantasy. It's not real. And any sense of accomplishment and control is an illusion. The stats are bogus. It's not going  to be the same as if that team was built to see how a player performs with  his real team. You didn't have to hire a coaching staff. You get all the benefits  of the players that aren't on your team protecting your quarterback and catching his passes. I could go on.

Now don't get me wrong. I love football, and there is nothing wrong with playing fantasy football. It's a nice little additive to make a weekend of football even more exciting and give you the opportunity to be in a position to give your best friend a friendly hard time without having to trash his team too much. But some folks take it far too seriously and seem to lose sight of two things. One it's not real. They call it fantasy for a reason. Two, football is not that important. It's a game.  And while the fall would be far less exciting, we would all survive just fine if it disappeared tomorrow. That goes for all sports. We would be in far more trouble if the farmers and the truckers and the teachers were taken by aliens than we would be in the event that science fiction took our sports professionals.

It's ok to enjoy sports and fantasy football, but let's keep it in perspective. And let's do the same with our lives. I decided several things yesterday. I decided to stop at my best friend's father's hospital room on my way out of town and spend a few minutes with them. I decided to drive 2 more hours south to make my wife happy and hopefully at the same time bring in a little more future income buy picking up a poodle. I decided to buy a Houston Texans T-shirt while I was in that area, because I love the Houston Texans and the shirts get cheaper closer to Houston. I decided what I was going to drink and eat and a few other things, like the music I listened to while driving.

Making those decisions  can give me the idea that my choices gave me control of my day and my life, or the "need" to make decisions makes my life feel more important. Illusions on the same level as fantasy football illusions. My big choices were not as much mine as I might like to think. They all stem from two choices made years ago. One to submit to the plays that my coach, the Holy Spirit, calls, and two to do what I could to love, care for and bring joy to the treasure who made a choice to say yes to my proposal of marriage. And those other choices, aren't really all that important. Would it have really made any difference in the eternal scheme of things it I had bought a different T-shirt or none at all? And let's be honest here and admit that I got my wife's opinion on the shirt anyway.

What I'm taking too long to say is that choices and decisions matter, and we are called to use our minds with purpose. We have every right to make choices and to take pleasure from them and their results. But only one choice really matters. Only one choice is about control. Only one is life or death. What will say when God calls us to come to Him and let Him be Lord and call the plays in our life? Every other decision, regardless of how we responded to that one is fantasy. Our eternity has been settled and life or death will win. It's not a game. It's eternally real. God is calling. Let us respond with "I am yours. Here I am Lord, send me."