Praise God!!!!

Yeah, Yeah I know I haven't blogged in forever and now two in one day.

I wanted to share a praise with you all. On Thursday, I met with a young teenager from our church. She wanted me to teach her how to study the bible. While I was praying before this meeting, God told me first thing to do was ask her to share her testimony. God explained teaching her the Bible would do no good to her if she didn't belong to Him.

This is a fairly good girl and she comes to church so being the stubborn gal I am I questioned God's directive but told Him yes. Upon getting together with this young person, I told her exactly what God had told me. Then asked her if she knew what a testimony was....she said you mean my salvation experience. After a few brief minutes of sharing a testimony can be so much more than sharing my own salvation experience with her...this sweet young lady told me she didn't think she was saved.

After talking for quite sometime and answering many questions, I assured her that it was not my job to beat her over the head into submission of saying a prayer. This young lady had said the "salvation prayer" numerously after watching a tv preacher but never felt any different or saw any difference in her life. So, when all her questions were answered and we had discussed a few other things I asked her if she had any more questions or anything else she wanted to discuss. She said she wanted to pray to accept Jesus as her Savior.

This young person shared her experience in a bible study class on Monday. After a sharing time, a young adult woman in the class (who everyone would have assumed was saved) shared she did not know Jesus as her Saviour.

Why share all this? Because first we want to PRAISE GOD!!! Second, because we are doing a great misservice to our God. We are assuming that if someone goes to church regularly and is a basic good person they must be saved. We shouldn't assume someone from a Muslim country is lost anymore than we should assume someone from America is saved.

Do you see wreckage or God?

Last night at our women's ministry meeting, a young woman from church gave her testimony and one statement she made has stuck with me. Here is her statement:

"Are we so wrapped up at looking in the wreckage that we our missing what God is doing in our lives?"

We all have stories of wreckage whether it be mentally, physically or spiritually, but the amazing thing is if we look for God we will see Him!

I have been through Henry Blackaby's "Experiencing God" twice in my life and the one thing I walked away with the first time was that at times in our lives we can be so wrapped up in a situation....be it the pain or the disruption to the rest of our lives that we lose sight of where God is in all of it. At that time, I was walking through a tough situation with a close friend of mine and I did what Blackaby suggested in the study. Blackaby suggested we ask God to let us see the situation from His viewpoint and not ours. Doing that changed my view to God's view and my reaction to the whole situation.

Each of us has trials and tribulations in our lives..... But we must do be willing to ask the question posed to us last night...."Are we so busy looking at the wreckage that we miss God?"

BID4PRIZES CELL PHONE SCAM......WATCH OUT!!!

BID4PRIZES CELL PHONE SCAM....WATCH OUT!!!!

I wanted to tell you what I have dealt with today. My cell phone has been receiving a charge of $9.99 a month by a content provider called goldpocket with a description of bid4prizes. I had no idea what this was. This is a cell phone charging scam in my opinion because I NEVER gave anyone permission to charge my account repeatedly....I don't even give permission to anyone for a one-time charge.

Since SunCom is now T-Mobile I called T-Mobile, the T-Mobile rep. Laura was a great help in trying to help me. Between the two of us we found a number for this company bid4prizes. Upon calling them the woman, Rhonda, who answered the phone said I need the cell phone number this is in regard to. My response was you apparently have it because you have been charging my phone for months that has not been authorized by me. She said I must have the phone number....I gave her my number. Her next response was please verify your name and social security number. I TOLD HER NO! for her to give me what she had. I admit I was terse and not my normal pleasant self with this woman. She refused to give me the information she had but said the service had been cancelled as of today. I asked her what about all the months of unauthorized charges. She responded we do not give refunds.

I stated I wanted to speak to a supervisor. Rhonda said I was to give her a number and a supervisor would call me within 24-48 hours. I told her that if I did not hear from a supervisor within 24 hours that I would start procedures to force them to give me back the other months for I never gave permission for them to charge my account in the first place. Sorry this is so long but I know you can help get the word out so other people will check their cell phone bills closely. We had noticed the charge before SunCom became T-Mobile and had reported it but there has been a lot of transition for them in the last couple months. They are doing what they can to help but are limited.

God amazes me....

I am still digesting the fact that God has decided to make me a deaconess at my local church.

My first official meeting is tomorrow (Sept. 18th). Myself and one other person will be filling the two slots being opened by the two men rotating off.

This is not the first time our church has had a deaconess.

That is pretty much my news for now.

Focus.....I can't find it......

This is almost laughable....I am writing a devotion on consistency and focus yet I can't get the focus to make this thing flow. See I said it was almost laughable :) :)

I have all this information all over the place and I am waiting for God to put it together. Tried to start writing it and it goes nowhere. Bad thing is someone is waiting for this devotion to send out as a weekly devotion.

Lord, help me to get this devotion written. Show me the key verse from Scripture you want me to use to pull it all together. Amen.

Been Awhile....

It has been awhile since I have blogged but I am still here.....Working hard and praising God through it all.

I am like everyone else and have my ups and downs. But I know that I am and always will be the apple of my Father's eye.

All Things Crazy.....Praise God!

It has been really busy around here getting every last minute detail ready for one of YKP's artist.

A little retrospection since tomorrow is my birthday.....NAAAAAHHHHH!!!!

Maybe later :) :)

Not around lately.....

I haven't been around lately. Been sick. Getting better.

Need to write more soon.

Keeping up with who....????

Keeping up with who....??? I am not wanting to keep up with the Jones' are you?

Just a thought. Why because I am rambling tonight. I haven't updated in awhile and felt I needed to so it is a question for you all....Let's so who answers if anybody.

Christmas not over yet.....

We spent a week in Alabama with my in-laws for the first part of Christmas. Now we will have the second part of Christmas when my parents get here today. They have come from VA.

Since we just got back yesterday they spent last night with my aunt and are coming over here today. They will be with me until New Year's Eve Morning.

Christmas is about seeing and spending time with people that we are not guaranteed to have next year. It is not about the presents. It is about thanking God for what He has done in our lives.

Did you know that if God never did another thing for you after giving you salvation that you should be grateful from now to eternity because we did not even deserve the gift of salvation?

Sad news today.....

I just found out today that Mr. Frank Capra Jr. died on the 19th of December. Many of you have heard of his father, Frank Capra responsible for the Christmas classic, "It's a Wonderful Life." But you do not know of the work his son did. He was a great part of the NC film industry and owned Screen Gems Studio in Wilmington.

I met Mr. Capra Jr. a couple of times in the last couple years being semi-involved in independent film during my time at Craven Community College and then going to school in Wilmington. I do not know if Mr. Capra Jr. knew the Lord and that is why this is a sad day to me. He was always generous, polite, helpful, and an encourager to the film community in Wilmington but none of that means he knew Jesus as Savior.

God, make me a bolder witness for you!

Christmas and Busy Part 2.....

Now that we now busyness itself is not a sin we can breath a sigh of relief. However, our motivation for the busyness is what we need to evaluate.

The second thing I read today is from "Heart of an Artist" on prayer during times of busyness (italicized not in original text):

It would do us good to realize during the Christmas season that it shows in Scripture the busier Jesus became, the more time He spent in prayer. In the middle of a busy schedule He would often withdraw to pray, sometimes spending long hours into the night on His news. Listen to Henri Nouwen quote Mark 1:35 and then expound on it:

"In the morning, long before dawn, He got up and left the house, and went off to a lonely place and prayed there." In the middle of sentences loaded with action----healing suffering people, casting out devils, responding to impatient disciples, traveling from town to town and preaching from synagogue to synagogue we find these quiet words. "In the morning, long before dawn, he got up and left the house, went off to a lonely place and prayed there."
In the center of breathless activities we hear a restful breathing. Surrounded by hours of moving we find a moment of quiet stillness. In the heart of the much involvement there are words of withdrawal. In the dist of action there is contemplations. And after much togetherness there is solitude. The more I read this nearly silent sentence locked in between the loud words of action, the more I have the sense that the secret of Jesus' ministry is hidden in that lonely place where he went to pray, early in the morning, long before dawn.....It is in the lonely (quiet) place, where Jesus enters into intimacy with the Father, that His ministry is born."

So, as we are hustling and bustling during this Christmas season may these words of Mark 1:35 come back to mind and may we remember to take time to spend time with our true source of strength....Our Lord and Father. Maybe it may mean sitting in the parking lot in the car for five minutes before rushing to our next activity or event talking and listening to our Father. Maybe it means looking at our calendar with God's eyes and removing the things that don't bring Him glory.

Remember Nouwen's final statement (the one that really rung true with me) It is in the lonely place (quiet place), where Jesus enters into intimacy with the Father, that his ministry is born.

Christmas and Busy.....(Part 1)

Christmas and Busy seem like two words that are joined at the hip for most folks. During my devotion time this morning I read a couple good things....Here is the first for you:

The first is from the Max Lucado Inspirational Bible:

"Being busy is not a sin. Jesus was busy. Paul was busy. Nothing of significance is achieved without effort and hard work and weariness. That, in and of itself, is not a sin. Beut being busy in an endless pursuit of things that leave us empty and hollow and broken inside---- that can not be pleasing to God. Remember this Christmas season....In the midst of your busyness, the Cross is still there. In the midst of your emptiness, the Cross is still there. The promises of Jesus still stand today. You can claim peace in the midst of a hectic life when Jesus is the focus." (Italics not in original)."

Our challenge then is to determine if our business this Christmas season is achieving something of significance or just filling up or time and leaving us empty.

Read Blog, "Christmas and Busy Part 2" for more......

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Up Later Than Need to Be...

I have a tendency to stay up late working on projects. I don't always do it on purpose. I will say to myself, "Bed by 1 and then not go to 2."

Playing church not being THE CHURCH

I talk with young people (no, I am not one), good, honest, wanting to serve God teenagers. One thing I see happening is these young people are getting fed up with the organized church playing church and not being THE CHURCH!!! They want to go outside the four walls and minister to people, and tell them about Jesus.

We the adults in their lives would learn a valuable lesson from these young people....they are open and honest with each other about their struggles....none of them put on the "I'm fine" persona. Come on we all know what I am talking about....

A typical Sunday morning or for that fact any morning when we see someone we know (however, Sunday morning irks me the most):

"Hi! How are you?"
"I'm fine." (While you are not fine!)

This response is so automatic that last week, I was out and someone saw me and all I said was "Hi" the person responded, "Just fine, thank you for asking." That is the response I got for merely saying "Hi"!?!?!!?!?!

The thing that scares me is that somewhere along their college years something happens and before they know it these same young people start questioning why the hurt inside....why do they not tell someone how they really are doing. DO WE SEE THE DISSERVICE AND SAD THING HAPPENING HERE....they are turning into us. IS THIS WHAT SCHOOL TEACHES THEM OR IS IT WHAT THEY THINK HAPPENS WHEN THEY GRADUATE HIGH SCHOOL AND IT IS TIME TO GROW-UP!!!!

I for one am going to tell all the young people around me that becoming responsible and maturing DOES NOT mean to start "playing church" and to no longer be THE CHURCH.

WAKE UP AND LEARN FROM OUR YOUNG PEOPLE....SOME OF THEM HAVE IT MORE TOGETHER THAN US!!!!

Welcome.....

Dawn's Dialogue is officially open.....

I have no idea what will transpire from this blog but God does.

To learn more about me for right now check out my website:

www.freewebs.com/dawnwhitmore

Have a blessed day!