Dave4Him's WebLog: February 2007

Friday, February 23, 2007

MY TICKET IS HERE!!!

COMING UP TO BREATHE TOUR

Audio Adrenaline and Mercy Me

Tallahassee, Fl.

April 13, 2007

I can't wait--this is going to be great! It will also be bittersweet because I love Audio Adrenaline and this will be the last time I will see them as a band. Mark Stewart, Audio A's lead singer, is losing his voice. Doctors have told him that if he keeps on singing, he will lose his voice, singing and talking, for good! He pours himself 100% into every show and every song. He and the rest of Audio A are

committed followers of Christ and have a humongous heart for the lost! So it will be somewhat emotional for me to be there. Now, you're probably thinking what is a 52 year old man doing at an Audio A concert and, no doubt, will probably get 'choked up' at some point? Well, I have only been saved going on 12 years and Audio Adrenaline was one of the first Christian bands that I found out there rocking for Jesus. They play my kind of music and sing about my Jesus and His great love for us all. I have never been to one of their concerts and the Gospel wasn't preached. Mark and the guys have a way of connecting with the youth, (and me), and these guys are really 'real' in their Christian walk. I have followed their success for the last 10 years or so, and love them as sons in the faith. I met them backstage a few years ago in Jacksonville and though we talked briefly, I could discern their heart for the ministry of reaching these kids, and old goats like me, with the saving Gospel of Jesus Christ. Watch Audio A video

Mercy Me will there also. These guys used to lead worship for Shepherd Ministries and Mark Matlock at Student Life Conferences. I used to drive the church bus to Lakeland, FL every year to the conference. Great times for sure! These guys are 'real' in their faith as well. I once prayed with them in a group prayer before opening the conference one year, and the Spirit definitely showed up where '2 or 3' had gathered. Good memories. In fact, the song "I Can Only Imagine" was sung several years at the conferences before it became a national hit. It even played on secular stations!

So, if you're in Tallahassee 04/13/07 at the Leon Co. Civic Ctr., look me up in Floor Section 1, Row G, and standing in front of seat 14! I can't wait!

...to be continued for sure

Sunday, February 18, 2007

What's Wrong With Dave?

People probably have been asking that question for years. And still are!:-) Sometimes I ask myself that question too. I mean look at the media hype and non-stop coverage of Anna Nicole Smith, of her life and her death. The media is absolutely gone 'yonkers' over this sad life of a misguided woman. She sold out to the world and the world devoured her. She had a 'rock star' status for what? Let's be honest. She was in a way, a prostitute. Now I can't judge, that's God's job, but I'm not blind either. The 'fruits' of her life point back to a rotten tree. But hey, we all have sinned I know. It's just a shame she never discovered, (best that I could tell), the healing power of our awesome God. As far as being concerned, I'm sorry for her death, her little 5-month old daughter orphaned, but I really don't care to hear all about her pitiful life every time I turn the radio or TV on. Are there no HEROS out there anymore? Are these our 21st century icons? Thanks Bill and Monica. Oh yeah, I wouldn't want to leave out Brittany here! What's wrong with me, is it that I don't want to know all the kinky and sad details of her life like the rest of the world wants to know! Yes, it's a tragedy and we should mourn the loss of another human, but to put her up on a pedestal and 'worship' her is just wrong. And behind it all, is the love of money, not the love of God.

Another viewpoint would be American Idol. What is up with that show? Frankly, the name keeps me away. Doesn't the Second Commandment come to mind here? To be honest, I have never watched a single show, only maybe a clip or two that was on the news about the show. So in that light, maybe I am prejudging a bit...maybe-maybe not. I saw in those film clips, hundreds of people standing in a line somewhere, usually raining, snowing, maybe in the middle of a heat wave, all trying desperately to get on this show and my heart breaks with the thought, "Why don't we seek God that way?" Of course the proverb comes to mind here, "There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death." Proverbs 14:12 (NKJV) Now don't misunderstand, I have heard that a lot of good singers have been discovered on this show, but it's just the way it all comes about that bugs me. When I was a kid, they had Ted Mack's Amateur Hour on our 3-channel-only TV. It was, in a way, the same thing, except now it's all about the money and fame, not the God-given talent of the contestants. So what's wrong with Dave, because I don't care if American Idol is on TV tonight? I have had parents upset with us at our Wednesday night Awana (children's Bible club) because we went a little over time with letting their kids out and they were missing American Idol that night!! I'm serious, it was actually spoken by a parent picking up their child one night. So what's wrong with Dave? I have a great desire that all men, women, and children have a everlasting relationship with our Heavenly Father through His only son, Jesus Christ. But I detest the things of the world and with the same breath admit that I can be drawn in to some of them at times. (Thank God for His Holy Spirit who convicts and corrects us!)

So, what's wrong with Dave? You can answer that for yourself, but I can tell you what's 'right' with Dave. My worldview was changed 12 years ago when I met the Lord. And He has been grooming, changing, growing, convicting, comforting, challenging, equipping and preparing me for His service.

The Bible is absolutely clear on which side of the fence a Christian is on.
"Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world--the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life--is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever. 1 John 2:15-17 (NKJV)

This one thing I know -- that I know that I know that I know that I am His. How about you?
I pray so.
God bless.

He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God. 1 John 5:12-13 (NKJV) (emphasis mine)

How Dave became 'Dave4Him'

Testimony of David L. Barnes --- Written shortly after conversion in Sept. 1995 ---

On September 2, 1995, my wife informed me that she was filing for divorce. My reaction at first was, ‘Yea, right’, but when I looked into her eyes, I knew that she was serious. My world turned upside down. It was as if my very soul died; like the batteries in a flashlight when a power outage hits, dead. I knew our marriage wasn't what it should have been. I knew our romance was not burning like a torch—more like a pilot light on a gas stove. I knew we had problems but I didn’t know how to fix it. “I’ll just put it on the back burner and the problem will fix itself over time.” I didn’t love my wife not one bit less than when I had married her twelve years ago, I just didn’t let her know or show her like I should have. The pressures of life, raising two young children, wanting a nice home, vehicles, and all of the other stuff that you think you got to have to live comfortably came before our relationship to each other. At that time I couldn’t see that. The more stuff we wanted, the more we had to work. Gradually, I was working more and more, longer hours, and six sometimes seven days a week. Trying to bring home every dollar so we could have more stuff and be happy. She was working full time and raising our two children and being a housewife all at the same time. We didn’t have time for each other it seemed. We were so caught up trying to live the ‘good life’ that we missed the good life! It was right there under my nose and I didn’t even see it. We didn’t have enough stuff yet, the timing wasn’t right, we need to pay this loan off so we can borrow more, to buy more stuff. Never was I satisfied to the point that I’d say, “OK, we’re here! We got enough stuff now so let’s start living.” What a waste of valuable time! A beautiful wife, two beautiful children—what more could a man want? Instead of bonding with my wife more and more, I was driving the wedge deeper and deeper. Over time, she was going this way and I was going that way. Two different roads—her road was to enjoy life now and my road detoured, not enough stuff yet. But I thought that the roads would merge back together and everything would be all right. The roads were dead ends. Back to Sept. 2, the first Saturday of September, I left that night, normally I would leave Sunday morning, but I left that Saturday night because I was so upset—I didn’t know what to do or what to say—I needed time to think. I am a truck driver. In a small town, having only a high school education, it was the best job I could do to make the most money. Also, it’s something I liked and knew something about. I grew up around trucks thanks to my daddy. Anyway, I left that Saturday night, headed up to Tifton Georgia to pick up my load to go to Ft. Lauderdale. It was a regular and steady haul, three times a week for over two and a half years now. Every Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday mornings, I was leaving home and returning the next afternoon. That Saturday night I slept in my truck. Actually I just tossed and turned and wept. Sunday morning I picked up my load and headed for Ft. Lauderdale. It was the longest day of my life! Looking back, I shouldn’t have ever been on the road for other people’s safety and mine. I would realize where I was at and didn’t remember how I got to that point. It was like a car trip when we were children and we would be sleeping in the back seat, waking up from time to time, trying to figure out where we were at and how we got there. After two and a half years of running the same route, I guess it paid off because I didn’t wreck. I know now that a Higher Power had His hand on the wheel along with mine! That whole day, I was trying to figure out why this was happening and what could I do to change my wife’s mind. My mind was like a hurricane spinning here and there never knowing where it was going next, only slowing down momentarily to grasp a thought and spinning off again. I was going insane I thought! Never had anything ever upset me like this before! Everything I had ever wanted in life was suddenly falling away from me and I wanted desperately to get a hold on it, but it was slipping right out of my hand! I arrived In Ft. Lauderdale that night earlier than usual. I laid down in the sleeper of my truck and wept. My mind was complete mush. I didn’t understand why this was happening to me. Over and over I reviewed my life and marriage, trying to put my finger on the source of the problem—nothing made any sense. I loved my wife, I loved my children, I loved my family and worked hard to support them—and ‘this’ was happening. Why, why over and over why? At this time, around 7:45pm, Sunday, September 3, 1995, while laying down in my truck, I lifted my arms into the air and cried out, “God, please help me!” At that very moment a calmness that I have never experienced before in my life came over me. A tingling sensation started on my head and slowly went down my entire body, all the way to my toes. It was that feeling like when your foot ‘falls asleep’ and the blood in coming back into it. The calmness upon me was eerie, something different. The air that I breathed was the sweetest, the most purest air that I had ever breathed! Then, there I was looking down at myself lying down in my truck. It was like I was in the roof of my truck, looking down at myself! I could ‘see’ right through myself. I could see all the things that I had been doing wrong. It hurt tremendously to look at myself, but the whole time it felt like Someone had an arm around me, comforting me. All of the things that I had said, thought, and did just came gushing up for me to see. The way I had neglected my family—my wife, my children—just became so evident to me. I was worshiping my work and never realized it. Then, I was back in my body again lying there in my truck. The silence was deafening! Then all of the emotions of what I had just experienced came over me and I wept momentarily and stopped and just lay there absorbing all of what had just happened. Then a joyous feeling came over me. It was a new feeling that I had never experienced. It was like a light clicked on inside me. I thought, “How come I feel so happy when my whole world has fell down around me?” Then, at that very moment, I realized that God had saved me! He reached down and anointed my head when I invited Him into my life. He opened my eyes and unplugged my ears. Through His outpouring of grace, He had saved me. I had been reborn, reborn of the Spirit and for the first time in my life, I was seeing the kingdom of God! I saw all of the times that when I put my work ahead of my family, all the times that I could have put them off until later and be with my family. I was hearing all of the things my family was telling or asking of me that fell on deaf ears. Somewhere along the way, I had managed to get my priorities exactly backwards. I had driven my wife away from me—I had killed her love for me that she once had. I had pushed her so far back that she fell off. Too many times I had blamed her for our problems, but when God opened my eyes, I looked deep into my soul and realized that it was me. It was me. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------This is exactly what I wrote down many years ago. I have wanted to edit it several times since, but to do so, would take away from how exactly I felt at the moment. As a brand new child of God, I tried to explain it the best way that I could. Also, I cannot say that I actually had an out-of-the-body experience, all I know is that God allowed me to go through that. Whether real or a vision, God was in it and that's all the proof I need. I could never adequately explain my salvation and how God changed me, but I KNOW He did. I know that I know that I know! I was there. He was there! Have you 'been there?' I pray so.

Dave4Him's WebLog

Friday, February 23, 2007

MY TICKET IS HERE!!!

Sunday, February 18, 2007

What's Wrong With Dave?

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