Friday, April 13, 2012

Men at the cross

As a grandfather of eleven "little tykes" I'm pretty sure I'm the most blessed man alive! I love little bitty people!! I thought being called "Dad" was amazing (and it was) but being called "Pops" by two adopted from Rwanda and nine biological "grand pups" is absolutely THE DEAL!



You learn a lot as a "Pops" ...like sometimes when you just think about them, you cry.

I also learn new words! "Chickennuggetsfrenchfriescokeduh?" is one word when you pull up to McDonald's and ask your 4 year-old "what do you want to order?"

That may be the biggest word in a four year-old's vocabulary, but you know what? I think perhaps a certain three-letter word is the biggest word in a "more grown-up" person's vocabulary...at least it is for me.

The word is, "All."

Yep, that's it, "All."

We sing, "I Surrender All" as we "accept Jesus," but do we "surrender all" or is that just a song?

You can look back over the last 12 months and sort of count up all the money "I spent on ME" and how much I gave to the "poorest in this world" and you get a pretty honest quick look at how big the word "ALL" is.

We say, "I give Jesus ALL my sins" and we still beat ourselves up over our past mistakes. We pray, "Jesus, I love you with ALL my heart" and yet we spend hours searching the "T.V. Gospel" and our Bibles gather dust over on our night table. It's all too easy to sing "All for Jesus" and then go home to computers, IPOD's, and DVD's laced with pornography, profanity and lust.

I'm reading Psalms 111 lately, and man, I'm wanting to live the meaning of "ALL." Why is that little three-letter word such a TALL mountain to climb, I ask?

I watched my friend Colt McCoy go down in the national championship game against Alabama and then have to sit on the sidelines and watch his dreams of leading the Longhorns to his long-awaited dream of being # 1 melt down before his eyes. The news reporter asked him after the game for a comment. Was he bitter? Couldn't God have prevented it or healed him? Didn't he deserve the championship? I'm sure the thoughts of fans were countless that surrounded him.

His answer was simple and to the point, "I always give God the glory. I never question why things happen the way they do. God is in control of my life. And I know that if nothing else, I'm standing on the Rock."

After Job suffered more loss than any of us could ever suffer, he said, "God I know now that you can do all things and no plan of yours will be thwarted. I know my redeemer lives. In the end I will see God. (You can hear in his words, "All for God! All for God! All for God!")

After David had risen, fallen and risen again to be the great king of Israel, through valleys and deserts, through the mountain peaks of watching God bring to pass "the glory days of Israel" and yet endure the utter brokenness and the deep valleys of moral failure, David consummated his life by saying, "Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, indeed everything that is in the heavens and the earth; Yours is the dominion, O LORD, and You exalt Yourself as head over all." (1Chronicles 29:11)

All for God! All for God! All for God!

I am challenged daily to discover new depths of that powerful three-letter word "ALL" and dig deeper into its meaning and practical application for my life.

For I have so much more to give Him. With each layer of my being that He peels away and reveals that another treasure needs to be brought to His throne of grace I am grateful.. For each divine revelation of one more investment of my time, talent and treasure into the "Eternal Bank" where "neither moth nor rust destroy" I am blessed to lay it down. For each curtain that is opened before yet another window into my heart and I can see a selfish motive, impure thought, or less than completely honest agenda I am set free.

I have a long way to go but I celebrate the journey.

I pray that you will find God's grace today to dive deeper with me in the journey and that one day we can join hands before the throne of grace and sing in complete transparency from the basement of our soul, "I surrender all, yes I surrender all."



Grace alone,





Joe White, President

Men at the Cross





P.S. I got this email and want to share it with you.

"I have a Timothy now, we started about two weeks ago. It all started with the Men at The Cross logo sticker on the back glass of my truck. All he had to do was ask me about it and two weeks later we started One2Won. He is a coworker of mine. Every day at work we will be talking about God and the same thing we talked about would be in the session for that day. God has very much blessed me more than I deserve, for I am not worthy, but only by the BLOOD of JESUS. Thanks, more than you know."

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