Sep 8 2013

Behind the Beards – It Didn’t Just Happen


girlpraying

No one can deny the unparalleled success of Duck Commander/Buck Commander and the wildly popular show “Duck Dynasty“. Why has it all happened? Is it fate? Chance? I don’t think so. The bearded bunch really are people of deep faith in God. But so are many of their fans.

The best thing about my part-time job at Duck Commander is meeting the fans/customers at the Duck Commander/Buck Commander store in West Monroe. This past Friday I met a nice young couple and their eight year old daughter. We had a nice conversation. Near the end of our brief chat the young mother told me that her daughter, (a pretty little freckle dotted face with a disarming smile), prays for each member of the cast of Duck Dynasty every night by name. “She has memorized every name and for several months has prayed for every one of them in her nightly prayers”. There’s a clue!

I think it would be safe to say that you can multiply that little girl by tens of thousands of fans who regularly pray for my friends the Robertson’s and the other cast members. I believe that behind the beards God is at work. I get emails and comments on this blog about how watching this loving family on TV has been the imputes for someone coming to surrender to Christ or to reconnect with the church. There is no doubt in my mind that this funny reality show is at least in part a God thing.

It made my heart glad to look into the eyes of a sweet, smiling eight year old and to know that she is a little prayer warrior.

Sep 5 2013

Never Let Go – God’s Story of Healing Hurting Lives


neverletgocolorado

 

I might hold the record for starting to read books and never finishing them. Not this one! I began reading this book and couldn’t put it down, even though I knew much of the story.

God is always at work, even when He is the last thing on our minds, He is at work completing His sovereign plan to use unlikely people for His glory. The book “Never Let Go” by Mac and Mary Owen (with Travis Thrasher) is one of those stories.

It’s a story of the love of a boy and a girl, young and unwise, and the consequences of their mistakes. It is the sad tale of awful addiction and the almost certain ruin of a young family in its wake. It’s the story of a loving human father and a loving heavenly Father, both with constant, undying love for two mixed up kids who had strayed from their raising.

Mary Owen would never let go of the faith in God she had learned from her father. And, it seemed she could never let go of the loss and pain in her young life. Young Mary never considered letting go of her husband and the love of her life even though he was swirling out of control toward an untimely death because of drug addiction. Mary kept loving, kept doing the next right thing, and she kept praying.

The story unfolds the details of how God redeemed a young junkie to make him a great leader who would help hundreds of men and women beat the rap and know Jesus. It also, in an almost unbelievable narrative, tells the story of a past healed and reconciled. It’s about the God who loves His children also giving them the desires of their hearts for good measure.

For more than a decade Mac was an elder at our church here in West Monroe. He was a “recovery guy”. Everyone knew something of his past and everyone knew that he and Mary were going to the down and out and loving them to Jesus. My wife and I are honored to call these two friends. They are a precious part of our forever family and we love them dearly.

I encourage every person who reads this post to order the book at once and to read it and then share it. Tens of thousands of people need to know this story. There are those with no hope of a better tomorrow who might see a spark of sunlight as they read the story. Perhaps there are those who will be encouraged to start reaching out to others who have a hurt, a habit, or a hang up as they read this book.

Thank you Mac and Mary for telling your story and giving hope to others. I hope many lives find new direction as others learn to never let go as they follow your example.

Never Let Go can be purchased in these ways:

MacandMaryOwen.com

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

Sep 1 2013

Duck Commander Shares the Good News


Duck-Commander

People from several states and Canada poured into the White’s Ferry Road Church of Christ today to see and hear the man called the “Duck Commander“, Phil Robertson. Today was “Duck Commander Sunday” and it was a huge day! Our regulars at WFR served as parking attendants, ushers, greeters, and in other ways, to get hundreds into and out of two big services.

With cameras and cell phones in hand, Duck Dynasty fans saw all the characters in the photo above. Si Robertson led the opening prayer, Jase Robertson gave the communion meditation and Jep Robertson and John Godwin led prayers. Missy Robertson and her son Cole Robertson sang on the praise team and Alan Robertson greeted the crowd and introduced his dad, Phil, the patriarch of the Robertson clan and founder of Duck Commander.

Phil was in his usual form for both the 8:00 am and 10:00 am services. His message included no fluff, rather it was gut punch reality. Our country has declined in direct proportion to how we have nationally forgotten God. He quoted many of the founders of our Republic and compared them to the leaders we have today, it’s not pretty. One of my favorite quotes this morning was “Our problems don’t have a political solution, they only have a spiritual solution”. To that I can say a hearty Amen!

Then, as only Phil Robertson can, he carefully explained why men and women need Christ and delivered the most clear and convincing presentation of the good news you can hear anywhere. Not one person could leave that room and say they have not heard the gospel.

From Phil, the oldest, right down to the children, the Robertson family sees the success of the TV show, and their popularity, as an open door and a platform to share Christ with as many people as possible while they have opportunity. They are being faithful to that vision, preaching the good news about Jesus to thousands each month.

Why do the Robertson’s do what they do? And why does a church have Duck Commander Sunday? Love, that’s the answer! They, and the church, love people enough to do whatever possible to announce the good news to as many people as possible.

We Americans are still blessed to live in a relatively free society where we can still worship openly and share Christ with others. We must not take this liberty for granted. Pray for our leaders and pray that the bad ones will be replaced with better ones. Above all else let’s put into practice loving God and loving each other. It is a winning plan!

Aug 28 2013

Forgiveness


forgive

Forgiving others is God’s grace lived out and
His prescription for a life without resentment and bitterness.
Just forgive.

Have you ever heard someone say, “I just can’t forgive her (him)”? Maybe you have said that yourself. I might have said it myself. It’s a purely human response when someone has cause you pain, disappointment, or broken a trust. All of us have been violated in some way by another and have known the pain that ensues. That is true! What is untrue is that you “can’t forgive” another, no matter how, and to what extent, you have been wronged. People who hold firmly to that position probably do not understand what forgiveness is and how to do it.

Many people, even many Christians, believe they only need to forgive those who ask for forgiveness, or those who apologize for a wrong. That is false. Forgiveness rests solely with you. If you will forgive another is completely your call, no other person is involved. 

I don’t know how you have been wronged but you feel that something has been taken from you, an offence has been committed against you, and you deserve something…

To forgive someone is to release the offender from his debt, whatever it may be. The idea is that a compassionate lender tells the borrower he does not have to repay the balance of the loan. He is released from the debt.

To forgive someone is to release the resentment and bitterness you have stored up inside you. You visit there often and feel an emotional rush every time. To forgive another is to gather that garbage and throw it out.

To forgive someone is to treat the offender as if you have forgiven them. It means to sincerely desire the best for them, not the worst.

Forgiveness is a choice! But, it is not an emotional choice, it is an intellectual choice. If you wait ’til you “feel like it” you will never forgive someone who has wronged you. The reason you have decided to wait for an apology is that you want to “feel” better. The problem is you can’t “feel better” until after your forgive, not before. You must make a decision. You must tell yourself “I am tired of being bitter and resentful and I’m going to do the right thing and forgive“. Is it that easy? No, it isn’t easy but that’s the way to do it.

You see, all of your hateful thoughts, all of those things that fuel your hatred and disgust, make you more and more bitter, will not leave you unless you decide they have to go! You make the declaration to yourself “This moment I am forgiving _______ from every wrong against me. I will no longer harbor and encourage bad thoughts about him/her. I have set him/her free from the debt owed and I will experience peace where bitterness and resentment have lived.”

If you can’t seem to do this, start praying for the offender. You can’t pray for someone long and resent them at the same time. If you will to forgive soon your emotions will catch up to your thinking and you will experience peace instead of turmoil.

You don’t necessarily have to even tell the other person. In many cases the other person has gone on with life and has no idea you have been bitter for years. Maybe the person is deceased that you have had ill feelings about so long. Or, it might be an ex-spouse better left alone. You see, this forgiveness thing is all about you, not the other person.

Just try forgiveness. It is like a cool drink of water on a hot day, or a deep breath of fresh morning air. It’s so good for you. Bitterness and resentment can’t live in the same space with forgiveness.

I didn’t tell you that you must forgive others, Jesus did.