Heavenly Heartburn

The Weekend Survey has presented a broad spectrum of questions to Heavenly Heartburn readers. We have discussed food, travel, books, music, sports and weather preferences just to name a few topics. Occasionally, we branch into the realm of philosophy. Some may recall the spirited debate over the accurate description of a glass that is filled to exactly half its maximum capacity.

This week, I would like to present to you a moral dilemna for your discussion and entertainment.

I recently heard two individuals arguing over the following incident: one of them was behind a partially closed door, engaged in talking to himself. The other, unbeknownst to the “talker”, was on the other side of said door, quietly absorbing the “conversation”. At some point, the door was opened and the listener was discovered.

Here is the dilemna. The “talker” got upset with the “listener” and accused that person of “eavesdropping”. The “listener” rebutted with the argument that since there was only one person involved in the “conversation” that it did not truly qualify as “eavesdropping” but was only “listening”.

 What say ye, noble jurors of the burning hearts?

From time to time I post reviews of concerts that I attend. Occasionally I have mentioned the Lighthouse Children’s Home that has sung at a few of these concerts.

We were blessed, yesterday, to have these young ladies come to Pine Park Baptist Church. They were with us in the morning worship service. As they sang and testified, the presence of God was manifested. Those who were in attendance yesterday expressed over and over to me what a tremendous blessing the service was.

They sang a number of songs, including a few a capella numbers that were really nice. Two songs in particular, though, that really touched my heart were the classic, “He Didn’t Throw the Clay Away” and a newer song that I had not heard before, “Trophies of Grace”.

As I sat and listened to these young ladies whose lives had been derailed by the world, and yet had been transformed by a relationship with God, I could not help but feel a deeper appreciation for God’s grace.

The group travels throughout the southeast. I highly recommend them for your church. If you would be interested in contacting them, you can do so through their website.

Praise the Lord! We are finally getting some heavy, soaking rain here. We have been in desperate need of it for some time and we can use a lot of it over the winter to help us recover from our drought.

 I must confess that I love “bad” weather. Some of you may find that wierd, but I’m sure some of you may already hold that opinion of me anyway, so I’m just confirming it for you.

For about 4 years when I was growing up, my Dad pastored a church in the mountains of West Virginia. I can remember when we would have a snowstorm, we would get to stay up late if there was no school the next day. Our family would sit around the kitchen table eating molasses cookies, drinking hot chocolate and playing Rook. That was some of my favorite bad weather.

I think now my favorite inclement weather is when the temperature is about fifty degrees or a little lower and raining.

Now that I have been transparent with my wierdness, what is your favorite “bad” weather?

   It has been a couple of weeks, but I would like to share some more thoughts on determining the will of God. I think there are times when the will of God is clear, but our own perception may be clouded by a lack of humility.

 Consider the words of Paul in Romans 12:3:

For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.

While this verse is introducing a discourse upon the role of believers as members of the body of Christ, the use of the word “for” would imply a continuation of the thoughts immediately preceding it concerning the will of God.

I am convinced that a lack of humility before God will always prevent us from discerning the will of God. I have written before about the satanic nature of pride and how it is at the heart of every sin.

If we are trying to decide if God is leading us to do something or not, one thing we should consider is the reaction of our flesh to the decision. If the step we are about to take causes our opinion of ourself to go up, then perhaps God is not in it. If the thought of following through on a decision fuels feelings of self-satisfaction or self-righteousness, then we should consider the fact that God’s will always brings glory to God, not man.

The will of God can be discerned only when we lay our life, along with our will, pride and ambition, on the altar of surrender. When we forget about self-preservation, our own advancement and the fulfillment of our own dreams we can enter into the perfect will of God.

I know that every time I have found myself outside the will of God, it is because I allowed pride to override humility, and I elevated myself above the authority of God in my life. Without exception, I was following my own desires, avoiding my own dislikes, or pursuing selfish ambition.

It was John the Baptist who said, “He must increase but I must decrease.” Is it any wonder that Jesus described him as being the greatest among men? John realized that the more of self that was laid on the altar of surrender, the more glory he would bring to Christ.

May God help us to lay aside the pursuit of our own fulfillment and to follow after His glory alone. When we do that, the will of God will become much clearer.

It’s been quite a weekend. On Friday, I took my two sons along with my mom and dad to St. Mark’s National Wildlife Refuge. We had attempted to go the week before, but had to postpone the trip due to sickness.

We had a great time and saw a variety of birds including, wild turkey, bald eagle, osprey (a really big one), white ibis, glossy ibis, wood stork, egrets and herons of several varieties (including a beautiful great blue heron), kingfisher, pelicans and some blue-wing teal. We also saw a deer as we were leaving. Migrating butterflies were everywhere and we were able to see a really nice rainbow.

On Saturday, my wife and I went with some friends to see the Seminoles beat up on North Carolina State. It was a great game, even though the weather was a little wierd. We had a lightening delay of about 49 minutes, but when we re-entered the stadium, there was a beautiful double rainbow arching over the field. (I wonder if there is any significance in that? hmmm).

We had a wonderful day at church yesterday. There was a great spirit in the services and the fellowship was sweet. Last night we had several members share some scriptures that they had been reading and talk about what they were learning from the Word. It was really great and some edifying thoughts were brought out. On the way to church, we saw yet another rainbow, making it the first time in my life that I have seen rainbows on three consecutive days.

I also want to share with those of you who might be interested about a blog that some friends are running right now. Keith and Julie Parker and their son race are the son-in-law, daughter and grandson of Cleve and Judy Dixon who attend Pine Park Baptist Church. Keith recently graduated from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. They are in the process of adopting a little boy from Viet Nam. Julie is keeping a blog of their trip and the process. You can read about it here. Please keep this family in your prayers as they travel.

I hope you have a blessed day. Come back soon.

  I’m sorry that I have been so absent in posting this week. It’s been sort of busy in my neck of the woods the last few days. Hopefully, things will settle down soon and I will have time to start thinking again.