Correction: Nobody Wants It! But Ask God For It! Hebrews 12:9-12 by Kelly Durant

Correction: Nobody Wants It! But Ask God For It!    Hebrews 12:10-12    by Kelly Durant

1. Hebrews 12: 9-12  9 Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness. 11 Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

2. ‘Nothing Short of Right is Right’…was written on the entire side of a huge factory back in the 1930s. In the factory if some machine did not work right, if some fabricated part came out wrong, the boss was to be notified immediately so the problem could be corrected to make it right. It was a perfect system and little waste was produced and the standard was excellent for the production of the airplane parts.  

But as progress would have it, one day they got a new 50 million dollar machine. The boss, Fred, told floor manager Joe that it was more important than ever to always do it the right way, and the right way was to call the boss when the machine needed attention. (repeat slogan)

As pride and human nature would have it, Joe one day did have a problem with the machine and he did not call Fred. Why? Because he was a know-it-all! He thought, I’ve been here for 20 years, I can fix it, but the thing is he had no experience with this new complicated machine, it was foreign to him. You probably can guess the next part, the extremely expensive machine heated up and broke and Joe was fined and fired! He cost the company millions all due to his pride and for not wanting to accept help and correction on how to run the machine right.

This story may be an urban legend based on factual events but it can be applied to our personal lives as well as be applied to the community at large. The reality is most people think they know how to do everything, and they hate having someone offer them advice, criticism, or in particular correction, but the fact remains prideful uncorrected people are destined to make some huge mistakes in life due to their incorrigible attitude that accepts no correction.

3. Something that has always troubled me about correction is…have you ever noticed that it usually does not restitute nor repair the damages caused? Like the employee who drives the forklift without the OSHA permit and crashed into a pallet of merchandise. The store lost several thousand dollars on the merchandise but the fine of several thousand, paid by the same store, goes to the federal government?! What kind of correction is that?

Man’s laws and corrections are often unjust, but God’s correction is always fair. There is a message to be learned with correction, however, that there is a standard to meet and if you fall short of it, it will cost you with a price. God’s standard is to live a holy life in love and peace.

4. The price of correction is often abasement or humiliation, and the imposed embarrassment and status reduction limits the person’s potential for a certain time period. Jails are even called Correction Facilities, and despite how certain people may impose discipline and standards on other people, the authentic correction of character flaws in itself depends upon the individual’s admittance to his or her errors and the changing of them to a higher standard.

Why are we studying this? Because it is a part of your holiness growth! You may recall I mentioned I wanted you to learn more about holiness this year. The verses of today contain “that we may be partakers of His holiness,” (implying with correction). Clearly deducted, if you do not change and learn and grow from the correction God and others offer, then you may be fooling yourself that you are in good standing with God. God is Holy, and nothing unholy will stand in His presence, and to get holy you and I need to be corrected daily of our errors!

Are you hearing from God in silence in prayer every day? Correct yourself before God does! 

5. Do you recall the life of Saul and how he did not stop to listen and learn from God? He was a tall handsome man, a natural born charismatic leader, but what caused his downfall? Pride! He was a stubborn king that got many corrections but just ignored them. As king of Israel he was supposed to always submit to God, and follow the counsel of the anointed one, the priest, which was Samuel, to prosper the nation.  Here is one part after he disobeyed again.

I Samuel 13:13-14 ¹³ And Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the commandment of the Lord your God, which He commanded you. For now the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. ¹⁴ But now your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought for Himself a man after His own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be commander over His people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you.”

What happened in the preceding verses is that the Philistines were attacking with 6,000 horsemen and 30,000 chariots and it seemed that the nation of Israel could not get a victory against so many and the military went into hiding. Saul was supposed to wait 7 days to proceed with the blessing from God by Samuel doing a sacrifice to God before attacking, but instead Saul took matters into his own hands. He set up his own altar and sacrificed to God on his own and that was not his job to do. He was a know-it-all that would not accept correction.

In other words, for disobedience, there always comes a correction and it may be one of an undoable judgment. In Saul’s case, he predestined himself to lose the battle and part of the kingdom. But wait, wasn’t this Israel? Weren’t they God’s people and God wanted Israel to win?

6. God was in control then as He is now over all nations but He would not tolerate a leader that was insolent, disobedient, and one that over time became full of his own pride not willing to accept correction and be a humble man who honored God. What a bad example to everyone!

Saul disobeyed many times and by rejecting correction he died in shame; he lost battles and the whole nation suffered! The sin of one rebellious incorrigible person trickles down to influence the entire group. What a sobering and frightful lesson that is!

David followed Saul as king and he obeyed God and won many battles!  But what was the difference between Saul and David?  David failed as well at times but when David disobeyed he would accept correction and repent with sincere prayers and sacrifices, and he accepted his punishments as coming from a just God. Saul on the other hand, never would recognize his mistakes. Pride comes before failure and a downfall!

7. Do you know someone in your family that is stubborn and they reject correction for their mistakes? All families seem to have quite a few people like this in them! But how mature spiritually are you concerning this matter? Maybe one of the persons in your family that does not like correction could be you! As humans we want to run away from being made uncomfortable, but that is not the right attitude, you and I must welcome God’s correction.

Hebrews 12:11 Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. The spirit should be convicting you and me personally day after day over how to accept and respond to correction. Military personal get yelled at and corrected, so why not you and me?   

When things just don’t turn out right, you need to ask God about it. Some people just seem to always end up in bad situations. Have you ever noticed a person that everything they do seems to come out wrong, sort of like being cursed, or something?  Have you ever met people in hard times, but their terrible situation was not brought on by outside unavoidable circumstances but rather brought on by their own disobediences to God, local laws, or from being so proud they would not listen to anyone?

8. Like a sister in the other Corps that would say, “Well, my husband is in jail again!” I’d reply, “Oh no, what happened”? She’d reply, “I told him not to drive that car he just bought without a tag but he never listens to me and it serves him right to just sit there a few days to learn his lesson!” Many things happened to this poor man over and over. He was rebellious to come to learn about God, and he seemed to get correction all the time from society, God, and especially his wife, but still he would not repent. Do you know of cases and of people like this one?

With repentance and correction there is hope for a person or for a nation, but without correction from the Word of God people are doomed to self-destruct and destroy many others in the process bringing on much pain due to their insubordinate pride.

9. The sad reality is we live in a world full of incorrigibles! There are people who create huge problems over and over and no one ever seems to ever correct them. Usually these people do wrong over and over until one day they go off to jail! The problem is our society is not growing leaders who correct as they should. There are half the homes of the U.S. with no fathers so the children grow up without a stern correction and then the teachers and Sunday School teachers, police, and jailers are later all having to deal with these rebellious hyperactive kids and it is all due to someone else’s sin of a lack of giving correction. Giving and receiving correction is important!   

Now, let’s make this more personal. I want you to reflect a moment and recall a time that the Lord was correcting you. Can you pinpoint an event in your life that came to your mind that the Lord had you under the fire? I accept that the Lord allowed me to suffer through hepatitis B for 6 weeks one time for not wanting to do the mission as I needed to in a certain city but instead I just wanted to work on a farm in the Amazon in Brazil. We all know how Jonah got corrected, so never think you can escape the plans God has for you! I have learned the hard way too!

10. Psalm 106:15 And He gave them their request, But sent leanness into their soul. This verse expresses my experience. I got to be on the farm but in a tent separated from everyone else. I thought, well, I can’t even walk 10 feet without getting tired so now that you have got my attention Lord, what do you want me to do? The Lord showed me to study His word all day and read the Bible from cover to cover so I did. While under correction, God prepares you and me!

I want to put you again under the spotlight. If you cannot pinpoint any moment in your life in which you know the Lord was dealing with you over some failing or sin, then you need to repent of the sin of not listening to God, of not seeking spiritual understanding from the significant circumstances that God allows in your life, and for not praying appropriately allowing God to speak to your mind about your shortcomings. All God’s children do get correction!

11. What everyone needs is to always be in tune with God asking for the Holy Spirit to be your guide and teacher. Have you ever prayed, “Lord if I have wronged someone today, if I have spoken harsh words, if I have hurt someone, if I have been a bad example of your love, show me and correct me”. Almost never do you or I hear of a person asking God for correction in prayer, but we must ask God for correction!  David did it.   Psalm 51:1-4

Have mercy upon me, O God,

According to Your lovingkindness;

According to the multitude of Your tender mercies,

Blot out my transgressions.

2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,

And cleanse me from my sin.

3 For I acknowledge my transgressions,

And my sin is always before me.

4 Against You, You only, have I sinned,

And done this evil in Your sight—

That You may be found just when You speak,

And blameless when You judge.

Sometimes I pray, “Lord please reveal to me anything that is not of you so I can purge it out of my life, before you have to! I want to be pure and Holy, so please help me to correct what is wrong before you have to correct it!”

12. God is like a father and if the father expects the bedroom clean, the best thing to do is to clean it up so the father does not have to come home later and see the mess and punish you and then make you clean it up anyway!

Here is verse that has always caught my attention. Hebrews 5:8 Though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered.

Imagine what this verse implies: That even though Jesus was divine and human, He still had to get correction and learn how to obey His Father! So if Jesus had to learn by suffering, how much more do you and I need to learn correction as well! Jesus prayed to His Father all the time!

13. I’ll be honest with you, what I feel about correction is I don’t like it, as the scripture says, Hebrews 12:11 Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby. I really do not like to get correction nor give it but it is a fact of life, we must receive it and also give it to others especially when dangerous or sinful circumstances require it. 

And check your feelings over correction, are you self-righteous and condemning? Do you get happy when you conclude that someone is getting correction from God? I have heard people when they don’t like someone say things like, “You see that problem they have, I knew this would happen, its about time God punished them!” We all despise hypocrites, especially Jesus!

Be careful to judge or speak, because when you are having hard times others may have the same attitude towards you because we reap what we sew. Matthew 7:2 For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. Do you need advice or correction? In the end, God is a loving Father and He wants to protect you and guide you into all truth, love, peace, and holiness and that process began the moment you accepted Jesus as the ruler of your life. Focus on the correction coming in your life and you will prosper spiritually! Pray for others and leaders, and pray always against pride!  

Are YOU a Peacemaker? Matthew 5:9 by Kelly Durant

Are You a Peacemaker?                                                   Matthew 5:9       By Captain Kelly Durant

2.Missionaries have always fascinated me. Today our schools teach history as only secular, sterile, and as considerably boring material since it deals mostly with only politics and power. But the real interesting stories of history are those about people who went to faraway places for the first time like David Livingston, the Scott who was the first white man in Africa in the 1800’s. His stories are like Marco Polo’s. He was almost killed several times but saved by miraculous means; read his stories! How many of you have heard of him or read about him? Not long ago everyone knew of him and his adventures, along with Hudson, Muller, and Wesley!

One missionary story worth bringing attention to is from the 1950s of Jim Elliot. He was one of 5 missionaries that were making friends with the Quechua Indians in the deep jungle of Ecuador which had never had any outside contact with modern man before. For weeks they dropped gifts from their airplane but when the day came to land and meet them they were not received well. All five were killed but here is what I want to emphasize: when authorities examined the area later it was discovered the missionaries had loaded guns but they had chosen not to use them! How Christlike that was! It was in Elliot’s diary that it was better to die for Jesus than to kill for him. He was a man of peace. It is sad that today these Christian values are not exalted.

The most famous quote from his diary which I love is this one: “You are no fool to give a life you cannot keep, to gain a love you will never lose”.  After a decade the Indians did convert, TTL!

3. Blessed are the peacemakers! In the end only Jesus’ way and heart changing words brings the peace to the human race. When the angels announced Jesus birth to the shepherds, their first word was, “Peace on earth”! As the old bumper stickers that use to appear on cars reads: Know Jesus, know peace, No Jesus, no peace. 

Why am I preaching on peace today? Like it or not all of us seem to be exposed to an abundance of people who do not practice peace! Some people have the worldly idea they have to always fight for their own and make their point stick not caring if they are damaging the peace they could have with the larger group. I thought I should address this issue because at times amongst our selves everyone experiences inner family or extended family conflicts. These disturbances happen inside and outside the church and often they expose hypocrisy on BOTH sides of the fight!

James 4:1 (MSG) 4 1-2 Where do you think all these appalling wars and quarrels come from? Do you think they just happen? Think again. They come about because you want your own way, and fight for it deep inside yourselves. You lust for what you don’t have and are willing to kill to get it. You want what isn’t yours and will risk violence to get your hands on it.

4. Many opinions on current events are circulating right now and some confused Christians even believe that God’s justice includes doing something harmful to others to make a point. Romans 3:8 And why not say, “Let us do evil that good may come”?—as we are slanderously reported and as some affirm that we say. Their condemnation is just.” The irony is that even a few so called Christian Reverends may demand justice but justice is never achieved through mob rule, chanted words, or violence. Attacks on others has a way of being counter-productive as it just brings about even more disturbances until finally someone forgives and stops the cycle of revenge. Romans 12:19 Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord.

5. Regarding our Christian character and how to have a controlled one, concerning how to win by peace, let’s examine Jesus most famous opening statements to everyone for all generations:

3 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (Those who are not full of themselves and proud are ready for heaven)

4 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. (Those who are empathetic, and offer consolation to others in pain get comfort returned to them)

5 Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. (The humble, non-aggressive people will win and dominate everything in the future kingdom of God under Jesus rule)

6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. (People who want God’s way of doing things are always desiring that which is pure and correct)

7 Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. (People who forgive & love as they want to be loved will be loved back)

8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. (Those who are not doing anything corrupt, those who are being holy as God is holy)

And now the emphasis of today:

9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. (So agitators by default are the children of who?)

5. Jesus Sermon on the Mount was influencing thousands towards the stopping of the cycle of violence in his day. His entire message was always of peace and of loving your enemies, a feat considered impossible, but that is God’s standard. Everything about Jesus message and life was diametrically opposed to the world’s message, because people for glory subdued others. Recall at that time how badly the Hebrews wanted revenge on the cruel enslaving Romans!

Jesus infused a new diametrically contrary governance model into the world.  One was to conquer by meekness and peaceful means. It was like pouring vinegar on baking soda, the outcome was a reaction that neutralized the harbored bitter properties of both sides. This model eventually served as the means to defeat the aggressive Roman Empire with the new Constantine Holy Roman Empire, which brought peace for a while until corruption ruined it. Here is an oriental saying, the teeth are hard and fall out, but the tongue is soft but remains.

So why do agitators exist trying to stir up division however they can? Do you recall the phrase, “Divide and conquer”, this tactic is Satan at work with the same old game! The recent play on racial wars, class warfare, and religious disunites are a proof of the obvious concerning politically motivated people: They have their own personal agenda for gain, and they feed the inner carnal debauched appetites of others for vengeance, violence, and power to attain them.

6. Contrary to this there are outstanding examples of people who have changed the world for the better and brought peace to family feuds, many thousands, or to millions in entire nations.

Let’s look at just a few of these modern day peace heroes and peacemakers who were blessed and blessed others. Who has been successful in diffusing race and economic power differences preventing massive deaths in our own century?

One of them is Mahatma Gandhi.  The oppressive English lost the battle with him because his way of protesting was by peaceful means, even fasting until the violence and killing stopped. India won independence from England in 1947 after he had protested many times by peaceful means. Non-violence worked because the world felt sorry for the suffering Indians under the English because the violence used against them was excessive. Gandhi attributed the Bible and the Sermon on the Mount as being a big influence in his life.  An International Day of Non-Violence is observed on 2 October on the birthday of Mohandas Gandhi to celebrate the effectiveness of the victory won from the outcome of his peaceful protests.

7. Another hero of peace is Nelson Mandela. You are aware how oppressive and segregated the country of South Africa was and unjustly he served 27 years in jail. When he was released having fame due to his writings and support of being an anti-apartheid  freedom fighter for the oppressed, he was exalted to being voted in as the President of the country. On his release he immediately said he was called to be a humble servant and he pleaded for all tribes to unite and to not take revenge on anyone. He made a court system in which if the white oppressors were to come voluntarily and confess their sins against the people and ask forgiveness, forgiveness was granted. Quote, “For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others. If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy, then he becomes your partner”. This outraged all the African blacks that wanted revenge on whites for their crimes, but due to these peaceful measures, he prevented even more bloody massacres from happening. May God bless him in his final days on earth, amen? He turned 95 last Thursday 7-18-13!

8. Americans also recognize one of their own peacemakers, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.: a modern day hero of civil rights and peace. He spoke at protests emphasizing peace and due to his marches, many laws were changed for and more equal rights were achieved for Afro-Americans. Quote, (I Have a Dream Speech) ”With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together…” I think it is a pity his Christian principles are not emphasized enough. When we compare Dr. MLK to others such as Malcom X, Luis Farakan, and other current voices, his gospel of influence outweighs in all areas.

9. When we think of peace what verses come to mind? 

Peace emanates from a person pleasing God.

Proverbs 16:7

When a man’s ways please the Lord, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.

The benefits of being a peaceful person brings on God’s blessings and even good health.

Peace comes from knowing God’s word and practicing it.

Psalms 119:165

Great peace have they which love thy law and nothing shall offend them.  Someone could offend you and it will not even phase you because you have your value in God, not in opinions.

Peace is directly connected to Jesus and the Holy spirit.  John 14:27

Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. Galatians 5:22

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

People who have peace almost always have a face (happy and calm) which reflects that peace. In our case as Christians, we bring peace (or take it back) according to how people receive Jesus message. Matthew 10:13

If the household is worthy, let your peace come upon it. But if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you.   You should be bringing peace to everyone everywhere you go, that is If they deserve it whether they accept Jesus message of peace or not!

10. The question today is, are you a real peacemaker as Jesus had intended? I have heard some people in the past take pride in saying, “Oh, I’m just brutally honest; I’m just a firey Irish; or I love a good fight”! These qualities are of the world and not of God. Some people always love going against others just because they enjoy seeing people get bothered and red in the face!

Today God is calling you and me to influence everyone with a peace that is supernatural!  A peace that is divine in nature overwriting your human nature! A peace from God!

Peace means not speaking loud to express your point trying to dominate every conversation because you believe you know more than others. That is pride. Some people even argue Bible?!

Peace means talking to a person, or people, whom you feel has offended you in the past.

Peace implies letting others have contrary opinions to yours, and quite often opinions really do not even matter so much. But of course Christians should not tolerate people who offend God’s truth in the Bible when exposed to moral or blasphemous words, practices, or beliefs. Then we must speak the truth even if it does disrupt the peace. But if a complaint is of murder, what other murders are supported in society in hypocrisy? Injustices abounding? What about the politicians with so many scandals and yet no jail time is served for them? Justice implies a lot!

11. There is a time for peace and a time for war according to Ecc. 3: 8  A time to love,

    And a time to hate; A time of war, And a time of peace.

One must evaluate what fight God wants you to pursue though. If you are standing up against hypocrisy, and against sin as Jesus did, then you are correct to disturb the peace and to bring on a war cry provoking conviction in the hearts of evil doers.

In the world today, however, beware that many fights are created only for someone’s gain or as a diversion tactic so someone can pull off some bigger scandal and not be noticed (since all the focus is on the hyped conflict). Our world is full of political divisiveness and you have seen this all your life. But by praying (and being watchful) the Holy Spirit can reveal many truths to you not shared by media outlets so you apply yourself to fight for the right things at the right time.

Jesus chose his fight against sin, but not with the drunks and harlots who would easily recognize their wrongs against God; He disturbed the peace with the religious hypocrites and leaders who were damaging the faith of others by misrepresenting the character of our God of love, peace, and mercy!

12. Does your face reflect peace to those around you? Peace-making is a lifestyle that can only be lived out by a person who is filled with Jesus peace and the Holy Spirit.  Luke 1:79 (Jesus came) To give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, To guide our feet into the way of peace.”

If you are full of Jesus, then you are full of His peace! Will you start becoming more peaceful as of today? In Miami I have heard people yell at each other over stealing parking spots; to bring peace to a non-peaceful world is not easy but with the Holy Spirit you can do it! Ask God for forgiveness for your rough nature, and ask Him to remake you into a peacemaker at all costs.

Final prayer…by St. Francis of Assisi

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace,

Where there is hatred, let me sow love;

Where there is injury, pardon;

Where there is doubt, faith;

Where there is despair, hope;

Where there is darkness, light;

Where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master,

grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled, as to console;

to be understood, as to understand;

to be loved, as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive.

It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,

and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life. Amen.

Prayer: God Matures Everyone in Silence by Captain Kelly Durant

Prayer: God Matures Everyone in Silence    Matt 6:6                      by Captain Kelly Durant

2.There was a ship out at sea with passengers and a storm came up. The ship was getting tossed up and down and everywhere and many people were getting scared as they felt the ship was out of control. One woman went running to the cabin where the captain was gripping very tight the wheel of the rudder and she yelled, “Captain, Will we be alright”? He responded, “Well, just pray, go back in your room and pray for us all! The woman nearly fainted and said, “Oh no, has it come to that”?! This is awful!

To confront the storms of life prayer should not be our last option but our first one! There is one aspect of prayer that so many people overlook, it was right from the beginning as Jesus did it, it was prayer alone in silence, most of the time with no one around. 

All of us need to grow spiritually. I want you to be blessed beyond what you imagine. I want you to contemplate on this: God wants you (and me) to spend more quality time with Him, alone in silence.

3.The way God wants us, is by getting us close to Him in silence.  But sadly in today’s world, few people ever experience a real prolonged silence. Let’s start with a small step, how many of you today will commit to a full 15 minutes of prayer daily in total silence?  Raise your hand!

Matt 4: 1 Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil (Jesus conquered temptation in the desert)

Before Jesus got started He gave us an example of how to pray, and it was for many days in the desert alone with no one. Many of you may think, yeah, right, do you think I can get a 40 day vacation to go off by myself somewhere to just pray? It is true most of us probably will never get to fully experience what Jesus did, but imagine if you could get at least a small glimpse of it? You would understand Jesus better, you would become more like Jesus as you do what He did and that is the practice of prayer all alone.

4.Here is a reality, most people are lazy and they prefer that another person, like some spiritual church leader, pray for them and they do not want to pray deeply in silence as God intended. Why is that? It is because from the prayer time we spend with God many things come to our minds in our silence, many things God wants to use to bring us closer to Him.

Since these things remembered in meditation can often be unsolved problems, most people usually want to just tune them out and they do not want to think about them; but it is in silence that God can communicate to us the best. Prayer is not just us talking to Him, it is listening also.

Why do you and I pray anyway? Because when we do we get a real connection to God, we get protection from temptation, and we get we get empowered for our specific tasks that He needs us to do for Him.

5.Just looking at Jesus in the desert place, what happened in his experience? Jesus had absolutely no sin at all so Satan, the accuser of the saints could not discourage him with his own faults, or family and personal problems (as he does with most of us), so he had to tempt Jesus not with lust, or money, but with pride and power.

Pride is Satan’s biggest offer. Each temptation exposed to Jesus involved Him doing a miracle that would be an abuse of God’s power. Satan knew Jesus was God’s soon who would bring healing, love, and salvation to everyone, so he played on his pride with the temptation to show off how powerful he could be actually to get Him to manipulate for his own presumably justifiable reasons the laws of nature.

Satan wanted Jesus to alter the laws of physics set in place tempting that a stone to be made into bread; he wanted Jesus to stop the laws of gravity if he were to fall, and worse, he wanted Jesus to submit to the worship of Satan himself by passing over to the dark side of Satan’s destructive kingdom; but deep inside Jesus knew very well that Satan’s kingdom would become hell and the souls of angels and men would be judged, incarcerated, and torturingly punished for eternity for their destructions and rebelliousness towards God.

If Jesus would have done any miracle for personal gain he would have sent all creation on a course of destruction, which was Satan’s motive. Satan is at war with God and all humanity to destroy as much as possible of God’s creation and the souls of people. Satan delights in destroying your happiness, your family, your relationships, and he loves causing discord with our fellow saints in the churches and Corps. How do you defeat him? With prayer!

6. Another time and place..Matthew 14:13  When Jesus heard of it, he departed thence by ship into a desert place apart: and when the people had heard thereof, they followed him on foot out of the cities.

Escaping from people from time to time to be by yourself is actually copying Jesus’ prayer habits! Alone prayer time strengthens you and me in the battle as it did with Jesus to do the work. It obliges you and me to have some alone time with God so He can recharge our spirits, like you recharge a battery.

Prayer is intended to give you a silent time alone with God so He can reveal to you things you do not know about yourself, so you can see your actions as He sees them, and some things about yourself will not be so nice. It is comparing your stained life beside his white holiness that we see clearly. All we need to do is confess our sins and He loving, time after time, forgives them. 1 John 1:9

There is the reality that many people do not see their own actions as God and others see them.

Proverbs 20:6 Most men will proclaim every one his own goodness: but a faithful man who can find?  In a group setting some people will boast, I’ll be there for prayer time, I’ll be there to evangelize, I’ll be there to teach a class, but then when the day comes, where are they?  Allow the Holy Spirit to talk to your spirit while in prayer so you remember where you missed God’s mark.

Prayer brings the presence of the Holy Spirit in your life and it causes you to remember and see the truth of your actions and of others around you. Prayer changes your outlook and attitude to be more thankful, to be encouraged, and to be empowered to do jobs & tasks outstandingly.

7.Here is an observation, and I can tell you now by experience, after learning a few things at the Brengle Institute, that there are some people that have difficulty passing a few hours in silence just to pray alone. A majority of people as Christians are not so happy when they have to be all alone for any long period of time. (with no interruptions of cell phones or tv).

Imagine some Officers, as old and mature in the Lord as they are, were confessing how hard it was for them to just sit in silence to commune with God. Most all of us are use to being in action and praying with someone and for someone, but for praying alone, most all of us only do it for a few minutes.

It can be concluded that many people do not like total silence and being alone, but like it or not, Jesus showed us by His example that it is the only way for God to work in your life, helping you to win the victories over the sins you may not see you have.

For the longest time I have been wondering how is it some Corps and churches some people developed into being willing on fire servants for Jesus and yet some other places the people seem so slow, and complainy and do not willing to do much? How is it some really put their heart into things and others do not? The answer is very simple, all things that people do is a reflection of their prayer time with Jesus! A reflection of their depth with God!

8. Mark 6:31  And he said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while: for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat.

The people that pass time with Jesus start to act and be more like Jesus! If Jesus himself spent time alone with God, not just in the beginning of his calling, but time after time he separated himself from the crowd with the disciples, how much more do you and I need to do it too!

While at Brengle we did a test to see if one were an introvert or extravert type personality. I am more extravert than introvert (but years ago I was more introvert). Do you know what you are? Well, the interesting thing is most extraverts are social, they like to work with others and it came to light they do not like to pray in silence, but they prefer to pray with someone. But even though silent prayer is harder for some, even though it is easier to just be busy for the Lord doing all kinds of activity, if we do not learn to practice quieting down our spirits we will be like the oil lamp that starts burning the wick and not the oil. We will not last long and our light will be flickeringly dark and ugly.

Prayer in silence allows God time to reveal to us things and it allows time for Him to fill us up with His Holy Spirit and living Word. So many times I have prayed and just sat there in silence and even after just 10 minutes God seems to bring to my mind verses from the Bible for my encouragement. Have you ever had that experience?

9.Matthew 6:6  But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

If you do not hear God in silence, then ask yourself, am I treating God lovingly?  Prayer, sadly for some is a let down instead of what it is intended to be, a praise time where you feel the Holy Ghost coming to you teaching you, rebuking you, and guiding you into all wisdom.

How do you pray really? Prayer for some people is never very uplifting and they get tired of it because their prayers are more like complaints than praises. Instead of worshipping and praising our Father in heaven being thankful, they begin with a selfish petition.

“Oh, God, one more time I ask you to give me faith.  You know my needs. I have asked you for years now and I don’t know why you leave me suffering. Give me patience. Help others to respect me more because I do so much for you. In you name amen.”

Can you see what is wrong? There is an approach to God as if He is supposed to do everything for you as you want it. Prayer for some people is actually a selfish thing, not one of just thanking, trusting, and loving God. Done right, prayer fills you with energy and love!

10.Many times our prayer meetings have been one person praying after another, and this is good, all different styles are accepted, but I recall in some prayer vigils when I have told everyone to just be silent for 10 minutes it seems someone could not wait to break the silence after 5 minutes because it seems too uncomfortable.  It is true, prayer is communication by speaking from the heart, but it is also a time when listening to God should take place.

Recall even John in Revelation recorded that he had to wait in silence for half an hour while in heaven.   Revelation 8:1 And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour. And recall John had silence and prayer for the last several years of his life on the deserted island of Patmos. And on the deserted island look how much God spoke to him!

11. Here is something new for you to think about, God may make you uncomfortable in prayer before He comforts you in prayer. He wants to clean you and teach you, but he never can if you will not allow Him all the time He needs to speak to you in silence.

Prayer is like cleaning your house, you walk in at the end of the day praise God for having a home but it is dirty so in order to enjoy your free time in peace, you first clean it up and wash the dishes, and then you are able to make a meal, and then just sit in peace to relax. Or you can do it vice versa, you can eat, relax, enjoy it, and then clean it. Listening brings on cleansing, and talking to God is like relaxing having a family chat.

I want to challenge you. I think there is not a single person here that will fast and prayer in the desert for 40 days as Jesus did. But here is the situation, some of you maybe have not even done it ever in your life for even 40 minutes. How many of you have gone into a closet with no distractions and prayed in absolute silence for even 4 hours? It is not easy, but the benefits are worth it!

Remember each of you, and me included are in God’s progressing plant to mature and grow into more love and holiness. The Holy Spirit will talk to you, so give God, Jesus time. It is your responsibility to love and communicate your heart to God daily without ceasing. I Tess 5:17 Pray without ceasing!  Will you as of today start listening and communicating to God in silence more now since you and I discovered more on how Jesus did it?

Holiness & The Life of Brengle

Brengle: He taught us Holiness    I Peter 1:13-16                                        Capt. Kelly Durant

2.You have heard of Prengles, right? Well, at the CFOT in Chicago we had Brengles! (show can) Ha! Actually, most of us remember by association and this helps, right? Well, you do need to consume holiness teachings! And then apply them!

It has only been a few years years since a talented Major (Col.) Eddie Hobgood did a reenactment at a commissioning on the life of Samuel Logan Brengle. I was reflecting on that and realized some of you who were not there may not have a clue who this man was that the Salvation Army honors for his teachings. I told everyone I was going away to the Brengle Institute in Chicago and everyone is like, well okay have a good time, not knowing anything about the contributions of this holy man and his writings on holiness. These past 2 weeks were like a refresher course, a refilling of the Holy Ghost, a resting and a calling to live my life in holiness; to live full of the Holy Spirit! Do you want a life full of God’s spirit as well?

3.Brengle lived in the time that the Salvation Army was at its beginnings in the late 1800’s. He had gone to the University in Indiana and was so well educated that he enjoyed showing off to his colleagues. He was a circuit preacher for the Methodists here in the U.S. and learned about holiness in Boston studying with them. He wrote in those days of his holiness experiences of how the Holy Spirit would touch him praying and he would end up just crying for joy over God’s love and he just wanted to love the world!

He came to the Salvation Army in an open air in Boston and decided to join the Salvation but by traveling to meet General William Booth himself in London.  And as all godly men would do, General Booth evaluated well how to use the young willful Samuel Brengle. Instead of placing him in authority for his university education as Brengle had pridefully expected, he asked him to first be in charge of shining the shoes of the Cadets that would go out daily to preach in the streets .In other words he had an idea that he was a cut above the rest. Have you ever met people like that?

4.First, consider what kind of mud and gunk there was in the streets of London at that time? Most people threw away their bedpans in the streets, horse and carriages passed by leaving their business behind, and the smell and appearance of the mud on the shoes was not pleasant at all!

Samuel Brengle was told he could have the job of shining the approximate one hundred shoes every day, day after day. While he would shine them, he would ask himself, what is God showing me? Why can’t others see my value to use me in a better way? How long will I have to do this ridiculous and humiliating job? Shouldn’t I just quit the Salvation Army? Is it worth it? But God showed him that if Jesus washed the disciples feet, he could also do his job with joy. He made the right choice and persisted and God did use him in a way he did not expect!

5.The next life event that happened to him brought Him close to God for sure. He was sent back to Boston after training and while out in the streets coming from on top of a building someone threw a brick right on top of his head! It was such a serious injury that he needed one year and a half before he was fully recuperated.

That was a horrible attack and injury from Satan, right? Imagine, this man was already givng his all to God, and now this? Well, it was in that year and a half that God came to him in a marvelous way because he became more and more connected to the Holy Spirit because day after day he was taking time for prayer and the study of God’s word and a transformation of holiness occurred.

6.He experienced a new level of a connection with God that he never knew, holiness and purity beyond the usual and he felt like he wanted to love everybody, even the dogs in the street! After spending time with God, colors were brighter, things were unexplainable beautiful and different!

In the end, by reaching a higher level of victory against sin, or what we define as living the holy life, he became inspired, being empowered to his maximum potential and he wrote more than 10 books of the subject of holiness. He researched Wesley’s original contributions and practiced staying pure and his writings and contributions have continued to be a great guide for every Christian who has the duty to go deeper with God in their Christian walk.

Some people never in this life experience the bliss of gaining the blessings of the great joy and peace the Lord wants to give! Any Christian can have joy no matter what is happening in their lives. I heard the life testimony of over 72 Officers and you would be surprised how many have dealt with recent deaths in the family, cancer and long term sickness, horrible broken-ness from substance abuse, abandonment, or sexual abuse when they were children, or some were opposite having grown up protected and blessed in a Salvation Army home and dedicating their lives to Jesus at age 14. Each story was fascinating and each person was dedicating their life to Jesus as a calling with heavenly rewards disregarding the earthly sacrifice.

7.How many of you want more of Jesus so much so that the Holy Spirit fills you moment by moment to experience God’s love as never before? It makes you happy inside, full of love, and so thrilled about life that you it will just overflow from your heart onto others in pure love!

I will be preaching several times in the future on how to gain more holiness because you and I have an immense need for it, but for today, I will just give you a few illustrations to make it more understandable.

God is holy and he commands that we be holy. (see verses of sermon) What does that mean? It means that we must obey and we must work at renewing ourselves with the Holy Ghost and deepening our relationship with him day by day. Think of all the muddy shoes, they are ugly and undesirable and they had to get cleaned from day to day, but afterwards they shined as new, as if they had never been dirty! You and the Lord need each other otherwise you just remain dirty full of your own self and undesirable.

8.Think of your faith as a glass of water. You were dry and empty but when you invited Jesus to come into your life, you were full and felt satisfied. But left alone without refilling, the water evaporates; this means you must refill it with your connection to God by worship (not just on Sunday but daily), reading and absorbing His word, and by obeying his commands to love Him with all your heart mind and soul and love your neighbor as yourself. Let’s review doctrine 9 and 10.

We believe that continuance in a state of salvation depends upon continued obedient faith in Christ.

We believe that it is the privilege of all believers to be wholly sanctified, and that their whole spirit and soul and body may be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

9.-           Creemos que el continuar en estado de salvación depende del ejercicio constante de la fe y obediencia a Cristo.  10.-  Creemos que es privilegio de todos los creyentes ser santificados "por completo" y que su ser entero, "espíritu, alma y cuerpo", puede ser guardado "irreprensible para la venida de nuestro Señor Jesucristo".

9.How many of you are saved and have Jesus in your lives? (hands) Great! There was given to you a prevenient grace, you could think of it as a special gift of illumination in your heart and mind from God, a Holy Spirit pull on your heart, and you accepted it and had an experience that made you feel a warmth or peace.

When a person accepts Jesus, they gain a small measure of holiness (which is like a touch of the breath of God), like getting a seed planted, the first getting to know Him meeting has taken place and the spirit provoked in you or in the person a will to want to be clean, to not sin anymore, and know more about God and become like this pure loving being Jesus, God’s Son, to save you from your sins or destructive habits that separated you from God.

Then over time what happens? Well, as you know with the parable of the seed that Jesus told, the seed can either grow up partially, fully, or just die. You are the one who decides. If you water it with God’s word and pray to obey and grow in faith, the product of holiness takes root in the love relationship that grows.

You then have passed on to the phase of having a prevalent grace,  a continuing grace, a Holy Spirit power that helps you in the process of growing even closer to God, of helping you to be like Jesus himself! It is a second measure of God’s spirit!

10.Imagine yourself right now as being a pure holy person, a person full of love and Jesus’ love, a person that has lost all desire to sin because you are free from sin, a person who lives every moment guided by God’s spirit. Imagine now a happiness and joy which is more than anything you have ever experienced!

I know some of you have experienced the Holy Spirit, and felt so wonderful you thought you could fly off to heaven! The infilling of the Holy Spirit which occurs when your heart and mind are clean for the Lord is an amazing experience but it is one that lasts only while you keep the connection alive. Renewing it every day will be faithful until the end!

Holiness and purity are possible with God and everyone should pray for it, accept it, and allow the lead of the Holy Spirit, and then live moment by moment hearing from the Lord!

The fullness of God comes from abiding in Jesus, God’s word, as the vine in John 15. Imagine every person is comparable to a plant, or the vine that grows, but some give fruit and some don’t. The scripture says, the ones without fruit are thrown away to be burned, but the other ones that stay connected to Jesus absorb all the nutrients and over time mature to grow many grapes. Some of you here have little green grapes, and some of you have large grapes, all of you are in different phases of growth.

11. What does the fruit imply? We know from Gal. 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,²³ Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

If you mature in pureness and holiness you will have these qualities for your continued working at being close to God.  And holiness just keeps on progressing and you feel much less temptation to sin, and you are holy because you have been passing time with the one that is holy! But if not you become lukewarm and neither hot nor cold for God and useless.

You are commanded to be holy by the scripture we read today. Do you think you are prideful and need to improve? Well, just tell God you’re sorry and repent and start right now with a new dedication to Him! Pray for a lifestyle change so you have time for God daily. Pray for a change in character too! I know you and some of you do not yet have the fruits mentioned here in Galatians. 

12. Ask yourself, could I pass the test of shining shoes all day for Jesus? God wants to use many of  you but you are not cleaned up in holiness as much as God would like. Pray Psa 51:10-12 10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. 11 Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.12 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.   Remember it is a command to be holy as He is holy! Obey it and discover a joy you have never known!

The Damocles Sword: What Dangers Do You Live Under?

The Damocles Sword: What Dangers Do You Live Under?  By Captain Kelly Durant   6-9-13

 (2 Corinthians 11:24-26),   2 Corinthians 1:3-11

2.The Sword of Damocles is an anecdote (but probably a real story) of Dionysius II of Syracuse,  a 4th century BC tyrant of Syracuse, Sicily. Damocles exclaimed to his king, Dionysius, that, as a great man of power and authority surrounded by magnificence, how blessed and fortunate he truly was. Dionysius offered to switch places with Damocles, so that Damocles could taste that position with privilege firsthand. Damocles quickly and eagerly accepted the king's proposal. Damocles sat down in the king's throne surrounded by every luxury, but Dionysius arranged that a huge sword should hang above the throne, held at the handle only by a single hair of a horse's tail. Damocles finally begged the tyrant Dionysius to let him get up from the throne, because he no longer wanted to be so fortunate!

Dionysius had successfully illustrated the sense of the constant fear in which the great ruler lived, as he was always in danger of death by treason. Dionysius made it clear that there can be nothing pleasant for the person over whom some fear always looms! Over each one of us is a danger that could harm or kill at any moment!

3. In life, most every one of us while on the earth is threatened by a continuous danger. These dangers could be present as a medical problem, risks involved in work, even Miami traffic! Some of these dangers could be from violent family members or by thugs in the neighborhood. Some dangers come from geographical phenomena like tornadoes, floods, and hurricanes, and yet other dangers are from spiritual attacks playing on our fears; voices from our spiritual warfare of good vs. evil, of the devil and his demons attacking you & I with a Christ-like mind.

I was here for hurricane Andrew in 1992! That upset our lives for almost a year! Some people, as seen in the Bible, believe destructions are permitted by God to purge people from their sins, so in their weakness they repent and look to God. God may reveal to you or may not reveal to you His purpose in these things. Either way, our mission is to serve suffering humanity!

 I was thinking about my past, places where I have lived and the different dangers that I faced and the ones each of us face from day to day. I grew up in Oklahoma with tornadoes and the danger of losing everything, even my life; it was a real danger during certain times of the year.

Some people crack easily under pressure (usually the faithless) while others just keep on going. How strong are you? Want to be stronger in the face of danger? Just be right with God, you could be called at any time! I thought I was going home with that 2^nd tornado last Friday in OKC!

4. People respond to life threatening dangers in different ways:  One by irrational actions due to their fear, or by living in denial that the threats are real. Another way is by becoming obsessed by their fears and to their own harm inappropriately get sick and worried. But then there is God’s way of conquering danger and fear: by having faith and trust in Him!

We all have seen some people have a faith crisis over intimidating outside forces not in their control. Some people not knowledgeable of God’s Word might conclude that God must be cruel to allow suffering. They get angry. (This is Satan’s means of getting people to misjudge and blame God so they do not worship and honor Him), But if any one of us does not honor God as the creator, we are by default honoring ourselves as God (we are not gods, and the obvious is we control almost nothing!) Our adversary Satan, steals worship by this influence.

Others might deduct that God must not be there to stop nature’s fury, or man’s wars, or resolve their personal problems, since He must made the universe like a wind-up toy and abandoned it (The Deist view). And there are others that conclude God is not in total control and therefore He is imperfect. He is a lesser God from a higher God. (The Gnostic view.)

5. It is true, God does allow suffering and death at times but there is a greater purpose for it beyond our understanding!  One day in heaven God will reveal to us all things and we will know and understand why, but for the moment, too many factors are present that we are unaware of to understand his final purpose. It is like trying to solve a complicated math problem when you only know values for X,Y, & Z, but no values are known for A,B, & C.

I met many people after having lost all still had their faith. Would you keep it if you lost all? Let’s look at a man that went through a lot and did not let his faith be shaken, the apostle Paul.

2 Corinthians 11:24-26  Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. 25  Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; 26 In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren;

Paul had experienced it all and he lived through all the pain caused by evil men and by nature.

I can’t even imagine the horrendous pain of a lashing! Or of floating in cold dark waters shipwrecked! Possibly many of you have lived through dangers. You might even still live in fear of the next danger that might assault you. In Miami we so have the Damocles sword over our heads from the threat of hurricanes. Each place has a distinct threat, each life different dangers.

6. The question today is: What fears do you have? What threat do you have over your head?

I contemplated sharing some of the dangers I have been in and how I have had to grow my faith in God consoling myself even speaking out-loud to myself the scriptures while walking down the street! Most of you like myself have lived with the dangers I will discuss here, and again I ask you, how are you dealing with your fears right now?

In Brazil I was always worried about getting attacked by thieves in the street and 3 times I was chased and forced to be running away from young men escaping by catching moving buses. I was also fearful of being deported, and when our resident visas were denied, we had 8 days to leave.  It is hard but we must accept God’s will over our will for our desires. He controls all.

In Bolivia I arrived in 1977 right after a Military Coups and some snipers had shot about 200 people from the tops of the downtown buildings. During my stay I lived mostly under Marshall Law and saw democracies and dictatorships come and go by the half dozen. I often breathed tear gas as protesters were dispersed. The threat of imprisonment was always present. What I loved though was I could preach the gospel with freedom almost anywhere!

In Chile, in 1981, jail time and disappearances were common under Pinochet’s dictatorship. I made the mistake of having home Bible studies which was a gathering of people prohibited by law, and some of the youth from the universities I had over I later discovered were Communist sympathizers. At 5:00am on morning 6 police with machine guns raided our home only to discover that we only had Bibles as our propaganda. Our phone later was tapped and we were watched so feeling too uncomfortable we decided to return to Bolivia.  The fact that I had nightmares of being killed by the police did not help either!

In Colombia the Guerrillas were not too far away from where we lived just outside of Bogota. The people in the local markets would tell us about it. As you know the FARC or others would always kill a few innocent farmers in order to scare people to be able to take over an area. Kidnapping was common as well and I heard a few dozen stories of this happening amongst my friends and students. A gringo was always a target and several times for no reason Soldiers showed up to our doors just to see what we had in our house. I was told later they were not Soldiers but guerrillas.  Thank God we were just poor missionaries and were not worth kidnapping for ransom!

In Venezuela I had friends that told me stories of their experiences of gangs of thieves showing up at their homes to rob and rape their wives. God stopped us from getting residence there as well as the visas were approved and sent to Bogota but the Consulate wanted money under the table we did not have, so we ended up getting resident visas in Colombia instead!

7. When you think about it: Dangers are always present and we could become a victim of anything at anytime! But God’s protection is ever present as well, so we have peace in the midst of the storm!

Here in the U.S. many dangers prevail but the risk depends on the area you live in. In the Metro cities, theft and crime is a way of life:  in Chicago dozens get shoot monthly if not weekly. Forest fires, earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, and floods are just a few of the threats we all live with in this nation, not to mention extortionists, mafia, the sex trade drugs, and even the abusers in our families cause great harm. It is a miracle that day to day we are protected!

So what can stop our worries and calm our fears? Only the word of God! I use to repeat several verses to myself to overcome these fears and take note of them so you too can to gain strength when you need it!

Philippians 4:6, 7 "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

Isaiah 26:3 Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.

Psalm 119:50 This is my comfort in my affliction: for thy word hath quickened me. (made me alive)

Psalm 23:4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

8. And when we see others suffering as I did the past 2 weeks in Oklahoma, here is a verse that come to mind of what our mission is:

2 Corinthians 1:4 Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.

Our task as a true Holy Ghost filled Christians is to console our own spirits from the worries, threats, and fears we face daily! And after that, you are to console others who are going through trials that have left them disoriented and weak.

I don’t think God is unfair to allow us to live in a fallen, imperfect world where nature or people can ruin us in an instant. We are in a school to prepare us for eternity where everything will be perfect. Maybe one lesson is you need to be ready to trust God and also be ready to leave it all behind (even your life) at any time!

I think God knows that without danger all of humanity would forget Him and go the way of the Satanic self-centered, prideful, perverted, and narcissistic people. The reminder of danger remains: you and I have a sword over our head!

What is the sword over your head? What do you most fear? Bad health? A hurricane?  A violent relative? An armed thief? Have you learned to live with it but placing it in God’s hands? Let’s pray for peace of mind! Le’ts pray that we learn to trust God no matter what happens!

My Experiences in OKC, May 2013 by Capt. Kelly Durant

My Experiences in OKC, May 2013

by Capt. Kelly Durant

There was only 16 minutes to be ready for the tornado. What could you do with so little time?

Here are some thought provoking stories shared: Ask yourself, are you so thoughtful of others to do the same as some of these people in OKC?

I lost count of how many people told stories of how they offered to take their neighbors into their very small storm shelters and that is what saved their lives. Imagine about 9 or 10 people in a 6 by  8 foot space. The noise and vibration was as strong as being a few feet away from a freight train. Without concerned neighbors, how many more would not have made it through these horrific minutes?

Those that came out of the shelters came out quite a few minutes thereafter discovering that every thing was churned and mixed into a shredded rubble with only one or no wall of their house standing. Cars were wrapped around trees, or upside down, refrigerators were blown blocks away; few times in history has such wind destruction been witnessed by the EF5, 200+ winds. Most told me that their only thought was, thank God I am alive! With life there is hope of a better tomorrow.

Many people survived by staying in the inner most parts of the home, in the bathrooms, and in the house interior only to walk out and see that everything else had been blown away except the room they were in!

One family down a gravel farm road near El Reno had their mobile home totally blown away across a huge field. I felt pity for them as they had no insurance and 3 kids. My coworker and I searched in the field for a safe the owner claimed had some money in it that had blown away. We did not find it but coworker, Capt. Val Cantu, found one of the kids piggy banks. That made their day and brought a big smile to their faces as we returned it to them.

How does God protect? Here are some stories shared while serving  or doing interviews either counseling or signing up the people for help. 

I heard at least 3 stories of people getting their kids out of the Moore school early for some reason, like to go to the doctor. 

There were a few people who said their older teenagers were on their own home alone and they hid in the bathrooms with mattresses on top of them and they survived. 

There were even those that survived even after getting sucked out of the house by the tornado. One women described how the house was blow away, and she felt the wind suck the clothes off of her body and she was naked but survived. 

One woman  described how she was in the bathroom tub and the house blew way and the tub flew in the air and landed upon a fallen tree. She came down from the tree only needing 15 stitches on her head. 

One woman was sucked out of the house and she pointed out the dint in the jeep where she had hit. She lost her false teeth but did not get any broken bones.

One woman who was trying to get refuge in the Moore IMAC movie theater was outside just one minute before it hit and she felt herself being lifted in the air while running there. Her kids were ahead of her and she yelled to them to run inside anyway and she and them made it in before it hit!

One family wanted to run to the shelter out in the yard outside but it was raining so hard they decided to stay in the bathroom of the house and the tornado blew away the house but they were spared. They went to see about the shelter to find that it was totally full of water, so if they had gone there they would have drown or been forced out to the open and taken away.

Consider this reaction, would you do this?

Many people even with their homes in rubble did not worry for their personal items but immediately started looking for their neighbors and they pulled them out of the rubble. This immediate action got many to the hospitals on time and their lives were saved.

The next day in the rain:

Neighbors a few blocks over not affected by the destruction ran to help others move their rubble into piles so people could save any good items. People and volunteers just came from everywhere in particular from churches and helped everyone sort through items. So many people were out helping that the traffic was crazy for a week!

In the farm areas it was amazing how neighbors came together to help each other and to remove debris.  Those with tractors were pulling trees, young men with chain saws were cutting logs. some people with cow and horse feed were out caring for the animals. Everyone was getting muddy, but no one cared about that, everyone just wanted to see things cleaned up so it would be encouraging g to look at. 

In the end, many people displayed resilience with all the support of family and strangers. 

I was able to serve with the emotion and spiritual care aspect while either out in a van or truck serving food and drinks to those in the affected areas, by distributing food and household goods in the warehouse, or while signing up people to get monetary and clothing assistance. I worked in the neighborhoods and went from house to house on the farms. I served in Moore, Shawnee, Carney, El Reno, and in OKC areas where there was no electricity. Most people were very thankful just for our presence, that we were showing up there to serve them and help. Many people we're anxious to tell us how they survived, but some were quiet. Several people cried telling their stories and we hugged many who welcomed it. I personally was able to pray with about 300 people during my 14 day deployment and my team coworkers prayed with many more making the prayers add up to the thousands! The Salvation Army offering love and prayer was a unique and refreshing ministry considering the fact that the other agencies and insurance companies were only there doing what they do in the business mode. 

What does it feel like to be close to a tornado?

Possibly The Lord wanted all of us who were serving to know the feeling!

A second wave of tornadoes hit Friday and thankfully we had made it back to the hotel. Everyone in the hotel was told to sit in the hallway and wait for the tornado to blow over. On the TV everyone could hear the news of it is getting closer coming east so they said for those in cars to go south, but then it split and made a C shape and those south were going to be hit too. The cloud was coming and our street by I-40 was mentioned as being next. It had not hit the ground in full force but was branching down into 3 separate tornadoes. A few people like myself watched the dark green cloud from the hotel doors until we heard the deep rumble. After the power was cut,  all that could be done was prayer! The thoughts raced in my mind that I needed to tell my family that I loved them before I would get crushed by the hotel rubble the tornado would create. I thanked God that I had had a good life and that I could die serving Him. I looked at the dozens around me nearby, some frozen in fear, some ignorant of the seriousness just chatting away. I was disappointed that I did not see anyone praying out loud, maybe they were inside. This was very real near death experience. I was trying in my mind accept it and just let it be even though my heart was beating harder. 

Experiences like these really make you seek God!