Daniel Family Blog

Get Out of God's Way

Mon, 26 Sep 2011 18:43:48 0000

Stop getting in God’s way trying to do His job. God decides when to give someone a hand-out and when to give a hand-up. The Israelites wandered in the desert for 40 years. One generation was getting a hand-out while the next generation was getting the hand-up: learning how to be prepared to receive Abraham’s inheritance. Notice how there were times when God wanted His people to receive everything from Him, and the very same God gave them abilities and expected them to grow.

Some people won’t give when they see a need; others give to the point of dependence. Have you become someone’s Provider (notice the capital ‘P’)? Are you so afraid that if you don’t keep them on a string, they’ll lose their faith, or walk away from the Church? If so, you’re out of order - you’ve actually become their enabler. Their hope is in God but their trust is in you. What you have to do now is restore the order – a dependence on God – by giving the hand-up they need to nurture that gift He placed in them.

For the other half of the equation: stop walking past needs. Before you teach the man to fish, he may need to eat one. God didn’t give you your gifts, your wealth, or even your precious ‘stuff’ so you could lord them over the ‘have-nots’ with your nose up. You worked hard for your money? So did I. Stop looking past needs and then complaining about taxes and welfare. Go look for needs – they’re not hard to find. And when you find a need, bring a fish and an instruction manual – God’s got work for you.

What I Love About You

Sun, 13 Feb 2011 22:07:24 0000

For my Wife, Shawn:

What I love about you:

What I love about you is that you have an inner strength that is powerful enough to re-charge my inner strength.

What I love about you is that you always take time to meet others’ needs before your own.

What I love about you is that you’re smart enough to shame the layman but humble enough to murder arrogance.

What I love about you is your ability to see a thing through from start to finish.

What I love about you is the way you make me feel on Saturday mornings.

What I love about you is that your light shines, no matter how dark it is.

What I love about you is that your submission is an art-form, often mistaken by the untrained eye as over-independent but, recognizable to the wise as serving God to serve your husband.

What I love about you is the mother that you are to our children, and the mother-figure you are to others.

What I love about you is that you had enough faith in God to wait on Him to show you the next chapter in our lives.

What I love about you is that you don’t believe in waiting for a changing calendar to express your love for me.

What I love about you is that you’re mine.

Happy Every Day.

Ladies, Stir Up Your Gifts

Sat, 24 Jul 2010 13:41:05 0000

When Christ gave the Great Commission, He did not consider gender just as when the Holy Spirit gives spiritual gifts. He gives them to both men and women. God has chosen every believing woman to carry His message to her circle of influence as she is filled and controlled by the Holy Spirit and anointed and equipped with His power. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. (Acts 1:8) The single woman, the wife, the grandmother, the widow are all called to "go into all the world." "Going" does not necessarily mean leaving home and family, but it does mean making yourself totally available to serve wherever, whenever, and however He directs you. Women sometimes we are so busy serving outside of our homes that we forget to serve our families.

VBS Comes Full Circle

Sat, 10 Jul 2010 22:14:41 0000

We just wrapped up a week of Vacation Bible School with our Church and it was amazing. A young man named Jon Coker leads the youth ministry he’s dubbed Kingdom KiDz, and the week of spirit-filled activities he put together was nothing short of excellent. The events of the week were centered around David as the kids learned about his defeat of Goliath, his desire to please God and his writings in Psalms. The kids learned by hearing, seeing and doing. This was the first time we have ever stepped up to help out and the experience is decidedly different from the other side. Shawn volunteered to head up the nutrition team, and I was dual-hatted helping out with music and security. It was exhaustive but, not a day went by that we didn’t feel fulfilled from seeing the hand of God at work in the hearts of Children.

As the week went on, I was reminded of my Vacation Bible School days as a child and a few people stand out in my memory: David Barger and his wife, Leslie, Melody Mangum and Gary Milbourne. They were part of Berean Baptist Church which, at the time we met them, was running an outreach ministry, taking a bus through our neighborhood to get kids to Vacation Bible School. Were it not for their obedience to God, I can’t think of a reason for them to have been in our part of town, in daylight or otherwise. My best friend growing up was Tarvis Watson and he had asked the bus driver to stop in my neighborhood, convinced that my mother would let me get on the bus. Well, you judge the spirit by the spirit and Mom was okay with me and Tawanna going. There began the start of a wonderful time in our lives. My mother always taught us about Jesus so, what we connected to was fellowship with other kids and teens who were plugged into a positive environment that continued to reinforce the values that accompany a faith in Christ.

Even though the bus ministry was discontinued, Tawanna and I always had a ride to Church (Katrina would eventually join in as well). Where the outside world may have labored to tear down the virtue our parents placed in us, we always had a place to go where there were other examples of adults living right, being responsible and raising families. Without a bus ministry, continued obedience to God led these good people to continue to invite us to Church camps, trips to Six Flags, sporting events and Holiday concerts. My own disobedience to God took me through some interesting changes in life but, I can never say that I didn’t have the right examples placed in front of me. I don’t know which children we saw this week were new to Christ, or which ones have parents in the Church. What I do know from experience is that they were watching and I hope that they saw at least half of the dedication in me that I saw from my elders growing up. I am convinced that if we show them the way, whether or not we think we see it happening now, the seed we plant will bear fruit.

Can I get a Witness??

Mon, 14 Jun 2010 18:57:24 0000

My Bishop asked that everyone connected to his house go through a 30 day consecration where we really focus on prayer and seeking out God and his purpose for our church. I have to say that I have really enjoyed a renewed passion for Christ in my heart and a thirst for God's presence. During this time of focus I have been feeling a real nudging in my spirit to witness to someone. If you want to talk about shoes --- I am your girl! If you want to talk about Jesus and you already know him I am all about that too. I was always a little shy about talking to people that didn't really know him. So yes, I was guilty of trying to hide my light under a basket. In the last couple of years I have been gaining of more of an understanding of who God really is, and by extension I know now who I am. So of course when God said it was time to speak up, I felt that familliar sinking in my stomach, but it is my sincerest desire to be obedient..

The person I am going to witness to would consider themselves a christian. they grew up in church, and know quite a bit about the bible. The question I had to ask myself is "What can I tell them that they don't already know?". I laughed to myself and thought, "If they knew the God that I serve they wouldn't be running away from Him." That is when it hit me......it wasn't all about quoting chapter and verse. It was about introducing them to the God that comforted me when I felt that no one else loved me. It was introducing them to the God that reached out His hands to me when I called because I had no where else to go and didn't know what else to do. They needed to meet the Father that forgave me of my sins and thinks good thoughts towards me. I have to ask them if they knew the Heavenly Father that offered me the precious gift of salvation so that I could call on him to be my healer, my provider, my best friend, my refuge.

The best thing that ever happened to me was when thos things stopped being words and began to be a part of my life. How dare I think keep it to myself.

The Gift of Giving

Fri, 25 Dec 2009 19:02:45 0000

Every Christmas, we’re thankful for what God has given us. It’s always a blessing to be able to see our children unwrap present after present, and know that He is a God of abundance. This year, we did things a little differently. We wanted our kids to learn that one of the best ways to show off God’s blessings is to pass them on when we can. We decided that this Christmas we would try to help ease the burdens of a couple of families who are in need.

The idea was simple: take what we would have spent on gifts and spend as much getting needed items and gifts for a family who wouldn’t otherwise have them. The hope was to teach our Children that when God prospers you, it’s not so you can hoard all His blessings for yourself. It may just be that He gets the glory from having one of His people fill someone else’s need with what’s running over from their cup. In short: when you see a need, fill it. You will be surprised as I am to know that the kids had no hard feelings about not getting presents, once they found out where the money was going.

We can’t ever match the gift that Christ gave us but, there is no rule that says we can’t try. My words of wisdom this year are borrowed: if you’re blessed, bless someone else. I hope you all enjoyed your Christmas this year. God is good and His mercy endures forever.

Give Thanks

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 19:35:13 0000

Seems like only a year ago, I was giving thanks for a smooth transition out of Georgia – we had just arrived here not quite a month before Thanksgiving – and hoping for the best in our new home. Now, a full year later, I find myself yet again in amazement of what our God can do. We’ll be closing on a house soon, we are healthy and prosperous and – more importantly –my God reveals Himself more and more to me each day. Just by giving Him more of my time, I have found that my faith is strengthened and I rejoice not so for much what I have but, what He’s making me into.

Our Pastor here in San Antonio shared a very interesting thought for those of us with trouble finding something to be thankful for. His advice: just remember; remember where you were; remember what God has brought you out of; remember how far you’ve come. I know that it’s been a rough year for a lot of families but, if you’re reading this, then at least two of your bills were paid this month, God woke you up this morning and you are in your right mind.

You may be wondering how a man in my comfortable situation, who is constantly, boldly declaring that there are even better things coming my way, would dare to tell a person choosing between the light bill and the car payment; or a person who’s been driving the same car for the last 7 years; or a couple that hasn’t had a night out in a year; or a person too ashamed to walk into a church that they have something to be thankful for. Well, some of you came a little late to the party so, you don’t know what my yesterdays looked like. Talk to people who knew me when my we needed a house but my credit score was hovering barely above 500 and know that He is a God of miracles. Talk to people who remember us sharing my grandmother’s car between 10 people, and know that He is the God who provides. Or better yet, just ask some of the people who’ve known me since elementary or junior high school and let them tell you what a great and mighty God we serve.

Happy Thanksgiving. Go ahead and stuff your face with turkey already. God (has already) bless(ed) you.

Love Makes The World Go 'Round

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 12:11:45 0000

Most of the time when someone says that love makes the world go 'round it conjures up images of of hugs, smiles, and general goodwill toward your fellow man. If that were really true then why is the world in the shape that it is in? When my teacher gave an assignment asking us to write a paragraph about love this is what I came up with.

Love truly does make the world go ‘round. It is evident for those who love power. They love it so much that they amass what they can and oppress others in the process. There are those that suffer from the love of money. They hoard as much as they can leaving a great majority of the world in poverty and lack. The greatest majority of love in the world seems to be those that wallow in love of themselves. They never look past what they want to try and see what someone near them might need. I do sincerely hope that people will begin to look past themselves and start to do some good for people around them. The world would be a marvelous place to live if the love of your fellow man made the world go ‘round.

Opening Pandora's Box of False Indignity

Sat, 5 Sep 2009 12:34:15 0000

As if it weren’t enough that people with no particular solutions of their own had been dominating the news with ‘spontaneous’ displays of outrage at town hall meetings, we now have a group of parents trying to convince us that the President of the United States should not get to speak to our children. Every news organization in America has a story about parent’s who are suddenly shocked – shocked, I say – to find that a sitting President would want to encourage our kids. This is just another example of how a small group of citizens get to drive our national agenda – placing the focus on problems that really don’t matter – all the while keeping any real progress from happening.

Honestly, I can’t say that President Obama has thrilled me with every choice he’s made but, no President ever has, or ever will. It seems to me though, that we’ve been teaching our children a lot of useless behavior that it would do them well not to repeat. If our President wants to take a bit of time out of their day to tell them to stay in school and do their best, then I say please, tune in. Turning down the fringe rhetoric for a second, we know the President isn’t going to give a policy speech to school children. That said, I can’t stand watching people try to keep a straight face as they express their ‘deep concern’ over President Obama ‘indoctrinating’ their children or, as the Chairman of the Florida GOP called it, trying to spread his “socialist agenda.” This is some of the most disrespectful behavior being displayed by some of the same people who, just 10 months ago, were telling us all to put “Country First.” It reinforces the idea that, when the opposing candidate is elected to office, you should spend every day trying to keep him from governing, even at the cost of our unity as a nation.

False Anger Crosses the Line

It’s hard to know where to begin criticizing this behavior, since we’ve managed to drag a few well-meaning people into the fray. The organizers of this mess can’t pull this off without suckering a few unwitting folks into doing interviews and giving quotes to their local TV stations. If they really had any respect for these folks, they wouldn’t feed them this crap and wait to hear it regurgitated on talk radio. It’s really sad because no child in America should ever feel that their parents are explicitly against their President. These parents argue that they don’t want some stranger (still referring to the President of the United States) telling their kids things they don’t know in advance. I wonder how many of them approved their school’s lesson plans in advance before letting their kids attend. I wonder how many of these outraged parents cared before being told they should be angry.

What I find suspicious is that our current group of dissidents would have branded as unpatriotic anyone who took the same tone when President Regan or either President Bush wanted to deliver a positive message to America’s children. But that’s okay, because you only need to have respect for the highest office in the land when your candidate wins, right? That’s what we’re teaching our kids. We want them to have healthy skepticism but, that’s not what this is. This is bitterness over a lost election, spilling over into every facet of our society. Politics has become what we do and we’re passing down the worst of our personality traits our children because of it.

The first lie you tell is to yourself.

To be able to say that you’re not just questioning this President because he’s a Democrat; to say that you regularly provide this kind of oversight in all aspects of your child’s day-to-day school activities; to say that politics has nothing to do with it; to accuse the President of the United States without even knowing the substance of what will be said; to be able to say any of this you have to be willing to set the truth aside, and then dare anyone who sees through the lie to say so. Suggesting that the President’s motives are sinister at the onset is deplorable. This kind of dishonesty is scary because, the more you call the perpetrators on their fallacies, the more they dig in, until no one can tell the truth anymore. And that’s just what they want. They would rather create an environment of chaos than clarity. Their biggest fear is that this President will reinforce the values they have been teaching their children about education – thus causing their children to question why they have such contempt for him.

The bottom line: we’re talking about our children. While the memory of this will fade quickly for the organizers, we’re putting a dangerous stamp of approval on tactics that cross the line. When our kids become adults, do we really want this to be what they do? I want America’s children to be smart enough to think for themselves, and patriotic enough to know that there’s a right and wrong way to criticize our leaders. Stay mad if you want, but don’t attempt to ruin this nation’s ability to hold serious dialogue just because the election didn’t turn out the way you wanted

Making Peace With Sin

Tue, 4 Aug 2009 06:30:13 0000

In the Book of Joshua, chapter 6, when the walls of Jericho came down, Joshua had simple instructions for the Children of Israel: ¹⁷ The city and all that is in it are to be devoted to the LORD... ¹⁸But keep away from the devoted things, so that you will not bring about your own destruction by taking any of them. Otherwise you will make the camp of Israel liable to destruction and bring trouble on it. ¹⁹ All the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron are sacred to the LORD and must go into His treasury. In short, the victory was the Lord’s and their firstfruit (aka tithe) from the spoils of war (income) belonged to God. The city is burned to the ground and Joshua declares that it is to never be rebuilt.

In chapter 7, we learn of a man, named Achan, who simply could not control himself and had to keep some of the treasures of Jericho for himself. His transgression against God was unknown to Joshua and the rest of the Israelites who marched confidently into battle, only to be defeated. Of course, when Joshua, stricken with doubt, cries out to God, He promptly makes the transgression known. In the latter half of verse 12, God gives a simple instruction, in the form of an ultimatum: I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy whatever among you is devoted to destruction.

How many things in our lives do we know are wrong but just choose to leave alone? How many times do we play the balancing act with our sins? We all do it. It’s usually something we’re afraid to confront because there’s comfort in the status quo. How about living together before you’re married? The rationale is always something like, we’ll get married when the time is right. That one not for you? Maybe your child’s free time is spent watching sexually suggestive videos, or listening to music that purposefully contradicts their upbringing. It may even be that friend of yours who’s always dragging you down into their mess of a life, with no regard for how it will affect your stability. Here’s one I can relate to - downloading music. Once I got rid of my “big sins” I felt like the small fries really didn’t matter.

You can (and should) read Joshua 6 and 7 for yourself but, the short version of the story is: Achan and his entire family are stoned and burned. Seems harsh, huh? You’re probably asking yourself why they didn’t just admonish Achan; or, why not just seize his ill-gotten possessions and banish his family from the community? Maybe they could have worked something out that didn’t require the extreme action that was taken. No, they couldn’t. That’s not what God required of them. Sin can’t be bargained with. You can’t strike a deal with it, agree to disagree, allow an hour a day for it, give it equal time or any other nonsensical idea that we float when we tell ourselves “it’s really not that big of a deal.”

At the end of the day, the tough decision has to be made to purge things from your life that don’t line up with what you know to be God’s truth. It’s a struggle for everyone (including the writer) but sometimes – as in the case of Achan – God paints a big fat bull’s-eye on the sin for you. When He does, take the hint and cut the fat. He’s trying to spare you the sting of defeat and the gap between you and Him that sin ultimately creates.

July 4th = Family & Values

Sun, 26 Jul 2009 22:20:31 0000

July 4th 2009... what an awesome holiday weekend. Most of the world celebrates this holiday due to INDEPENDENCE. I'm so very grateful for the Independence this country has. I would like to take just a moment to step away from the independence just for a moment... or two… maybe three.

Well to get started anyone who gets the pleasure to know me knows that I value family time and family moments. As a young child I can remember on thanksgiving and Christmas when we would gather together under one roof with games, dancing, and food. One thing I don't remember is gathering together as one to say a prayer or just to give thanks to GOD Almighty for his blessings. I can most definitely say this is one huge family plenty of aunts, uncles, and cousins. I feel in my heart that if that road would have been paved for the younger generation (me, sisters, brothers, and cousins) we would most definitely be able to come together in the year of 2009 as one big family to LAUGH, LOVE, and HUG. These three words are so powerful and could impact one’s life without saying.

Now I'm 37 years of age and I can say that my Independence comes from knowing WHOSE I am and who I am in CHRIST JESUS. I truly thank GOD that I can laugh, love and hug my family, friends, and enemies. GOD has given us a true choice of Independence... HE just wants to see how we're going to use it.

On this July 4th my husband and I along with the lil’ one gathered together for a family day and traveled to spend time in San Antonio with my Sister and her family. I can SAY IN BIG CAPITAL LETTERS what a time we had. This time was spent in love, laughing, and harmony. Instead of just sitting around watching television and eating lots and lots of food. My sister and husband showed us how to incorporate our youthful years. With gathered in the backyard along with the kids all excited and ready to go to have a water balloon fight. What a blast my husband and I had. We really feel as though this loving event beats any holiday of just sitting around drinking (alcoholic for some) and eating. I can tip my hat off to my favorite brother in law and my brother for showing us a Fabulous time and also not forgetting to give the thanks to the one I love most=GOD.

My Independence is being able to take GOD everywhere I go. We must not forget HE is the reason for our Independence. Much Love and Peace to ALL.