GLEN HAVEN

    glen:  a narrow valley;
 haven:  a place of safety or refuge.

   Added together, glen haven, to me, is a place of rescue from the storms of life.
      "Enter ye in at the strait gate:  for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:  because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it."  (Matthew 7: 14-15)
   Two points stand up in these two verses to me:
      "many there be which go in"  (and) "few there be that find it"
   To begin, let me tell you that I do not know where my life would be today had it not been for a place called Glen Haven Baptist Church.  For it was there in 1983 when I sat down and began my education in the knowledge of God.
   "That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:  the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling...."  (Ephesians 6: 17: 18)
   To be honest, I was not looking for anything special to happen in my life in 1983.  All my family and I did was go for a visit, to see if this church would be any different than other churches we had visited, and I thought we would hear some singing, hear some preaching, shake a few hands, then go home. 
   What we discovered, however, was something different:  something that was actually better after the coffee and doughnuts.  And there we remained, for the next fourteen years, at Glen Haven.
      "And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:  that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God."  (1st Corinthians 2: 4-5)
   Glen Haven taught me the Bible, verse by verse and chapter by chapter, by some of the best Bible teachers under the sun; and I was blessed just to get a seat there and take notes.
   My life has not been perfect since 1983, for I have made more mistakes than I care to number.  But through it all I can tell you that God still loves me in spite of myself.
   Let me tell you, too, that I am not a minister, preacher, pastor, or priest.  I have never been to a seminary.  I have never been to a Bible college. But this blog I write would have never happened had it not been for a place called Glen Haven. 
   For the past five and half years, however, all I have wanted to do with my life is write about God, write about Christ, and write about the Bible.  Glen Haven gave me the tools I have needed, through faith and prayer, for all the stories I have written. 
   Therefore, I can tell you that Glen Haven still flows through me and out on the 7th Highway.  I cannot change that, nor would I want to. 
  What I have learned from this experience is to give gratitude where gratitude is deserved, and not to myself. 
   Most of all, I give my gratitude to the Lord, who loved me and gave His life for me.

Glen Haven Baptist Church, McDonough, Georgia USA

PAUL'S SERMON AT MARS HILL, ATHENS, GREECE

   "Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans, and of the Stoics, encountered him.  And some said, What will this babbler say?  other some, He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods  because he preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection.
     Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars' hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious.
     For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD.  Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.
    God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;
    Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;
    And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;
    That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:
    For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.
    Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device.
    And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent:
    Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.
    And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked:  and others said, We will hear again of this matter.
    So Paul departed from among them.
    Howbeit certain men clave unto him, and believed:  among the which was Dionysius the Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them."  (Acts 17: 18; 22-34)

Dionysius the Areopagite was a judge in the court Areopagus, the highest governmental council and later judicial court in Athens, and he became the pastor of the first Christian church in Athens.
   
    

ROCK AROUND THE WORLD

     A rock is a rock and a rock does not know that it is a rock. 
     A rock has no eyes to see, no ears to hear, no voice to speak, and no beating heart; yet man, with his unquenchable imagination, can chisel a face on a rock, move it inside a church or religious building, elevate it on a pedestal, and something strange and mysterious happens:  the rock suddenly becomes sacred or holy, at which time people kneel to the rock, call it by the name of a god, and worship the rock that was found on the side of the road.
     For thousands of years, people have used rock from around the world to build foundations of buildings as well as for the making of tombs, ovens, roads, weapons, paper weights, and even pet rocks.
     For thousands of years, too, and even today, people from all walks of life---rich and poor, educated and uneducated---kneel in the presence of rock in their worship as gods that have no eyes to see, no ears to hear, no voices to speak, and no beating hearts:  for deep within their unquenchable imaginations, they believe their rock represents living creatures, and the image in the rock is just as important to them as the creature the face represents.
    Rock around the world has no legs, no arms, no hands, speaks no language, and writes no books.
    The Bible is the story of the living God of heaven and his relationship with people on the earth:  while religion is the story of man and his inventions of idols and gods out of his own imagination.
    
  

The 23rd Psalm

   The LORD is my shepherd;
      I shall not want.
   He maketh me to lie down in green pastures; he leadeth me beside the still waters.
   He restoreth my soul:  he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
   Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
   Thou prepareest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies:  thou anoinest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
   Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life:  and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.  (Psalm 23: 1-6)
      

AS WE SIT IN SILENCE

     "And Moses said unto God,
          Whom am I
           that I should go unto Pharaoh,
        and that I should bring forth the children of Israel
           out of Egypt?"  (Exodus 3: 11)
   Just over two thousand years ago in Jerusalem, some men and women did something that no humans had ever done before:  they left their homes, they left their jobs, and they departed the city to tell the world about a certain man who had been resurrected from death.  And then they lost their lives.
   To begin, let me tell you that in the world where I live today, there are but two people who will talk with me about the Bible outside of church buildings.  What am I to say to this?  Whom am I to give an answer for the silence of believers outside of church buildings?  Or, why is it so difficult for believers to talk about Christ even in the presence of believers?
   Two questions I have are these:   If our behaviors do not change after going to the buildings, what is the purpose of going to the buildings?  And if our attitudes do not change after going to the buildings, what is the purpose of going to the buildings?
   What is happening today inside church buildings behind the stained-glass windows as we sit in silence on padded pews?
   Where is the Bible in churches today?  And where is the Bible in the lives of believers?
   The apostles and disciples of Christ never had Bibles to take with them on their journeys.  They never had church buildings.
   As believers of Christ today, do we consider ourselves to be disciples of the Lord?  Are we followers of Christ, or are we followers of our own hearts?  Or is church just something that we do because of our traditions and rituals? 
   If we are followers of our own hearts, we do not need the Bible for that.  And if church is no more than our participation in rites and rituals, neither do we need the Bible for that.  And if the most we do in church is mostly memorized, or scripted in our minds, do we really need the Bible for that?
   We give our money, we pay our dues, and then we leave.
   Obviously, if the Bible is not important to us inside the buildings, then why should it be important to us outside the buildings?
   In closing, let me tell you that I am guilty for sitting in silence.  I am guilty for not speaking enough for the Lord outside church buildings. 
   Therefore,
       "Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer."  (Psalm 19: 14)
  
  

ON THE ROAD TO DAMASCUS

   "And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest, and desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, and if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem.  And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus:  and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven:  and he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?  And he said, Who art thou, Lord?  And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest:   it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.  And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me do?  And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do."  (Acts 9: 1-6)
   The conversion of Saul was no small matter as the Lord knocked Saul off his horse to get his attention.  After that, the Lord changed Saul's name to Paul and he became an apostle to Christ, a missionary for the rest of his life, and he also wrote thirteen books of the Bible.
   Like Paul, all of us are on horses going to Somewhere on the roads of our lives.  Mostly, we are living for today, not concerned about the future, but doing as we choose to do to please ourselves, to fill our own schedules in our trivial pursuits of life, none of which will have much meaning in the lives of others after we die.
   On the road to Damascus, Paul was interested in Paul.  Paul had his schedule to keep.  Paul was on his way to capture and persecute people for believing in Christ as Paul was doing as Paul wanted to do.
   Paul was highly educated.  Paul had a legal mind.  But after meeting Christ, Paul's legal mind became a mind of love and grace, which is reflected in the thirteen epistles that he wrote. 
   God has plans for people, and God had a plan for Paul, just as God has a plan for you and me.
   You and I will never write a book that will be in the Bible; however, you and I can write something with our lives devoted to Christ, which can be something as simple as Christ's reflection in our lives.  We may never write a book, write or sing a song, or preach a sermon that could be heard by hundreds or thousands of people.
   On the other hand, we do not know the plans God has for people.  Therefore, you could just be that person that God could call to write a book, write or sing a song, or preach a sermon to hundreds or thousands of people.
   Have you ever stopped to think about God?
   Have you ever thought about asking God if there is more to your life than simply living and dying on the earth---with the hope that people will say some nice words about you at your funeral?
   Is that it?  Is that all to living?  Is the only person you are interested in is you?
   On the road to Damascus, Paul was interested in Paul.  But when he met Christ, he became interested in the lives of hundreds and hundreds of people.
   You are invited to read the thirteen epistles of Paul in the New Testament of the Bible and see how one man's conversion touched the lives of people; and because of his writings, Paul's life is still touching people to this day because of Christ living in him.  Therefore, Paul wrote:
      "I am crucified with Christ:  nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me:  and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me."  (Galatians 2: 20)


  

GOD HAS PLANS FOR YOU

   "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD,
        thoughts of peace, and not of evil,
           to give you an expected end."  (Jeremiah 29: 11)

   "That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory,
         may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation
            in the knowledge of him:  the eyes of your understanding
         being enlightened; that ye may know
            what is the hope of your calling...."  (Ephesians 1: 17-18)

   God has plans for you.  God has been preparing you from the time of your birth to do something in your life that is more than simply living from day to day.
   In this world, we are taught to live by picking fruit from the world and to live our lives according to the dictates of the world:  to think like the world, to dress like the world, and to walk and talk as the world walks and talks.  We are taught to like and to be liked, to love and to be loved.  In other words, we are taught to be like the world, or to be a reflected image of the world in which we live.  That is it, that is all, and then we die.
   What profit is there to be born and to be like the world? 
   If there is no difference in your life and the life of the person next to you, what was your purpose in being born?  Just to be a twin of the person next door?  And if your contributions to the world are no different than the person next to you, one of you was not needed.
   Have you ever felt not needed?  Have you ever felt left out of a group or a team?  Have you ever experienced the loneliness and isolation of rejection?  Have you ever felt like your presence was not necessary?
   Your birth in this world was not an accident.  You did not arrive here by chance, or by a stroke of bad luck for a man and a woman.  You were not born to be a store-bought baby.  Neither were you born to be a gazing stock for people to look at and laugh.  You are not an animal, a fish, or a bird. 
   To the world, you are not special.
   To the world, you are disposable. 
   But God created you to be you, and God's desire for you is that you should never desire to be like others.  You are uniquely created, a one-of-a-kind, and there will never be another you.
   Knowing that these things are true, then you should also be able to believe that God has plans for you.  Because you are important to God, the Lord wants you to do something important in your life that only you can do for Him. 
   What is this plan that God has for you?  God knows the plan and it is up to you to seek Him to find the answer.  For the answer, seek Him by prayer and seek Him by faith.  Therefore seek the Lord and He will help you.
   Whatever the Lord has planned for you, it will be good.  It will be something that you will enjoy and not something that you will dread or hate.  God will work through your experiences in life to bring your calling to action. 
   God has plans for you.
   Therefore, seek the Lord and He will give you "wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him."
   God has plans for you:  that your life will be a reflected image of Him instead of a reflected image of the world.