Good Enough for Who It's For?

Growing up I would hear the phrase "Good enough for who it's for".  That may have been said jokingly, but in Colossians 3:23  it says, "And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;" and in Ephesians, "With good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men":

Before coming to Water of Life Church in Plano, Texas; I worked as a draftsman at a manufacturing company in Tulsa, Oklahoma.  We were a full operation from sales, to engineering, to manufacturing, to shipping out the door.  The products designed at Gunnebo Johnson are sold and known worldwide. In fact, if you've ever been through a construction site, then you've probably seen some of what we did.  

My responsibilities included much more than drafting though.  Whenever we were given a project, we outlined the details of the design on a DDI.  These were the Design and Development Inputs.  Often my supervisor would remind us to "tell the story".  The DDI captured everything that the customer listed on the purchase order.  It also told of decisions that were made on the project and who was responsible for making those decisions.

One item that would always be listed was paint.  If the customer listed yellow.  We needed to know which yellow.  What's the color number?  Which vendor do you want the paint to come from?  Do you want standard paint or a marine coat?  How many coats?  How thick for each coat?  Some customers would send a packet that detailed how to paint the product they were ordering.  Sometimes this meant that the paint process had to be recorded and sent back to the customer.  We, as draftsmen, had to lay all this out in the form of a "specification" or a SPEC to let the guys in the plant know what was being required.  

That was just one example.  The point is we had to be very detailed.  Once we were finished, the person checking our work had to be thorough as well.  After that check, the the supervisor then reviewed our work before sending it on to the Vice-President of Engineering for final review.  If at any point along the way a mistake was made, the project was sent back to the draftsman to make corrections.  On occasion a project was sent back simply to be more detailed in the "telling of the story".  We were always making an attempt to get exactly what the customer wanted.  That was our job.  Get it exactly right. 

Working on those projects I was often reminded of how God told Moses, referring to the tabernacle,  to build it exactly like he showed him.  (Hebrews 8:5)  I thank God for the job he provided me during the years I worked at GJC.  I also thank God for those I worked with.  

God Bless,
Anthony    

A crane just off I-75 in Allen, TX

A crane block and an overhaul ball (I believed to be manufactured by Gunnebo Johnson)

 

           

 

Big Ol' Mean Dog

Today I was reminded of a testimony of an encounter with a dog when I was in either 1st or 2nd grade.  We lived in a trailer park in Muskogee, Oklahoma where a neighbor had a dog that was kept in a pen. To this kid, that was a big, mean dog.  I remember that dog being let out one day and it started  after me.  I ran being afraid the dog would get me.  I was trying to run inside our home, which being in a trailer house, meant I would have to run up the steps.  As the dog closed in I turned and said, "I rebuke you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ my Savior".  That dog stopped and I got up the stairs and got inside.  You can read in scripture where and angel stood in front of a donkey and that donkey would go no further.  This dog could not go anything further either.

When I was in sixth grade, my mom and the man she was married to at the time, were in an argument late at night.  Knowing I had school the next day, I was trying to go to sleep but couldn't because of the arguing.  I played baseball in those days so I had a bat in my room.  I got up, grabbed the bat, and headed to the living room.  When I got there I said, "If you don't shut up and go sleep, I'm going to hit you up side the head with this bat."  You may think no man was going to listen to a kid, but God would not let that go any further.  That was the end of the arguing.  Everybody went to bed.  Not too much later, that man raised his hand to hit me and my mom stepped in.  Soon after that, they were no longer together.  

Psalm 44:6-8

⁶ For I will not trust in my bow, neither shall my sword save me.

⁷ But thou hast saved us from our enemies, and hast put them to shame that hated us.

⁸ In God we boast all the day long, and praise thy name for ever. Selah.

Although God was with me in both of those situations, I did not know that we are to trust in the gospel for everything we have need of.  Verse 6 above says, "For I will not trust in my bow, neither shall my sword save me."  Jesus tells us in Mark chapter 1 what we are to trust in when he came in to Galilee preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God.  He says, "Repent  ye, and believe the gospel."  In other words, change from what you are trusting in and trust the gospel for what you have need of.  The gospel of the kingdom of God is power and is defined in 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 as "How that Christ died for our sins according to the scripture, and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day, according to the scripture."  Everything you have need of was provided right there in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  That's what we are to trust in.  That's what will bring salvation.  And salvation can be as simple as not getting bitten by a big ol' mean dog.      

The entrance to the trailer park where we lived in Muskogee.  Our trailer was just a few lots down on the left.

Beginning Days

Sometime back I shared about how I grew up. This is not a sad story, but we moved often, about every two years; and, not to go into too much detail, but there was a period of time when we were on food stamps and for a brief time, we lived in our car. As I have said before, I thank God how I grew up. 

I was determined though, that when I got older, I would not live that way. I didn’t have a plan, that was just my heart. 

I do remember thinking that I could build houses for people so people could have a house. In 1994, I heard the gospel defined out of I Corinthians 15:3-4; How that Christ died for my sins according to the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures. And that the gospel was the power of God unto salvation; salvation being everything you have need of, which includes a house. 

I began to do the things I had been taught. One of those things was read the Psalms. I got to where I could read the Psalms through, out loud, in one setting. I began reading the New Testament as well. By 1997 God provided me a house in Stigler, Oklahoma. It was just over 1300 Sq.Ft. It had three bedrooms, two full bathrooms, kitchen, dining, living room, and a one car garage. It sat on a large corner lot with multiple trees. It was a new home, a self-help house, in which I contributed to some of the work. I wasn’t going to have to live the way I grew up. 

As I continued believing the gospel, and listening to what I was being taught and what I was reading, I came to a point early on where my heart was broken to think, that after coming from nothing, to going to something, I may have to go to nothing again. I read where the disciples forsook all and followed Jesus.  Was I going to have to give up this house, and later my job, and trust God? God was gracious, and we lived in that home until August 2008, when I resigned my position from Stigler Public Schools, from teaching, and from coaching; to do, what I believed was God.  

We actually began our move to Broken Arrow not knowing where we would live. We went "Looking for a City" when we moved to Allen too!  A testimony for a later date.

God provided us a nice rent house. Although we started out sleeping on a mattress on the floor, God, one day, provided us bedroom furniture, and then later, some living room furniture. But this was where, I began to learn to walk by faith, trusting God, for all I needed. 

This is not to say I've arrived by any means but I thank God for this gospel. We now live in Allen, Texas working in the ministry at Water of Life in Plano, Texas.

God Bless, 

Anthony

Misty and I in front 

of our home in Stigler

Garbage Man

 <sup>Matthew 15:21-28

21</sup> Then Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon.

²² And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil.

²³ But he answered her not a word. 

In verse 22 the woman cried unto Jesus.  But look in verse 23.  He answered her not a word.  He didn't even respond to her crying of "Have mercy on me."  Jesus only did the will of the Father and here he doesn't even respond to this woman looking for her daughter to be delivered from a devil.  Continue on with the rest of verse 23.  

And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us.

Not only did Jesus not answer her, the disciples started telling Jesus to send her away.  Who's this woman?  She's not even from Israel.  Come on Jesus send her away.  Now look what Jesus says next.    

²⁴ But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

She went crying after Jesus looking for help.  The disciples even wanted Jesus to send her away and now Jesus tells her plainly, he is not sent but to Israel.  This woman was not of Israel.  Mark's account says she was Syrophenician.  Was Jesus racial profiling?  Remember, he only did the will of the Father.  Look how the woman reacted to that.  She worshipped him with these three words, "Lord, help me."  


²⁵ Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me.

Surley that will get his attention.  Look at verse 26.


²⁶ But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs.

First he didn't even answer her.  Then his disciples wanted her sent away.  Then he let her know she was not the right nationality.  Now he calls her a dog.  Ever feel like this woman? 


²⁷ And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table.

²⁸ Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.

She didn't quit.  She didn't give up.  Faith pleases God and Jesus does the will of the Father.  She got what she came for.  Her daughter was made whole from that very hour.  

In high school I played sports.  I had some success in football but I also played basketball.  Recently I was reminded of something my basketball coach said to me.  He said, "You're a garbage man."  He called me a garbage man.  What did that mean?  It meant there weren't going to be any plays specifically ran for me.  I still scored at times. My job was to get rebounds.  So any scoring I did would be off rebounds or free throws.  That was my job.  Come off the bench and get rebounds and play defense - a garbage man.  But at the end of the day I was on a pretty good team.  My senior year we only lost one game during the regular season.  Won tournaments.  District champs.  Regional champs.  We finished the year one game short of going to the State tournament with a record of 24-3.

If your after something from the Lord keep after it.  Believe the gospel; the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Even if he calls you a dog, or a garbage man, don't quit.  The gopsel is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth.  

God Bless,
Anthony