tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39715082949097773052024-03-18T10:22:10.466-07:00Denny Wade From The HeartContemporary Christian Singer/Songwriter Denny Wade Garrett's messages and notes from the heart.Denny Wade Garretthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10075937956174615514noreply@blogger.comBlogger143125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3971508294909777305.post-27996260911154774822024-03-08T08:35:00.000-08:002024-03-08T08:35:03.592-08:00New RelationshipsWe talk about new love; how great it is, how exciting it is, and we romanticize it. But new love is also scary. While you're basking in the glow of the possibilities, the negative possibilities also cross your mind and that's terrifying. What if the person you're falling in love with hurts you? What if they use you up and toss you aside like yesterday's garbage? It's impossible to imagine all the great outcomes without considering all the hurtful, harmful ones. It's enough to drive a person into hibernation.
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From my own experience, I worry that I will again fall in love only to learn my partner doesn't really love me. That I will go into another relationship where I give my all and I receive little to nothing in return. I've only been in love one time, but I knew that I wasn't loved in return. I was willing to live that relationship because I was so desperate to be in love. I'm older and wiser, now, but I still have to weigh the cost of being in a relationship where I fall in love. Am I going to be fallen in love with this time, or will I be the only one in love in the relationship? Am I willing to risk it all again, only to find I'm repeating my last relationship? And what if I do wind up being loved the way I love? How do I react to that? I've never experienced that so how will I cope with it?
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I also keep asking myself if I'm too old to go through it all, again. Do I really want to try again? Does the risk of pain outweigh the possibility of being loved? Can I really find love at this stage in my life? Ten billion and one questions and not a single real answer in sight, and my stress level goes through the roof! What am I waiting for? Am I rushing it? Am I delaying it? Am I ready? Will I ever be ready? Am I good enough? Do I deserve it? Too many questions without answers could send me running back into hibernation without really giving love a chance.
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But the reality is we cannot find the answers until we commit ourselves to the relationship. Only by allowing ourselves to fall in love can we learn if the other person loves us the way we love them. We can only learn if they will hurt us after we give them the opportunity to love us. There is no shortcut to the answers; we just have to travel the journey in order to reach the destination, whichever that may be. So the real question is: do we embark on the journey or do we return to our cave and hide out for the rest of our lives? And that truly is the only question we can answer. Will it be yes or no?Denny Wade Garretthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10075937956174615514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3971508294909777305.post-79495030154461761792024-01-15T07:36:00.000-08:002024-01-15T07:36:17.097-08:00WordsWe all know people who make comments that are hurtful, but they say it as a "joke," so we can't really complain about what they're saying or we look like someone who is overly sensitive. Or they make jokes with just enough barb to them that you know they really mean what they're saying but want to hide it behind a joke so they can't be held accountable.
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This type of thing has always bothered me because it's just another way of not truly being real in a relationship. And it's a way of not truly taking responsibility for their actions, statements or behavior. They think because it's a "joke" it's okay. But the fact remains, the pain they inflict is real, not a joke. But, to them, hurt feelings aren't really pain. And if they are, it's not their fault, it's the person whose feelings were hurt's fault. They should "toughen up." But these people tend to be people who have suffered enough hurt and pain in their lives that they can't just "toughen up."
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Words are powerful. Jesus taught us that the power of life and death are in the tongue. Words can create or destroy. Words can bring joy or sorrow. They can build up or tear down. And the one speaking those words will have to answer for them one day; not to man but to God. Matthew 12:36-37 says, "But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned." But what does it mean to say "idle words?" Idle words lack purpose or intention; they fill the air with meaningless noise. I know I don't want to stand before God and have to answer for saying things that had no purpose or were just a bunch of noise. I only want to hear God say, "well done" when I enter His presence. I don't want Him questioning me about things that didn't have purpose.
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There's an old children's rhyme that parents have used for generations to try to help children not really give words much importance, but the truth of the matter is that words may not break bones, but they do break spirits, hearts and the wounds they inflict may last a lifetime.Denny Wade Garretthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10075937956174615514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3971508294909777305.post-32085987262059715222024-01-04T15:13:00.000-08:002024-01-04T15:13:06.958-08:00For Such A Time As ThisAs far as I know, this phrase was first used when Esther was queen of Persia, by being the wife of Ahasuerus, king of the Persian empire. She was queen when Ahasuerus decreed that all the Hebrews be destroyed and the Jewish people be killed at the urging of Haman. Esther's uncle, Mordecai spoke to her and told her that she had been chosen by God to be queen of the Persian empire for such a time as this so that she could save the Jews from extermination.
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Since that time, anyone called of God to accomplish a certain task at a certain time has used the phrase, for such a time as this. And in the days that we are living in, there are many who have been appointed "for such a time as this." Appointed and anointed to share the grace and mercy of Almighty God, to share the good news of Jesus Christ, who lived, died and was resurrected so that we might have eternal life, spending eternity with God.
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I believe I was born so that I could share that grace and mercy that I have received and to tell everyone I meet that Jesus is alive and well and that He is still rolling stones away from tombs, setting captives free, giving sight and hearing to the blind and deaf. Healing the sick and restoring hope in the hearts and souls of all who call on His name and repent of their sins. His love is all around us, if we'll just allow ourselves to feel it.
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But, at this point in history, our people are at odds with one another. We're allowing our differences to create hate and enmity within our hearts and souls. If we don't agree with someone's point of view we classify them as our enemy and we seek to hurt or destroy them. There are no scriptures in the Bible that tell us that these things are justified or right. There are, however, scriptures that tell us these things are unacceptable to God. Jesus came to teach us how to live, and all we have to do is follow His example. Jesus never accused anyone for their sin! He never fought with those who didn't believe. When He traveled to Nazareth, His very own people refused to see Him as He truly was, so He departed that region. He didn't declare war on them and try to destroy them, He merely turned around and left them where they were.
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Jesus never got into anyone's face and screamed that they should follow Him; He merely went where people could listen to His teachings. If they attended that was great. If they didn't, that was fine, too. Jesus never tried to change the rule of law that governed Israel and Judea. He obeyed the law, but He still did what He needed to do in teaching the people that He was the Messiah and that God loved them. Even the woman at the well was not treated with anything other than love and respect. And she had been married so many times and was living with a man who was not her husband. But Jesus didn't tell her she was a harlot, adulteress, sinner or anything of that nature. He simply invited her to drink of the living water that He provides and told her to go and sin no more. Even though He knew that she could not live her life without commiting sin. The command to go and sin no more is not given in the spirit that we will never make a mistake, it's given so that we strive to live our lives without sin.
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For such a time as this, I was called by God to bring His message of love, hope, grace and mercy to the people that I can reach. And that's what I try to do each and every day. I don't always hit the mark, but I still keep trying. I still keep telling every one I can that Jesus loves them so much that He died the most horrifying death imaginable so that every one who accepts Him as Lord and Savior can find peace, love, grace and mercy. Eternal life with God is a bonus! Nothing we can do would ever earn us salvation. We aren't told to clean ourselves up and do things to pay for our salvation. We were saved by grace through the mercy of God. Our works are not done to earn anything; they're done to show others what God can do and to fulfill the command of Jesus to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the sick and the widows, to house the homeless and to share the Love, Grace and Mercy that we have received from God. If you see someone thirsty, give them a drink. If you see someone hurting, offer solace and hope.
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Stop the hatred; stop the shouting; stop the belligerence; stop the enmity! Humble yourself and allow Holy Spirit to guide you and counsel you. I know it's not the easiest thing to do, but it is worth the effort to do so. The result will be peace beyond understanding and joy that can't be spoken. And love like you've never known.Denny Wade Garretthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10075937956174615514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3971508294909777305.post-17769398591911140022023-12-31T09:09:00.000-08:002023-12-31T09:09:13.949-08:00New Love/First LoveI'm 60 years old and I've never had someone be in love with me. I have been in love, once, but it was not returned. I was settled for, not chosen or "the one." I have loved when I wasn't "in love," and while those relationships were nice, they weren't meant to be the permanent, lasting relationships, they were merely practice for the real one.
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The one relationship where I was in love, I was settled for because of health issues Kerry was dealing with. I was settled for because there was no hope that someone else would come along and be the love Kerry wanted. While I knew that going in, and I was okay with it because I was so madly in love, later on I felt cheated and deprived. My love wasn't diminished, but I felt like I deserve to be loved the way I love. And although I dated, I didn't find the one, so I gave up. For almost 25 years I didn't try to find love, I just lived my life believing no one would ever love me like that.
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My comment on love was, "if God wants me to have it, He will rip off the roof and throw it in."
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There's a possibility that I may have found that love, or it found me. A month into the relationship, there's something really special going on but I cannot say that I've found "the one." I've found someone who COULD be "the one." While I had never heard the words, "I love you" from someone I was in a relationship with before, I got to hear those words a couple of weeks ago and it felt so good, so right, so now. Yes, it would be easy to question why it took so long, or to ask what was I doing wrong that I couldn't find it earlier in my life, but the truth is asking those questions and getting the answers wouldn't change anything. I would still be 60 years old and experiencing something I've never experienced before. I don't feel the need to question, I only feel the need to experience what is happening in the here and now.
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Everything happens in God's time. When you give your life to Him and you place all control of your life in His hands, then things happen on His schedule and there's not much you can do about it. Yes, I could try to force it, like I did with Kerry, but nothing will really come of that because it's not the soulmate God created for me. And that's who I want: God's choice, not my own. This new love may very well turn out to be my first true love, but it may turn out to be just another preparation or just a taste of love. I don't know, yet. But I do know I'm going to enjoy it for as long as God has planned.Denny Wade Garretthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10075937956174615514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3971508294909777305.post-49377087207162935302023-12-31T08:50:00.000-08:002023-12-31T08:50:11.624-08:00Are You Kidding Me?I keep hearing about the hardships the people of the Gaza Strip are enduring, but I don't hear any news reports about the hardships the people of Israel are facing! It's always about how the palestinians are being denied basic human rights, but no one talks about how those palestinians have denied basic human rights to the women and children of Israel whom they've murdered or the survivors of the Israeli men they've murdered who have no means to support themselves. When are we going to stop bending over backwards to make the palestinians victims? They are not victims! They would be if they had ever declared themselves a sovereign nation and established a state for themselves. They occupied the land now known as Israel for almost 2,000 years and never established themselves as a nation. They claimed their nations as those of Iran, Iraq, Syria, Egypt, etc., but they never made any move to establish the land where Israel now exists as a state. Only after Israel took possession and resurrected their nation did those who had lived on that land for thousands of generations claim they wanted a state on that land. Denny Wade Garretthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10075937956174615514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3971508294909777305.post-65675274749386468402023-11-20T09:39:00.000-08:002023-11-20T09:39:35.056-08:00The Truth Set Me FreeI was talking with a friend this morning and I mentioned that I had received beatings, as a child and teen, for telling the truth. That's not supposed to be the reality for a child. It's no wonder I became a liar due to the fact I was beaten for telling the truth.
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When a child is raised by liars, he will learn to lie. Both my father and my step-mother would require me to lie to the other about their actions and words. Of course, if I lied to them about mine, I got a beating. Teaching a child to lie, then punishing them for lying is confusing to a child. But, beating a child for telling the truth is not confusing. The child learns that the truth is not acceptable. The truth will only bring trouble. In the house of liars, that is.
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Thankfully, I didn't live in that household beyond nine years. At the age of 13, I began living with honest adults. And I began to learn that the truth was, indeed, the right way to live. I never once got in trouble for telling the truth by another adult after that. Unfortunately, I did return to living in my father's presence, so I did receive beatings for the truth after the age of 14. But, thankfully, the other person in that house was the most honest person I have ever met in my life. And she is the one who brought about the change in my life to move from dishonesty to honesty.
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Once I realized how bad I had gotten with lying and decided to make the change to being an honest person, I realized that the truth really does set you free. Free from fear. Fear from reprisals. Free from deception. It's a freedom I hadn't known until I was in my mid-20's. And it's a freedom I've relished throughout the rest of my adult life. I have friends who have gotten upset with me because I won't tell a "white lie" for them. But, for someone like me, even a little lie could become a snowball that grows as it rolls downhill and enmesh me into the life of dishonesty, again, and I will not allow that to happen.
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The thing about the truth is, you don't have to remember it. It is what it is, and you'll never get tripped up by it. One lie begets another begets another begets another until you don't even know what the truth is anymore. If someone asked you your name, you'd be tempted to lie about it because you don't know what the truth is. I love the scripture that describes a liar: "the truth isn't in them." And from personal experience I can tell you that's real. A liar cannot know the truth because it doesn't reside in them. Jesus is the truth, the light, the way and He resides in my heart. So lies no longer have a place in my life. And I love it that way.Denny Wade Garretthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10075937956174615514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3971508294909777305.post-10374283474752559362023-11-19T08:46:00.000-08:002023-11-19T08:46:42.741-08:00Death and DyingI recently posted on my Facebook page about death being a part of life and while I do truly understand that, I still hate death and dying. Not for me, but for those I love. I grieve over their lost moments; their lost opportunities. The loved ones who will miss them and the events of their loved ones life they won't be able to share. I've lost a lot of people during the course of my life. Some were due to age, some due to accidents and some due to disease. I've lost loved ones to cancer and to HIV and they are the two most horrible diseases I know of. They're horrible because they rob their victims of dignity. They steal the most fundamental aspects of being human and leave their victims without the ability to share their thoughts and feelings.
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And before anyone tells me that HIV is God's curse on man for sin, let me stop you! God doesn't put disease on anyone! That's a lie straight from the pits of hell! There is no way God would strike a person down with disease for sin. He gives each and every person every opportunity to repent of their sin, He doesn't curse them while they're living! I don't know what kind of God you serve, but I feel sorry for you if your God is that hateful and spiteful. That's not the God I know and serve. The God I serve created the heavens and the earth by speaking them into existence. He spoke every single thing in this universe into being, but He reserved His most precious creation to be formed by His own hand! He created Adam from the dust of the earth by His hand and in His image! He created Eve from the rib of Adam, thus creating all of humanity in His image by His hand! If you think He would then be hate-filled and strike His creation down with disease for sin, you've forgotten how He loved mankind so much He became flesh and died on a cross and rose again on the third day so that He could save mankind from destruction! That's the God I serve: One who loves me so much He was willing to pay the ultimate sacrifice for me!
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I know there are members of my friends and family that are waiting for me on the other side of the River Jordan, waiting for me to step into eternity and spend it with them and with my Saviour. There are others I'm not sure where their eternity will be spent. And I grieve for God if they chose to not allow Jesus into their lives. I grieve for their family members and friends who are left wondering where they are for eternity. I cannot grieve for them because they made their choice. They had the opportunity to choose life over death and they didn't. That doesn't make me hard or uncaring; but I can't waste my time on this earth grieving over something that I cannot change. I will spend my time trying to convince those who haven't chosen Jesus to do so.
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And I will miss each and every one who has stepped into eternity and left me here to think of them, love them and remember them.Denny Wade Garretthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10075937956174615514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3971508294909777305.post-52071230334977927952023-11-14T10:27:00.000-08:002023-11-14T10:27:28.993-08:00No, You Don't Understand and I Pray You Never DoI'm going to tell you the four most infuriating words in the English language: "I understand your pain."
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No, you do not, cannot and I pray will never be able to understand my pain. Even my siblings cannot understand my pain because they did not suffer the same things I did. They didn't survive the beatings I did. They weren't told the same things I was told. They didn't suffer the loneliness and heartache I did. There's only One who understands my pain because He was right there beside me when I went through it. He watched it as it happened and He wanted to desperately stop it, but He would not overrule free will. He shielded me as much as He was able to and even miraculously stopped the abuse at times, but because someone in this world wanted to inflict pain and suffering on me, I went through some hell that no one on this earth can ever understand.
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I know that others went through things, maybe even something very similar to what I experienced, but they didn't experience MY pain, my trauma, my suffering. That means no one can know my pain. Or understand it! Heck, even I don't understand my pain, at times. I pray no child ever has to endure what I went through as a child. I've had people try to tell me my childhood wasn't bad; that I had a good home, etc. No, I did not! There may have been quiet times, but my home life was not good. I walked on eggshells around my own home, hoping and praying the monster that lived there with me didn't know I was there. That I could walk through the hall to the bathroom without making a sound because that might infuriate him and I would get beaten just because I happened to be there.
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The monsters weren't under my bed or in my closet; the monster lived in the room across the hall. He was in the living room or the kitchen or dining room. If I laughed at a TV show, I might get beaten because he thought I laughed wrong. If I went to the store to get medicine for him, I might get beaten when I got home because he thought I took too long. There was never any warning that what I was doing was making him furious and therefore the beatings would come out of nowhere for things that no one could reasonably think would cause anger or violence. Several of the beatings were for telling the truth. So, I learned that the truth wasn't always the best way to deal with things. At times it felt like just breathing was enough to make the monster come out.
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No, my childhood was not good. No, my home life was not good. No, you cannot understand the pain that wound up stored in my heart, soul and memory. And I pray you will never be able to understand that kind of pain, that kind of terror and that kind of twisted life. But, I rarely talk about the things that went on, so you can't really understand how bad life was for me as a child. You don't know the many nights I was awakened to screams of pain and terror. Sometimes coming from my own mouth. You'll never know the fear that was with me every waking moment and sometimes invaded my sleep causing dreams that were horrifying because they were so realistic and so very close to what was happening when I wasn't asleep. Many were playing out what my child's mind thought would be the inevitable conclusion for what went on inside the four walls that I felt were my prison.
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I know that I'll never understand someone else's pain because I didn't experience their lives. I can empathize, sympathize and be there for them as they work through their pain, but their pain is their own and I can never know it or understand it. I just hope that somehow, some way, I can help a child escape the kinds of things I lived through. Whether it be by shining a light on abuse or by recognizing the signs and alerting authorities to rescue that child from their situation. I will do whatever it takes to help a child who is in those situations
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If you suspect a child is being abused, neglected or abandoned, please contact the authorities; police, child protective services or even the district attorney's office. Get someone to check on that child's situation. Children are a gift from God and should be treated as such. Not as punching bags or someone to take anger out on because the adult doesn't know how to control their anger or disappointments. No child should ever know the pain of being abused by the ones who are supposed to love and protect them. Or feel hate coming from those who are meant to be their guardians and teachers.Denny Wade Garretthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10075937956174615514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3971508294909777305.post-40988329964118378992023-11-14T05:28:00.000-08:002023-11-14T05:28:20.123-08:00Hard RelationshipsThere is such a difference in how the world says we should live and how God wants us to live. I know most everyone understands a little bit of that statement, but for some reason even most Christians can get misled by some of the more subtle ways which are different. Take relationships for example: the world says if they are hard or you don't get complete fulfillment or joy, just walk away. If you get your feelings hurt, walk away. But God says if relationships are hard, stay. If things aren't always to your liking, stay. And we tend to follow the world's lead these days more than God's.
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A little over 10 years ago, I had to change doctors because my original orthopedic surgeon semi-retired. My new surgeon was not a Christian, and in fact told me that he did not believe in God. I was upset about that and I had mentioned to the associate pastor of the church I attended that I was going to have to get a new doctor because I didn't really like the fact that my surgeon didn't believe in God. I was kind of taken aback by the pastor's reaction. But, ultimately, he asked me one question that caused me to pause: what if I were the only Jesus that surgeon would ever see? What would happen to his soul if I walked away and never allowed him to see the Jesus in me that he needed to see?
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Well, I didn't change doctors; and every time I went to see that surgeon, he always did the same thing when he would first come into the room: shake my hand, shake his head and say, "I just don't see how you are still walking!" Each and every time, I would answer: "It's really very simple. I get up in the morning, throw my legs over the side of the bed, reach up and grab God's hand and put one foot in front of the other." This exchange happened every single time I would see the surgeon. For more than seven years. Then after one appointment, as he was getting ready to walk out of the exam room, the surgeon stopped, turned and looked at me and said, "I got saved last weekend."
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Now, I'm not saying I'm responsible for that man being saved, but I know one thing for certain: if I had changed doctors, he may not have ever gotten saved. Because he may not have seen Jesus in anyone else at that early period of him being my doctor. But, I have been told that it wasn't what I said to people that influenced them as much as what they saw. I don't just speak the words, I try my best to live them. When they see me walking the talk, that's what makes the biggest impact. Words are great, I love them, but words by themselves are not going to change someone's life. They have to see that what you say is how you live before it makes an impact. Trust me, if I had been a foul mouthed complainer with my surgeon, he wouldn't have ever thought of giving his life to God. But because I gave praise, honor and worship to the Almighty, he knew that my salvation was more than skin deep and that it truly had been instrumental in keeping me on my feet for over 20 years after they said I'd be paralyzed and unable to walk.
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I have relationships today that are not easy. I get my feelings hurt or my needs get ignored, but if I were to end those relationships how could I show those people that Jesus is real? That God can change a persons heart and life into something much better, greater and more loving? What if I am the only Jesus that person sees this week? This month? This year? Ever? If I chose to walk away, would that person ever get a chance to see Jesus in someone else's life? I have no idea! Only God knows if there is someone else in that person's life who will show Jesus to them. But, I know this: if I walk away I might be taking away their only chance to see Jesus at a time when they need it most! And I'm not willing to take that chance with their soul.
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God will tell me if I ever need to walk away from a relationship and He will never tell me to do so just because a relationship isn't easy. God's relationship with mankind has never been easy, but He never walked away from us. And I, for one, am extremely grateful for that.Denny Wade Garretthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10075937956174615514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3971508294909777305.post-23716568327485322272023-11-13T08:24:00.000-08:002023-11-14T05:31:51.025-08:00Losing MomI am one of those odd people who had more than two parents. Yes, I had a mother and father when I was born, but my father abducted me when I was four. I didn't see my mother for 9 years, until shortly after my 13th birthday. We had been separated for 9 years, 3 months, 2 weeks when she came back into my life. For exactly 9 years, my father's third wife was my step-mom. But, my relationship with my mother wasn't fully restored when we reunited. No, I actually wound up with another "mom" when my father's girlfriend rescued me from a motel on the Bossier City strip when I was 14, after my father had abandoned me there for six weeks.
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Between the time after Bonnie left and Ann taking me in, I had lived with my father's sister and her husband for a time, then my father's parents before he managed to get me removed from them and I went back to my aunt's. Between the ages of 13 and 17 I moved almost 15 times. But, that's a story for another day. Today's story is about Moms.
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I lost my mother, Catherine Sue McElwee on 28 November 1998 when I was 35 years old. Mom and I never had a really great relationship, but we did have a relationship, for which I am grateful. It wasn't really until she was dying that I finally learned that it was her husband that was keeping us apart, and not she, herself. It wasn't until the week before she died that I really, truly understood that my Mom loved me, deeply and that I was important to her; that I mattered. By the time I learned that, she wasn't able to speak due to the brain tumor that killed her. Her death completely destroyed me for a while.
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I lost Bonnie the moment she pulled out of the school driveway on 27 September 1976 heading to her parent's home in Waycross, GA for the final time. It was exactly 9 years, to the day, from when she and my father had taken me and my brother from our Mom in Altus, Oklahoma. Ironic that she left us on the anniversary of getting us, but less than a year after getting us, Bonnie gave birth to her miracle child; the child she was never supposed to be able to have. So she didn't really need Darren and I after 2 August 1968. There were attempts at reconciliation with Bonnie over the years because I truly wanted to believe that she loved me, but I never felt it from her. I was merely the son of her former husband to her.
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My 'angel' was Annie Lucille Carson Hanson. She had no obligation to me, but when she learned my father had left me in a motel room on the Bossier City strip, she drove from her home in south Shreveport and picked me up, telling me to pack all my belongings and put them in her car and she took me back to her home and gave me a sense of belonging, of love, of acceptance and made me feel like I mattered to someone. That I was important to someone. Someone wanted me to be part of their life. She saved my life and she saved my heart.
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I didn't make it easy for Ann, though. I had experienced so much rejection and abandonment in my young life that I made her prove, repeatedly, that she loved me, wanted me and wouldn't abandon me like everyone else. I tried her patience, her love and her endurance. But, through it all, she never gave up on me. Though it took me a lot of years to finally realize, she was the first person in my memory that truly showed me she loved me. For no other reason than she just did.
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I remember once asking her if I could call her "Mom," and it hurt me when she said no. She told me she wasn't trying to replace Bonnie as my mother and I told her Bonnie had never been my mother. And I didn't really have memories of my Mom, so she couldn't replace her. But, still she said no. I later realized that she didn't need to be called Mom to be my Mom. Because she was that from day one. She was my protector, my provider, my instructor, my guide and my security. She was everything a mother is supposed to be, yet she didn't need to be called mother to justify it. She didn't need to be honored for doing it, and she didn't require me to say thank you. In fact, every time I did say thank you to her, she downplayed her role in my life as if it weren't everything it was.
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Ann and I had a very special relationship. She confided in me and I confided in her. I told her almost everything there was to know about me. My secrets (or almost all of them,) my fears, my passions and my desires. I never really rebelled against Ann, because I was always too grateful for what she had done, and was doing, for me. Ann told me things she hadn't told many people, and some of them I never truly understood why she confided in me, but I knew that she trusted me with her secrets and I never let her down by revealing them. I never broke a promise to Ann. She was the only person who had ever put that much trust in me and I would have died before breaking that trust.
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Ann had three kids when I moved in with her: Lisa (1 year older), Glen (9 months younger) and Ken (4 years younger.) Ann never treated me any differently than she did her own three kids. And her kids were sister and brothers to me. We truly fought and loved like brothers and sister, too! Since Dad never gave Ann any money for groceries, utilities, etc., she literally had taken me in and raised me without any help. And she never asked me for anything in return other than respect. And she taught me what respect was because she gave me respect. Not because I had earned it, but just because I was a person. She taught me how to give to others who were in need, without expecting anything in return. She taught me how to love people without expecting anything in return. She taught me that even in our need, we still have things to offer to those who are less fortunate than we are. She didn't teach me any of this with words, though. Every thing she taught me she taught me by example. She lived it and she taught me how to live it.
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In the early years of her relationship with my father, when she would break up with him, I'd have to leave with him. But, most times we were back at Ann's within a couple days. Years later she told me there were some of those times she only took him back because of me. It broke my heart to learn that she put up with his abuse and use and other behaviors because of me, but I realized that was her choice and I didn't have any responsibility for it. But, I am so grateful she did. In the latter years, when she would throw him out, I would hear her tell him that he was to leave me there. Of course, he didn't have any problem doing that because he never wanted the responsibility for his children, anyway. If he had, he wouldn't have left me in that motel for six weeks without me knowing where he was or how to contact him.
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Through the years of my relationship with Ann, I didn't always treat her with the respect she deserved, however. It wasn't that I really rebelled, but I had my moments of not really wanting to hear the things she needed to say to me. But, she was always right when she would tell me those things and eventually I would listen to what she was trying to teach me and do the right thing. But, I was always stubborn about it. And she always taught me to stay on the straight and narrow, to do what's right and to be honest. It was odd to me that she was the most honest person I ever met and she was in a relationship with the most dishonest person I've ever known: my father. They were truly the exact opposite of one another in every way. She was responsible and she worked hard; he was irresponsible and lazy. She took care of her children and he couldn't care less about his. She had a mother's heart and he didn't have one, at all, it seemed. She could stretch a dollar like no one I've ever met and he blew money without having anything to show for it.
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After many attempts to move out of Shreveport, I returned from Los Angeles in August 1989 only to discover that Ann had met someone and had been dating him for a while. His name was Bill and Bill didn't much like me. Ann told me he had asked her why I was still hanging around her since she and my father had split up so many years earlier. He never understood what Ann meant to me or what she had done for me and my relationship with Ann began to falter. Even after I moved to Nashville, though, our relationship continued for a little while. It wasn't until after Ken's death that I had to let the relationship go.
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My continued contact with Ann was causing problems in her marriage to Bill and though I hated to let go, I knew I had to. It wasn't right to put Ann in the middle and make her choose because she would, of course, have chosen her husband over me. And I understood that, but that didn't make letting go any easier. Letting go of the one person in your life who had shown you love and acceptance and proved to you that you mattered is extremely hard to do, even when you know it's the right thing to do. It's like ripping your arm or leg off your body and throwing it in a trash heap.
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I won't say I severed all ties, because I didn't. Any time I had a real need for prayer there was only one person on the planet I would call: Ann! She was the most amazing prayer warrior I have ever known. Even knowing that God would hear my prayers, I knew He heard Ann's and I made sure if it was something of vital importance, she was the one I called to pray for me. And she always did. She never rejected my prayer requests.
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Then came the darkest day I think I've ever faced: 8 October 2015. I saw a post from Lisa on Facebook that Ann had passed away earlier that day. I knew she had been in very poor health for a year or so. She had beat lung cancer in 2014, but soon after she suffered heart failure and was bedridden the last year or so of her life. I had heard people talking about a light going out in the world when a loved one passed, but I had never truly experienced it until that day. The world suddenly became colder and darker and I truly felt lost. It was like a part of me had been ripped out of my soul.
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In my life, there was only one person I was ever 100% certain loved me while they loved me and that was Ann. She was the only person who had ever made me feel like I mattered while they were in my life or me in theirs. I had never once had any doubts about her love for me and now she was gone beyond my reach and I would never be able to tell her, again, how much I loved her, respected her and how very, very grateful I was to her and still am, to this day. Without Ann, I wouldn't be the man I am today. I wouldn't be the Christian I am today. I wouldn't even be here, today.
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Yes, I know my mother loved me. But, I also know that Mom had prioritized others over me. I never got to have the relationship with her I wanted. Ann had given me what I needed and wanted. And she had never held that back during the times I needed it most. She had always been there for me and I wanted so desperately to be there for her if and when she ever needed it. She is my Mom in every sense except the word. She was from that very first day when she picked me up at the Colonial Inn and took me into her home and into her life, heart and family. She will be until eternity ends as far as my heart is concerned. I didn't get to call her Mom, but she is, was and always be exactly that to me. And I miss her so!Denny Wade Garretthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10075937956174615514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3971508294909777305.post-4595120501807187402023-11-13T07:06:00.000-08:002023-11-13T07:06:37.621-08:00Life Is A Roller CoasterOne day you're up: every single thing seems to be going your way. You're happy, joyful, full of energy and ready to take on the world, single-handedly. The next you are so low you can't even see the mid-way point toward the mountain top. You feel utterly worthless, useless and there's no hope in sight. Some days you feel somewhere in between, where some things are okay, but nothing's really great. These are the days of our lives. Good, bad and indifferent. No one gets to coast along the mountain top every day, but at the same time, no one has to endure the lowest part of the valley every day, either. What most of us don't realize, though, is we do get a choice for most of our days.
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It doesn't matter what your circumstances look like, you make a choice each and every morning whether you are going to be happy or sad, good mood or bad, depressed or glad. It's all in your attitude and the best way to keep things under the full, bright sun is to count your blessings. Stop looking at what you don't have and start counting all the many things you have that are not the basic needs of life. Yes, even those are blessings, but think about how much above the basics you've been given, or have achieved. God has blessed each and every one of us in some way that we should be grateful for. It may just be that you are still alive and breathing, but that is the greatest gift of all in this life. That we are still here to love and be loved. That we have another chance to make a difference in someone's life. And being able to make a difference is one of the best blessings I can think of.
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Stop thinking about all the wrongs that have been done to you and start thinking about all the right you can do for others. When we give, we elevate our mood and our attitude and achieve that sense of calm, peace and joy. It's not in receiving from anyone, not even from God, that we achieve our best peace, joy and love. It's in our giving! Give of your time, your excess, even out of your need, give! It hurts my heart every time I hear an adult say their favorite part of the holidays is receiving gifts. I've never gotten as much joy in my life by receiving as I have from giving. To brighten someone's day by giving them something they've longed for or something they may not have known they wanted, but they find it fun or amusing. Giving opens my heart up and allows the love I feel to flow out. To see someone smile, even just a little, because of some little something I've done for them warms my heart and soul and gives me joy, unspeakable!
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Even if all I can give someone is a smile, I want to be the person who does that. I want to be the one that people say, "I see Jesus in that man." And the only way they will ever see Jesus in me is for me to give them what He gave me: love, mercy, grace, forgiveness and blessing.Denny Wade Garretthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10075937956174615514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3971508294909777305.post-43340835985556089512023-11-08T09:31:00.000-08:002023-11-13T07:08:44.471-08:00Presidential ElectionsI don't post about politics on this blog for a reason, but I feel I have no choice at this time. I am so sick of hearing about the 2020 election being rigged, stolen, hijacked, etc. No, the 2020 election was not rigged or stolen. Joe Biden received 7,052,045 more votes in the popular vote than Donald Trump, which also gave Joe Biden 306 electoral votes to Trump's 232. There's no other way to say that Biden won the election. It was overwhelmingly in Biden's favor. But, don't forget that even though Trump won the 2016 election over Hilary Clinton with 306 electoral votes to her 232, he claimed there was election fraud in that election because she beat him in the popular vote by 2,793,224 votes! That was the election that seemed to have been rigged!
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There is no other office in the United States of America that is not chosen by the popular vote! In fact, of all the presidential elections that I have voted in since turning 18, only 2 have resulted in someone getting more electoral votes while losing the popular vote. One of those was George W. Bush's first election and Donald Trump's election. It's a sad, sad fact that the people of this country voted overwhelmingly in 2016 to not elect Trump as President, yet he was the one who took office. And there has never been a sadder day in the history of this Republic! The 4 years that Donald Trump inhabited the Oval Office were the worst years in the history of this nation. There has never been a more divisive, hateful and more bigoted person in that office.
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And to think that there are still people out there who want to re-elect him makes me shudder. He has somehow managed to convince otherwise good people that he is a Christian, when his actions clearly indicate that he is not. During the campaign when he was asked his favorite Bible verse, he couldn't even name one. And his sad, twisted pronunciations of even the most simple Books of the Bible are horrifying! And I have to say that his "photo op" of taking a photo in front of a church with a borrowed Bible in his hand without going inside to the service that was about to start made me cringe!!
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Pull your head out of the sand, people! Donald Trump is nothing but a disaster for the United States of America! However, he just may be the one that will cause the USA to fall to it's knees so that Biblical prophecy can be fulfilled. So, if it's God's will that Trump be the one to do that, I cannot stand in the way. I only want God's will to be done and if that includes Donald Trump, so be it. But I can't say I'm happy with that man.Denny Wade Garretthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10075937956174615514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3971508294909777305.post-65673882031002677452023-11-08T07:27:00.000-08:002023-11-08T07:27:12.199-08:00Getting Offended By Someone "Preaching at You"Over the years I've had the experience of talking with people about the Bible and about God where the person I was talking with suddenly became defensive and said something along the lines of, "stop preaching at me. I don't need you to teach me about the Bible." It hasn't happened often, but it has happened. At those times, I didn't have a clue what was going on! I was taken by surprise by their sudden attitude change and their declaration that I was preaching at them. Over the years, I began to understand, however, and it wasn't really me they were upset with. I was just the one giving the information and Holy Spirit is the one who was pricking their soul to listen up.
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The person you are talking to, or the preacher who is in the pulpit, doesn't have a clue what's going on inside your heart, soul and mind. They're just speaking what God has given them to speak. If it's speaking to you in such a way that you start feeling defensive or targeted, that's not the speaker's doing, that's God's! If you feel that you are the one who is being spoken to, take that into your soul and start searching why God is giving you that message. Is there something in your life that God has been trying to bring to your attention? Is there something you have felt uneasy about? Well, God is trying to get you to listen up and follow what He's trying to teach you and go where He's trying to lead you. Don't get upset with the messenger! They are only doing what God is telling them to do, the rest is on you.
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Denny Wade Garretthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10075937956174615514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3971508294909777305.post-38790604804004661342023-11-07T06:48:00.001-08:002023-11-07T06:57:36.708-08:00Walking By FaithThroughout my journey as a Christian I've heard a lot of people say that they walk by faith, depending on God to meet their needs and provide for them. Most of those people wouldn't have a clue how to actually walk by faith. They say they're depending on God to provide but their five and six figure bank accounts belie the statements they make with their mouths. When you are truly walking by faith, you don't know where your next meal is coming from, but you have faith that God will provide you with something to eat. You don't always know where you're going to lay your head when it comes time to sleep, but you trust that God will lead you to where you need to be.
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When I moved from Shreveport, Louisiana for the last time, on 14 April 1991, I didn't know a single person in Nashville, Tennessee. I didn't have any idea about jobs in Nashville, either. Didn't have an apartment lined up, nothing. In fact, I left Shreveport with a little over $200 in my pocket, my clothes and my cat in the back end of a 1980 GMC pickup and a dream. I stepped out in faith to move to Nashville believing that's where God was leading me. When I arrived in Nashville on the 15th, I was completely lost. I didn't know one street from the next and had no clue what parts of town were good, bad or indifferent. Yet, when I saw the sign saying that I had entered into Metropolitan Nashville Davidson County, I felt like I had arrived home. I knew, somehow, deep down inside that I was meant to be in that city! And for the past 32 years 6 months and 22 days, I have remained in the metropolitan area.
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It hasn't always been easy. I started out living in the back of my pickup with my cat and there have been times since when I lived in a borrowed car or in a rented room in a not so good part of town. But through it all, no matter what came my way, God provided. When I became disabled in February 1998, I was living in a very nice 3 bedroom 2 bathroom apartment. But, being unable to work and having no income, that apartment wasn't home for long. There was another reason for my leaving when I did, but even if that hadn't happened, I would not have been able to stay in the apartment because I didn't have an income to pay the rent. For three months I lived in a borrowed car. But, God opened up doors that I didn't even know existed at the time and I've had a stable home ever since.
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Life on this earth isn't always easy. Depending on God for your everything ain't always a walk in the park. But, no matter what comes your way, when you truly depend on God to provide every single thing for you, you will never be hungry and you will never be alone. He will always be right there to give you what you need. And, if you obey Him and walk in His path and will, He will provide most of your wants, as well. No, you may not have a 5 figure bank account, but you won't be in need. I will never have a 5 figure bank account because I don't believe God blesses me so that I can put it in the bank. He blesses me so that I can turn around and bless others. Most of the times I received a blessing from God it was through the hand of another Christian. Yes, there were times and there were miracles that provided for my need, but the vast majority came in the form of another human being. That's why Jesus taught us to not store up treasure on this earth. When God pours His blessings out on us, it's so that we can turn around and help others.
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If you are truly going to depend on God to provide your every need, get rid of all your earthly baggage and step out in blind faith and let Him guide and provide. You will be blessed beyond all you could hope or imagine, believe me!Denny Wade Garretthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10075937956174615514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3971508294909777305.post-13172183235889538612023-11-06T08:36:00.000-08:002023-11-06T08:36:19.032-08:00This Day The Lord Has MadeAs the frosted dew clings to the green blades of grass like tiny diamonds glinting in the sun; the carpet of nature stretches before us into the distance only to meet the turquoise skies of breaking dawn. The sounds of creation begin to stir in the crisp fall daylight creating a symphony of worship before the majestic artistry of the world awakening from slumber. No sight, no sound can measure the glory of the Risen King who is preparing His Father's House to welcome the saints of old and the modern age into the enteral splender that is being in the physical presence of the Living God of Creation.Denny Wade Garretthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10075937956174615514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3971508294909777305.post-48936509424221143862023-11-03T10:51:00.002-07:002023-11-03T10:51:27.631-07:00Talking About JesusI have been told, at times, that I talk about Jesus and/or God, too much. Really? I don't think a Christian can speak too much about Jesus and God. And besides, I can't really help myself but to talk about Jesus and God as much as I do. See, Jesus is the most important person in my life! He saved me!! He didn't just save my soul, He saved my life!! Numerous times. How could I not talk about Him and what He has done for me?
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I wonder about people who call themselves Christian but they don't talk about Jesus all the time. I seriously wonder about those who then tell me I talk about Him too much! I don't think I talk about Jesus as much as I should be doing. See, every breath I breathe is thanks to Jesus, so I really should use every breath I breathe to speak about Him and what He has done, is doing and will do. And about what He can do for others. God is not some figment of my imagination or some "higher power" out there that I have no real clue about. God is right here, inside me, beside me and all around me! I can't see the sun rise without seeing God. I can't see a bird fly without seeing God! I can't see any part of nature without realizing that God is nature and nature is God. Every aspect of this world that I live in is full of God's presence and I see His hand in everything.
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If someone thinks I talk about God and Jesus too much, all I can say to them is that I don't want to offend them, but I'm much more worried about offending God and Jesus than I am about offending them. See, I'm not going to hide the fact that God is more important to me than anything or anyone on this planet. I'm not going to hide the fact that I am so grateful that Jesus sacrificed so much to buy my pardon and give me the chance to experience a relationship with Him and His Father! That I am now a Son of God, not just a creation of God. I can't sit around and be silent. Even if I could, I wouldn't. I will always speak of The Father, The Son and The Holy Ghost because without that love and sacrifice I wouldn't be alive much less know life.
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So every breath I breathe will be to give praise, worship, adoration and love to God. Every song I sing will be to give praise and worship to Jesus Christ. In Christ I move and have my being so I cannot keep my words from being about Him. He gave me life and He is my life.
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Love is God is Love is GoodDenny Wade Garretthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10075937956174615514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3971508294909777305.post-75879078177216078002023-11-01T09:53:00.000-07:002023-11-01T09:53:02.395-07:00Living by FaithDo we, as Christians really believe our prayers will be answered? Truly, one-thousand percent believe? A belief so strong that we know that we know that we know that God will answer our prayers? Most of the time we don't act like it! Not most of the Christians I know, anyway, including myself. We all talk about how we go to God in prayer and we leave our burdens at His feet, but then when we walk away we pull them back with us with a string we've attached. That's because we think we have to still deal with them because we are not putting our full confidence and faith in God.
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We pray and ask God to heal our country but we don't leave it to God, we have to go to rallies, and protests, and push through legislation that we think will do the fixing for Him! What is wrong with us? If we truly believe that God will answer our prayers then we need to get out of His way and let Him take care of it! We all know He can, we just don't believe He will do it the way we want Him to. That's where our biggest problem is: we want God to do it our way, not His. People, let me tell you from personal experience, our way is never going to be His way! His ways are so much higher than we can even imagine!!! Let me give you an example from a memoir I recently read.
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Two very well known Christian singers who are STRONG in their faith were at the beginnings of their career in music. They each had a different desire for the direction they would be going. One of them wound up falling ill. Seriously, deadly ill. That left the other out there fulfilling concert commitments by themself. It wasn't until God gave them what they wanted that they realized they weren't equipped for what they wanted. And then, and only then, did they submit to God's will and today they are one of the most amazing ministers of God in music that I've ever heard of. But they had to learn to do it in God's will, not by pushing their own onto God.
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You can either let God lead you and enjoy all His abundance or you can ask God to bless your will and hope and pray that you eke through without getting hurt. Trust me, it's much more enjoyable to follow God rather than trying to deal with the meager crumbs you get when you ask Him to bless your will. My will only gets me into trouble, pain and heartache. His gives me abundance, joy, peace and love.
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So, what's your choice for your life going to be? Your will or God's? The choice is even easier than the Capital One commercials!!!Denny Wade Garretthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10075937956174615514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3971508294909777305.post-79477716907889331062023-10-31T07:33:00.001-07:002023-11-01T09:57:10.696-07:00Why I Say What I SayIt's funny how you can say something quite plainly, yet there will be those who will come back to you and say, "state it to me clearly. what are you trying to say?" As for me, all I can say is, "take what I said as what I said. I don't speak in riddles, I don't speak in clues. I say what I mean and I mean what I say."
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See, most of what I keep being questioned on is when I start talking directly from the teachings of Jesus; somehow some people are confused on what He actually taught us and told us to do. Take the feeding of the hungry, for example. If you tell a lot of today's churchgoing people that we're supposed to do that, their answer is "well, my church takes care of that." Show me one scripture where Jesus said let the local denomination you attend do these things. If your local church does so, Praise God! But that does not absolve the individual from the responsibility of doing what Jesus told us to do!!
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The Bible tells us in the last days there will be a great falling away. Most of my life I've heard about how the church is growing, but we know we're living in the last days so how do we reconcile those two seemingly conflicting statements? There's only one way to do so: just because butts are in the pews don't mean they'll be passing through the pearly gates! Correct me if you think I'm wrong, but that's the only way I can reach a resolution in my mind, heart and soul. Don't believe me? Read Matthew 7:21-23. But, that brings to my mind something else I've had people bring up to me.
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When I start bringing up these topics, someone will inevitably come to me and tell me I'm condemning people or judging people. Not true. I'm speaking Biblical truth because of what I see and understand to be going on in this world today. I'm not in the face of an individual screaming they are going to hell because they don't believe the way I do. And I'm always willing to listen to someone who wants to use Biblical scripture to tell me that I'm mistaken. But when it comes as accusation, then I know it's not something that's coming from Holy Spirit. Yes, Holy Spirit will challenge me on things I've not gotten quite right, but it's never condemning and it's never harsh. And I try to never be harsh when I say these things. Galatians 6:1 says, "Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted." I'm doing what I've been told to do by the Word of God and I never want to come across as judgmental or cruel or condemning when I do so, so if anyone sees that, then I definitely want them to point that out to me, just as they are told to do.
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The sad truth is that today, while so many say they believe in the devil, they don't really. They don't believe that the devil is a deceiver. They believe the devil will only confront them face to face with something evil. While he does that, also, his best trick is to deceive a believer into believing something that is a twisted version of the truth. That's how he starts leading them astray and the end result is total separation from God. Just like this current movement of people asking, "How can a good God send people to hell?" That's the devil's trick! God won't be sending anyone to hell! Even Lucifer, himself, chose to go to hell! All we have to do to prevent that from happening is to accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior and acknowledge there is only One, True God! The Alpha, the Omega, the Beginning and the End. His name is I AM!
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Sowing discord, discontent, hatred, malice, judgment, condemnation, mistrust and division are all tools of the devil. And if you're not seeing all those tools being used in this present age then you have blinders on. And I pray Holy Spirit will remove the scales from your spiritual eyes so that you can see you're being deceived.
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Love is God and God is Love and Love is good!Denny Wade Garretthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10075937956174615514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3971508294909777305.post-15963644895646851912023-10-30T09:13:00.001-07:002023-10-30T09:13:52.606-07:00What Is A Christian?In this present age, there seems to be a disconnect between calling ourselves "Christian" and being a "Christian." There are many people who think they are a Christian because they go to church or mass every time the doors open, but they never talk about Jesus when they're away from the church. There are those who can speak the Bible, quoting every chapter and verse, but they hate other ethnicities, immigrants, other cultures and sometimes even Jews. I love the scripture that says: "If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;" (1 Corinthians 13:1-3.)
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I once challenged a man who was speaking so much evil about certain groups of people and I reminded him that the Bible tells to love. This Baptist preacher told me that he did love them. I was left stunned. How can you speak about killing people you love? Or depriving them of the basic needs of life? That's not any kind of love that I've ever heard of! Jesus told us to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the sick and elderly and house the homeless. These are the ways we show love to someone. So many people think love is an emotion when it's not! Love is action. You can tell me 10 Million times you love me, but if you never do anything to show me love, you'll never convince me that you do.
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Jesus told us on That Great and Final Day, He will tell many who spoke in tongues and prophecied and cast out demons in His name to depart from Him and when they question why His answer will be: you didn't give Me water when I was thirsty, food when I was hungry, shelter when I was homeless, etc. And they will say they never saw Him in those conditions to which He will reply: "When you did not do it unto the least of these, you did not do it unto Me." Love is action! Being a Christian means action. It means helping those less fortunate rather than saving all the blessings God has given you and building up a million dollar bank account. It means helping build homes and shelters for the homeless rather than building a million dollar mansion. It means not buying a $150,000 car and driving it past a single mother who is walking to work in the rain so she can support her children!
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I have been called to do what I am doing! I was put here at such a time as this to call Christians out to doing what Jesus told us to do! I cannot sit back and keep my mouth shut because I would be disobeying God if I were to do that. He has anointed me to bring the message to the church and to the lost that He is a loving, merciful God whose Grace is sufficient for each and every one of us. And for those of us who have known His grace and mercy to not turn around and show grace and mercy to the lost, we are but hypocrites and we do not have love in our hearts. My soul cries out in pain when I see Christians who aren't behaving like Christians! Because I know they're not filled with the love that I have known from my Father in Heaven! Being filled with His love makes me want to share that love with every single person I come into contact with! To do for each and every person on this planet what He has done for me! To wipe their tears, soothe their hurts, mend their wounds, feed their bodies and their souls, give water when they're thirsty and tell them that He loves them so much! No, I don't always hit the mark, but I keep trying. When the devil knocks me down, God reaches down His hand and lifts me back on my feet so that I can dust myself off and get back into action.
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When you do kind things for your enemies because you love them, it amazes them! They don't know how to react to that! That, then, makes them pause and wonder how your Christianity can bring you to do that when their religion only makes them want to kill you, at all costs. When you pray for, and do good things for, those who use you and hurt you, you bring about a questioning in their hearts about their own state of salvation. But, of course, you can't do these things if you don't love your enemies and those who spitefully use you. Love is the key! Love is the answer! And there is no law or commandment by God that has ever said love is not good! Love conquers all! Love overcomes all! Love benefits all!
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Because love is God and God is love!Denny Wade Garretthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10075937956174615514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3971508294909777305.post-66598734309164347562023-10-06T06:39:00.000-07:002023-10-06T06:39:35.069-07:00On The Altar of FearI don't think about regrets. If anyone asks me if I have any, my answer is almost inevitably, "no." I don't have time for regrets because regrets involve things that happened in the past and I have two very strong philosophies about the past: 1. It's over and done with. There's nothing I can do about it, now, so why worry too much about what's in the past? 2. The man I am today is the sum total of all the things I've been through and experienced in my life, and I love the man I am today, so if I were to change anything about the past, that would change the man I am today, and I'm not sure if I'd like that man, much at all.
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Now, all that being said, I read an article by a famous singer that I happen to know, though I don't know him well. The last lines of the article were a quote from this singer where he talked about the many lives and careers that have been sacrificed on the altar of fear. Up until that very moment I would have told you that I haven't let fear rule my life since 10 March 1985. May have even been a few years earlier than that when I finally stood up and walked out of the abusive relationship I had lived in my entire life to that point. But either way, I had long been convinced that I had never sacrificed anything on the altar of fear, but reading that article made me realize that I have sacrificed a lot on that altar. Fear is a tricky thing. It can be omnipresent and overbearing, but it can also be subtle and sneaky. Fear can even convince you that it is not even present when it's guiding every decision and move that you make. But, at it's core, fear is a liar. Everything you sacrifice on the altar of fear is something that even if your fear were to come true, you would most likely not lose the thing you're allowing fear to force you to give up. See, fear knows that the only way to get you to not do that thing is to convince you that something will happen to make you lose it once you go after it. Fear cripples you into staying in one spot when you really need to be moving to be in that place you should be in when that thing will fall right into your lap. Fear makes you turn right instead of left or makes you go north when you should go south.
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I did not let fear trick me out of my life, though to be sure there were several times I almost sacrificed my physical life to fear. But, fear did convince me to sacrifice different lives I could have had which I have no way of ever regaining because those family members are no longer living or those opportunities will never come my way again. When I think of the possibilities that could have been there for me had I not let fear motivate me, I can only imagine how much different my life would be today. But, to sit around and dwell on the "what ifs" is one of the most wasteful things we can do with our time and energy. The "coulda shoulda wouldas" can also drive you into the deepest darkest pits of despair known to mankind. And that despair is inhabited by fear.
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But, the "what-ifs" and the "coulda shoulda wouldas" involve regret, and as I've stated, I don't have time for regret.
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In so many instances the very first words God speaks to men, in the Bible, are the words: "Fear not!" Fear is the enemy of faith; the slayer of dreams; the cancer of goals and the destructor of families. But fear is also a weakling. Fear never allows anyone to see it in full focus because it would have no power over anyone if they knew how puny, small and weak it really is. Fear uses tricks, smoke and mirrors and whispers to conquer its victims. And I know the One Word that fear hates the most: JESUS! The next time you hear the voice of fear, just utter that name and fear will flee like a grasshopper from a forest fire. Don't get me wrong, now, fear is not a quitter! It will come back time and time again trying to find some little chink in your armor that it can squeeze through, but you have to maintain diligence and be steadfast in your faith so that when fear tries, you call out the name of Jesus and send fear headed for the hills trying to find a rock it can slither back under.
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I'm so thankful that God provided me with such amazing spiritual armor to put on every day but I am most grateful that He gave me the single, most-powerful weapon I will ever need to fight my daily battles: JESUS!Denny Wade Garretthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10075937956174615514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3971508294909777305.post-84946548093101763142023-04-30T10:20:00.000-07:002023-04-30T10:20:37.448-07:00RadicalizedSince 9/11/01 we've been hearing about "radicalized muslims" and how their sole intent is to kill 'infidels.' There has been a lot of talk about how Arabs are out to destroy the United States. And what had been rational Christian Americans began talking about the coming war with the Muslims and against those who want to annihilate Americans. But what I've been seeing and hearing is a bunch of "radicalized christians" who are guilty of the same talk and feelings they've been accusing muslims of. I talk to christians who are building up an arsenal to defend themselves, their family and their "country" but they're not talking about anything that's actually in The Bible. There is no talk of turning the other cheek, and if you mention it to them they'll tell you that Jesus did not mean to literally turn the other cheek. They go off into some justification of why they are allowed to kill muslims and Arabs and might even try to use scripture to make their point.
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But, what is a "radicalized christian?" You'll note that I'm not capitalizing the C in the word christian for this post. Because I cannot bring myself to call someone a Christian who is not following the teachings of Christ. I cannot call them Christian when they're talking about hatred for God's children who don't believe or behave the way they think they should. Radicalized christians want to employ any means necessary to wipe out anyone who doesn't believe the way they do. Bombing buildings, killing people who don't believe they way they do and spewing hatred toward people who don't behave the way the radicalized think they should. They are no different than those "radicalized muslims" who are doing the same things. The oddest part of it all is that both groups are targeting some of the same people, yet they hate one another and will deny any common ground between them.
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When did we start thinking that we can force people to be Christians? It's definitely not a new phenomena, I can tell you that. Back in the middle ages, the Catholic church burned people at the stake if they refused to accept the doctrine of that church. They declared war on peoples who were not willing to accept the teachings of the pope and follow the rules of Catholicism. So, what we're doing today isn't a new thing, it's just a rehashed version of what has been happening since the fifth or sixth century. And we have new targets today that the Church didn't worry about back in the middle ages. Not that the targets are "new," but people in the middle ages didn't go after those groups the way we do today, because today's church had to come up with a new enemy to fight after centuries of not being able to wipe out the non-Christian peoples of the world. Because the church seems to think we have to have a physical enemy to fight.
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The Bible is clear that our enemy is not flesh and blood! Our enemy is the devil and his minions who are determined to knock us down and prevent us from truly believing and following the teachings of our Lord and Savior, Jesus! He has deceived the church into believing that it's the people who aren't like us that we have to fight because if we're fighting people we're not fighting him. And he has us convinced that we have to hold our earthly governmental entities in high esteem and fight for them to be number one and reigning over the whole earth. As for me, I am not a citizen of The United States of America, nor am I a citizen of planet Earth any longer. On 10 March 1985 I was born again and gained citizenship in the Kingdom of God whose king is Jesus of Nazareth. That's where my loyalties and my heart belong, not to the state of Tennessee or the United States. Yes, I live in this place but I'm no longer a citizen, I am now just passing through on my way Home. When we travel to distant places, we don't get involved in their politics and local governments because we're just strangers passing through so why should we be consumed with their regional or local goings on? We don't and we should be treating the kingdoms of this earth the same way: we're just passing through so why bother getting involved in their petty business?
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This world is going to hell. There is no way to prevent it. There is no denying it. Jesus said it, John prophesied it and I believe it. The signs they gave that would signal the literal end of this world are all around us. One of the biggest prophesied events to signal the beginning of the end times was the call to rebuild and the re-establishment of the nation of Israel. If you aren't aware the nation of Israel was re-established on 14 May 1948. That was the day the countdown clock started for the return of Jesus, the rapture of the saints, the millennial reign of Christ on Earth, the final war between God and Satan and the ultimate day of judgment and reckoning. Now, we weren't given a time frame of how long it would take between the rebirth of Israel til the return of Jesus, but we were told that the generation that saw the rebirth would not pass away before Jesus returned. And that generation is losing members pretty quickly these days. So the return of our Savior cannot be much longer. And I, for one, want to be ready so that when that trumpet sounds my feet leave the ground and I fly away to meet Jesus in the clouds to begin eternity in the presence of Almighty God.
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Maybe I'm the "radicalized" one these days, because I believe that The Holy Bible is God's Word and that what is written in that Book is the Truth and Map that will get me to that place in the clouds with Jesus. Because I believe that we are to love each and every person on this planet as we love ourselves and as we love God. Because I believe we are to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, give water to those who thirst, visit the sick and incarcerated and take care of the widows and orphans. I believe in doing good to those who wish me harm and I believe if someone smacks me on the right cheek I am to turn and offer the left cheek and not take up arms and try to destroy them. I believe that good will conquer evil. I believe beauty will overcome ugliness. I believe the lion will lie down with the lamb. I believe God is love and love is God. If that makes me a radical then so be it.Denny Wade Garretthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10075937956174615514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3971508294909777305.post-81098453818650237612023-03-26T10:07:00.000-07:002023-03-26T10:07:35.432-07:00FamilyI've been thinking about family a lot lately; it's really no wonder what with the adoption of Xavier and Talia being finalized and then becoming the adopted Grandpa for little Alexander. When I think of my family I think of those 5 Godchildren, Sami, Xavier, Talia, JJ & Beka. And I think of my honorary grandson, Alexander. And I think about the children of my heart, Misty, Christy and Ben. And, of course, I think of my biological son, David Wayne and pray that I'm one day closer to seeing him and being able to tell him how much I've loved him over the last 38 years. And I think about those with whom I share DNA, my biological brothers and sisters, my foster brothers and sister and all the cousins from my Mom's side, Dad's side, Bonnie's side and Ann's side. When I really get started counting, I have a massively large family because it also includes the family that adopted me in, Janice, Dennis, Jordan, Philip, Tami, Mary, Terry, Hoyte.
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I think of the love, the giving, the caring and the enjoyment we get from just being together or talking on the phone. Often when we talk we don't speak of anything of any importance, we're just talking to one another to assure one another that we're still here for each other. We catch up on what's going on in our day to day lives, the headaches, heartaches, frustrations, joy, happiness and gifts we receive daily. I'm not in contact with a lot of my DNA family; it's by their choice, not mine, but I still think of them, pray for them and long to hear from them. I miss them because they are not a part of my day to day life and I so wish they were. But, they have chosen their own family, a mix of DNA and chosen members, for themselves and for whatever reason they chose to not include me in that circle.
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But the truth is, my Godchildren aren't just my friends' children whom they have gone through the motions of saying this is your godchild and that's the end of it. For me, my Godchildren are my children! I consider myself to be one of their parents! They can come to me and talk to me about anything and I won't judge them, but I will try to influence them to make the correct choices in order to lead a good, stable, healthy and successful life. But, if they do something wrong, I'm gonna be right there to tell them they did wrong, as well! I've adopted the parenting style of my foster Mom, Ann Hale. Hands on with love and caring, hands off with trying to make them do what I want them to do and allow them to make their choices. It is, after all, their life and they are the ones who will live it. But that brings me back to that one word that can mean so many different things to so many different people: family.
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God places us into a family when we are conceived. The vast majority of the time that family will be there with a person for the rest of their life. Sometimes God places someone into a family at conception that will not participate in that life after birth. And sometimes children are born into a family that just cannot maintain a family unit and those children are then placed with non-DNA families and they live a rich, full life with those who chose them to be part of their family. But, there are so many families out there like mine that are mixture of the two types and that's what makes it such a rewarding, rich life for those who are part of that circle. They know they were chosen and even those who are connected by DNA have chosen to remain a part of their life. They are among people who love them and accept them, support them and encourage them.
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I've come to the conclusion that family is merely a group of people who love one another. Who want to participate in this journey we call life with those who are a part of that family whether by blood or by choice. I've seen DNA families that may meet the legal definition of family but they don't fit what I believe to be God's definition, because there is no love between the members. And where there's no love is a place I do not want to be.Denny Wade Garretthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10075937956174615514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3971508294909777305.post-42123312751705330222023-03-05T09:08:00.000-08:002023-03-05T09:08:47.698-08:00Fire & Brimstone AKA There are Consequences for Our Actions/BehaviorI am not one to preach fire and brimstone because I don't think fear is a very good motivator. If you scare someone into doing what's right, they will eventually lose their fear and they will no longer follow what they were following due to fear of the consequences if they didn't. I think love and reward are much better motivators because love and reward will never lose their attraction and each and every one of us desires love and reward. But, that being said, I do think we, as Christians, have made a huge mistake in leaving out the talk of fire and brimstone, entirely. I cannot recall the last time I heard a preacher speak about hell in straightforward language and described as the Bible describes it. We've somehow taken hell off the table because we're afraid people will either not believe it or because we think it's too harsh.
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Whatever the reason, we just don't really talk about what the future holds for those who will be left behind. That's where we leave off the conversation: left behind. Left behind to what? To continue living as people have been living for thousands of years? No, not at all. Yes, there will be a time when mankind is left on the earth after the saints are ascended to heaven with Jesus through the clouds. But that situation will not last. The anti-christ will be allowed to rule this earth for a time, but then will come the battle between good and evil. When that battle is concluded those who did not choose to follow Jesus will face judgment. If their name is not found in the Book of Life, they will be cast into outer darkness where the flame never dies and their soul will suffer torment along with the devil and his demons. To spend eternity in an unquenchable fire and in utter darkness where light cannot live. But the worst part of that situation is that there will be no presence of God: no goodness, no love, no hope. Jesus said there would be gnashing of teeth due to the extreme torment.
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We've all heard people joke about the partying and fun they will have when they get there, and maybe some of us have even joked about it, too. But, hell is no joke and it's not going to be a party. But, please don't say that God will send people to hell. God will not send a single human soul to hell. There's only 1 who will be sent to hell by God, and that's Lucifer, Satan, the devil. Every other soul that will be in hell will be there because they chose to be there. No, they may not have consciously chosen to spend eternity in a lake of fire, but when they chose to not accept God and Jesus, His Son and they chose to not obey the commands of Jesus, they chose to send themselves to hell. And the saddest fact of all, to me, is that there will be far more souls in hell than there will be in Heaven. That's such a tragic thing for me to comprehend. How anyone could or would reject the loving God who gave His One and Only Son to die in order to take away our sin so that we could spend eternity with Him in His glory. The requirements for Heaven aren't even difficult. Accept Jesus as Lord and Savior and repent (turn away) from sin, while feeding the hungry, giving water to the thirsty, clothing the naked, housing the homeless, visiting the sick and incarcerated and taking care of widows and orphans. Love each and every person on this planet as God loves us. After all, they are also His children, whom He loves just as much as He loves you and I.Denny Wade Garretthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10075937956174615514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3971508294909777305.post-87270821736581237582023-03-05T08:03:00.000-08:002023-03-05T08:03:13.677-08:00Beauty Is In The Eye of The BeholderFor those who are truly aware that they are not beautiful or handsome, it's not a matter of feeling sorry for themselves or thinking badly of themselves. They simply have looked at themselves objectively, and have accepted the truth that they are not a madly beautiful woman or greatly handsome man. But, they also have "tells" that let them know they are accepting the truth. They have heard the difference when someone mentions how they look. They have heard, 'oh, you look nice,' or the like, but they never hear someone say, spontaneously, 'oh how pretty/handsome you are!'Oh, they may hear someone say that they are handsome/pretty/cute, if they mention that they are not. Normally a relative or a good friend will almost immediately tell them they are, but that doesn't really ring true to the person of average looks. That relative or friend only says they are when they hear the person saying they aren't.
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Now, this is not about people feeling sorry for themselves, or people who are digging for compliments. This is about those people in the sea of humanity who are average or below average in the looks department. We all know they exist. In fact, most of us will talk about them behind their backs and talk about how badly they look or even think of ways they could make themselves look better, but no one wants to say these things to the average or below average looking person. Instead, if the subject is brought up, the immediate response is to lie to them and tell them that they are, in fact, cute or pretty or handsome or good looking. But that person already knows they're not. And 99% are okay with it and they're not trying to get anyone to lie to them or feel sorry for them. They are just stating an established fact.
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There are those who are, in fact, beautiful people who cannot accept their appearance as being beautiful or handsome. If someone tells them they are, they'll argue that they're not or that they don't feel or believe they are. Most of these people have low self-esteem and are truly not aware that they are appealing in their appearance. But, these people respond to spontaneous comments about their appearance on a regular basis. Their response is negative because of their inability to truly see and accept their appearance due to their low self-esteem. They will sometimes bring up their looks as being below average in order to hear someone tell them different, but it's all part of their low opinion of themselves, not due to a need to hear someone tell them they are beautiful or handsome.
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Of course, there are those on the extremes of this issue: those who truly believe they are the most beautiful/handsome and those who truly believe they are the ugliest. There may be a few of them who are correct, but their attitudes about themselves are off-putting because their ego is either super inflated or truly flattened. No one really wants to spend time with either of those extremes.
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But, why do we judge a person based on their physical attributes? There are beautiful people who have the worst morality and would steal, kill and destroy without thinking twice. And there are those who have absolutely no physical attribute that will grab attention and their hearts and souls are filled with love and kindness, compassion and empathy. Why do we gravitate toward the physical appearance when it's what is in the soul and spirit of people that we are in need of? The most beautifully wrapped package could contain the deadliest of poisons. A plain paper bag might contain the most coveted gem. Truth is, the most gorgeous diamond of all time, the Hope Diamond, arrived at the Smithsonian Institute in a plainly wrapped parcel box.
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Why can't we judge a person's beauty on the fruits of their life rather than their physical attributes. To be honest, most people cannot take any credit for their appearance because it was merely their genetic makeup that gave them the looks they have. It's in their behavior and their honor that we should judge their beauty. The Bible tells us to judge the fruit: look to see if someone is caring, compassionate, empathetic, sympathetic, giving. Those traits are the ones that should be present before we label someone as beautiful or handsome. After all, even the ugliest person on earth is the most beautiful person on earth to the ones who love him or her.Denny Wade Garretthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10075937956174615514noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3971508294909777305.post-90333321299753896052023-01-30T09:29:00.000-08:002023-01-30T09:29:22.790-08:00Prince HarryI keep seeing headlines about how difficult Prince Harry is being; how he is deluded, jealous, a whimpering little boy being led around by a wicked witch of a woman whose sole intent is to destroy the royal family. What I've seen, and heard, however is a man who is hurting from childhood traumas, a man who has tried desperately to talk with his father, and maybe his brother, about things that are haunting him from his childhood. There's a wounded soul inside that man who is being scrutinized far beyond what any human can bear.
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I do not see how anyone could look back on Prince Harry's life and not see the signs of him crying out for help; desperate to get someone's attention and when he fails he tries something even more outrageous. Today, I see a frightened, hurting little boy living inside a grown man's body; a little boy who doesn't know how to cope with what is going on around him because he isn't capable of dealing with adulthood or the responsibility of being in line to the throne of the UK.
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If Charles truly wants to do what's right, he will sit down with his son and let Prince Harry talk until he has said everything he needs to say; allowing Prince Harry to speak without interruption or judgment. King or not, he is a father with a son who is troubled and wants desperately to fix what is going on in his heart, mind and soul. A man much like his mother who feels things deeply and is forced to hold them inside even though it kills a bit of his soul and his spirit every time he has to push those hurts and feelings farther down into a hole that the established royal family hopes will never be opened or dug out.
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What the British people and the media are not understanding is that this is not a disgruntled prince lashing out at the king or the Prince of Wales, heir to the throne; this is a hurting boy who does not know how to deal with the things he's dealing with lashing out at his father and older brother because they have not, and are not willing to, help him with what's going on in his heart and soul. The only two people he has left in his life that can help him deal with those things since his beloved mother was taken away from him too soon. Harry seems to be dealing with some of the same things Princess Diana dealt with, and like her, the royal family is not willing, or able, to see what's happening and help him get through them. I, for one, am praying that Harry's life doesn't go the way of his mother's. She fought too hard and worked too diligently to protect her boys and give them a good life for her struggle to have been in vain and allow Harry to live with those pains, those struggles, those hardships and those heartbreaks as she did.Denny Wade Garretthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10075937956174615514noreply@blogger.com0