Sunday Snippets

Most Sunday morning as I am putting on my makeup and getting ready I listen to Charles Stanley on the television. I really enjoy his teachings and find them to be very practical for my daily life. This morning he was talking from Psalms 81:10"Open wide your mouth and I will fill it". He talked about trusting God to provide all our needs. He then went on to say if my cup is not full it could be because there is something in the way impeding God from filling it. He suggested that we ask God what is hindering his filling. He said if there was disobedience or idolatry in our lives that God would not fill our mouths. I am hoping that in the next few days I can be brave enough to ask God this question and see what He is going to reveal to me. I think I am often afraid of what He will say, so I don't ask Him for clarification. But since I don't feel like His blessings are flowing on me at this time, I will be asking the question.

We returned to Highland Oaks this morning for worship. My dad was able to go with us and made it through the entire service and lunch afterwards. This was his first time to be to worship service in 18 months,so that was a big deal. He loves catfish, so we took him to a catfish buffet (Ole Whisker's) afterwards.



Lynn Anderson was the guest speaker at Highland Oaks today. Don't know how many times we have heard him speak over the years? Many. He is a gifted speaker. Today he had a sermon for father's based on David's life. So here are some snippets from the sermon.

He began by quoting a scripture in Hosea 8:7 "For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind" (but he actually said Joel and I did not discover the error until looking it up for the blog). He then talked about David's life and even though he committed the sin with Bathsheba and had her husband murdered that he repented of that sin and God forgave him. However, just because we are forgiven doesn't mean that we don't have to reap the consequences.

Lynn went on to make these points about David. As a father he was:
1. Out of sight: He had so many wives and so many children, he could not give
them all personal attention. He commanded armies. So he was not real
available.
2. Out of touch: He did not know his boys. He did not see in Amnon his lust
and greed. He did not recognize that his son was following in his
footsteps of rape, and murder.
3. Out of line: His own behavior had been out of line and he did not hold his
boys accountable because of his own guilt.
4. Out of control: How do you address in your children what is a reflection of
your own sin?
5. But he was not out of time: look at his relationship with Solomon. They
planned temples of worship together and wrote songs together. How would of
David's other sons have been different if they had seen and/or heard David
pray?

Lynn quoted a U.S. News and World Report article about a survey done with 1000 teenagers. 25% said they did not discuss their daily lives with their parents. 42% had not recieved any words of praise in the past 24 hours, 50% had not recieved a hug or a kiss and 54% had not heard the words "I love you". I tried to find these statistics and discovered they are from 1985. I wonder if they would still be true today??

Lynn ended the sermon with reminding Father's that it is not too late their story has not been finished yet.

We sang one of my favorite songs "When The Night Is Falling" by Dennis Jernigan. I love the idea of God singing over me.

Tonight at Life Group we continued listening to each other's faith stories and heard an incredible testimony of a sister who has faced a horrible trajedy in her family. It just reminded me again of how important testimonies are and that each of us share the wonderful deeds of our father.

Would love to hear some of your snippets from Sunday.