Monday: Back to the Basics 1

And God spoke all these words!

Good Morning, my dear brothers and sisters, it is a beautiful morning here at the Southern Location of the North Pole. And a day off for a weary Santa and Mrs. Claus. The first week at Allenberry went well for us but we are very tired. We need to get adjusted to our new schedule. Today we do have a lot of work planned as we will be going to the store and making purchases of food for the pantry. God is good and checks are still coming to for the Turkeys for our additional 33 families. Please keep praying for this mission. It is Monday and the day we pray for our leaders in Washington and in our state houses and even the locals that have authority over us. It is also the day we pray for our military and please today remember to pray for those wounded at Fort Hood in Texas and for the families of those who lost their lives in this TERRORIST ATTACK! (Yes, I called it that, what do you think it was?) It is also the day we pray for our veterans, for our police and firefighters and others who work to keep us safe and healthy.

Back To The Basics 1: Exodus 20:1 - And God spoke all these words: 2 "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery." (NIV)

Brothers and sisters, I think it is time to get back to the basics for a while... I spent a good part of my life teaching drivers of school buses how to drive them and also teaching safety to those drivers. I took a lot of courses on just how to teach, how to speak, and how to put on safety classes. After all of this time I still find when you are teaching a class to others about safety, and I just did one recently, you just need to get back to the basics. It is just amazing to me how many people get careless when it comes to knowing some of the most basic things about driving... Like you must stop at stop signs and stop at red lights. And this one a real big one... You can turn right on red after YOU STOP and if the way is clear and there is no sign telling you, you cannot turn on red. So what is the basic thing for that type of intersection? First and foremost you must STOP... wow, did you hear that, that is what I mean by basics. Then you need to be sure the intersection is not posted for a no turn on red. Then when you are first in line (yes, first in line) you check for traffic and then if nothing is coming you may turn on red. Nothing means nothing, not forcing someone into a second lane. And stopping means when you are first in line, not going out with the car ahead of you. So let me see, are you doing it right? Basics in driver training will keep you from accidents. If you talk to anyone who teaches driver safety and training they will tell you that there is really nothing new, just different ways to teach it. Get the big picture, keep your eyes moving, plan ahead, follow a safe distance and stay alert. Oh, and there is one that I would really like to put forth today that was not in the basics back when I taught but it is or should be in there now... Let me put it like this... "HANG UP AND DRIVE". The other day I was coming up the Carlisle Pike in the North Pole bus and of course you can see in the cars beside you. Two young girls, the driver was doing that writing thing on the phone... Her one hand held the phone while the other hit the keys on it and yes she was reading it.. I thought for sure she would slam another car in the butt, and she will someday.

Back to the basics... Here are just a few more tips for some basics we all need to review. Before you write a check you need MONEY IN THE ACCOUNT. Before we purchase something we should be able to pay for it. Before you get a paycheck you need to GO TO WORK. If I were president, oh some will hate me for this... NO FREE RIDES. Unless one cannot work because of health related things as in handicap, there would be NO FREE RIDES. No welfare, oh, yes the checks would come but there would be public service jobs. The city streets would be hand picked of trash daily... basic thinking. And unemployment, why give out checks for unemployment, get out the old dump trucks and put together crews of people to pick trash along the highways, plant gardens for food to grow, clean the windows on the outside of public buildings... again, pretty basic, no free rides. I would have a four day week with one day off to go job hunting. And another thing, I would make that would be basic... Our mail carriers on the rural routes would be driving American built cars. Our dollars go to them for them to purchase cars and when I see foreign cars bringing the mail it burns my backside. Basics folks, basics...

Now let me turn the events here folks... Basics, in church we teach about the Lord and Salvation. It seems to me a lot of churches are trying to figure out how to get the money into the churches by changing God's rules that are in the Bible. Oh, if we preach about that we might offend someone and that person puts a lot of money in the plate. Folk,s we need to get back to the basics with our Lord and we need to really look at them, which is what I want to do this week. So each day I am going to pray about this and see what God gives me. What are some of the basics? Let's look at just where we might find some of them. Let's see, where do we look? I got it, we look in THE BIBLE. And where else can we learn the basics about God? Hmm, how about a really good church? Notice I said a really good one. One that teaches about the Lord and follows the Bible...

Back To The Basics 1: Exodus 20:1 - And God spoke all these words: 2 "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery." 3 "You shall have not other gods before me." (NIV)

That is the very first step we need to learn today. We should worship no one, no thing, no animal, no car, no money, nothing other than Our Lord God, our Lord Jesus Christ. That sounds so simple, almost like stopping at a stop sign, but have you noticed how many people do not stop for stop signs? Yes, that's right, and how many people do not put God first in their lives? Let me make this very bold statement today... I want you to think about it this way... If God is not number one in your life, or you do not have Him heading up your house, then folks, you have another god ahead of our Lord God. Think about it... If you are giving to God from the bottom of your paycheck, who is on the top? Careful here, for the one on the top might be the god you worship. You say it is the electric company that gets the first check or your home mortgage? Learn this as basic today, if you give to God first, there will be enough money to pay the bills, or HE will help you work them out. But when you give to God last, there will never be enough. We will get into detail about that later this week... Basics... If it is snowing and you go outside in your bedroom slippers, your feet are going to get wet. Basics, you take your clothes off before you get into the bath tub. Basics, if you don't want to stink, you wash with soap and water. Basics, if you don't want your breath to stink, you brush your teeth and use mouth wash. Basics, if you expect God to really help you, you need to be repenting from sin and walking with Him...

Dear Father in Heaven, I really want to get back to the basics right now and start fresh, so Lord, please forgive me of my sins and wash me clean today. And Lord, I want to next repent of those sins. Lord, please today be with our president and Lord, I ask you protect him and his family and I pray that if they are not saved they come to You on bent knees and bow down before You and then lead this country. Lord, be with all of our military and this week, Lord, be at Fort Hood and help with the healing there for without You there will be no healing. Lord, be with all of our leaders and all those who work to keep us safe and sound. And Lord, help us to get back to the basics in all we do, and one of those things for sure is walking each day with You... We need Your help in that Lord. Lord, I love You and I pray in the name of Jesus, Amen.

Basics, some of that would be sharing your blessings... How often have I suggested that to you, or outright told you? Share those blessings and God will replace them for sure if you did it in faith... Now go forth, in the name of our Lord... love ya, dan.

Carry The Light Ministries
16 Dewalt Drive
Mechanicsburg, Pa. 17050
717 691 8200