I Heard the Voice of God...

... and He sounded a lot like that guy who does all the voice overs for movie trailers!

Well, let me explain. I hopped in my truck the other day to run an errand--this time with no kids in tow. I had gotten about 100 yards from my house when I heard this really deep, dramatic and booming voice come out of nowhere!...

"What do you believe?"

In a matter of a split second, all these thoughts flashed through my head--"Who was that? Is that you God? That is you, God! No way... you're talking to me in a audible voice? Cool! Hold on. No. I'm hearing things! I must be losing it!"

Just as quickly as I had all those thoughts rush through my cranium, so did the realization that the voice I had just heard was now being followed by a full orchestra of movie-trailer-like music... Hmmm. Sort of sounds like the kids' DVD player in the backseat doing it's auto-play function after I started up the truck. Sure enough. Undoubtedly, this was some video build up to a soon-to-be-released movie from Disney.

So, as soon as I realized the voice from the back seat was not that of the Almighty, it struck me... "Maybe it was God speaking, indirectly." I know God can speak to anyone, anywhere, and at anytime, any way He wants to. He used a donkey once in the Bible. Who says He can't use some silly overblown movie trailer playing on a DVD and coming from the backseat of a forest green Ford Explorer Sport Trac with three kid seats strapped in? His voice doesn't even have to be audible and most of the time, from my experience, it isn't. It is usually still and small. And of course, as my pastor said tonight in church, hearing the voice of God, no matter what the medium, is always subjective. So was this really God asking me a question out loud? Usually it is the other way around, and lately it goes something like this... "Why did that happen? When will this day be over? How did this day go by so fast? Why is it so hot? Why is there smoke blowing up from North Carolina and making it stink here? Will you please make it rain in the Dismal Swamp and put out those blasted fires?" But now, my spirit was sensing that this really was God asking me a very simple but profound question. Would I hear Him asking me or would I just hear the voice-over dude? Would I blow it off as silly and over-spiritual or would I really consider the inquiry?

As I continued down the neighborhood street, I figured I had better answer... it wasn't everyday that I heard a voice and considered it as possibly being from Jesus himself! So, what did I believe? I quickly mustered up the pat answer for all Bible-believing Christians... "I believe in God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. I believe Jesus died for my sins and rose again on the 3rd day." You know, the usual stuff. Then God spoke again. This time it wasn't through the DVD. It was that still small voice thing, asking, "Yeah, but what do you really believe?" Hmmm. I paused for a moment and thought.

Now you've got to understand that when I hear the voice of God, it usually goes through the Darin Filter. For me, my personality influences somewhat how something sounds or is said when it is coming from God--going through the Darin Filter... not sure that happens with other people, but it does with me sometimes. Anyway, as I thought more seriously about what I really believed, I came to the conclusion that "Yes, I believed in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus for the forgiveness of my sins and that that was the most important thing in life for me." At that point, God shot back at me sarcastically (going through the Darin Filter), "Then why don't you live like it?"

Ouch.

So often, I seem to make life all about me. I don't intend for it to be, but self-centeredness seems to be second nature (really first nature, if there is such a thing). No excuses... I choose to be self-centered and sometimes even choose to not think about the fact that I am self-centered, thus perpetuating even more self-centeredness! As much as my ego hates to admit it, life ain't all about me! What life is really all about, and what I concluded God was trying to get through my thick head for the umpteenth time, from that DVD voice over, was that "It's all about Jesus."

I can say I believe all the right things until the cows come home, but if I don't live them out while I walk this earth, then my stated beliefs are empty, and then, do I really believe them in the first place? Or am I just going through the motions?

No Inhabitions

A Sunday or two ago God spoke to me in church. That in and of itself is not so unusual as you would think or at least hope God would speak to you there on some level. This time He pretty much blew me away. At church, we sit in the front row. This gives us a better view and it gives us a lot more room to allow our three kids to dance during worship, which all three love to do, Zane especially. Zane is a dancer! Zane is our 5-year-old son who was diagnosed at birth with Down Syndrome. I honestly think he is one of the happiest boys on this earth. He can find joy in just about any situation (except T-ball) and will dance, scream or babble incessantly (or do all three at once) whenever he is feeling joy. Well, this particular Sunday, Zane was dancing up a storm during worship as usual. When slower songs come as worship is typically transitioning into something else, I usually take hold of Zane as he wants to continue at full speed. So I did that as we began to sing a slower song about surrendering to God. Zane really wanted to get out of my lap, so after a minute I let him go, hoping he would make a break for the stage. To my utter amazement, without looking around at anyone, he got down on his knees and put his face on the floor--bowing before the Lord. Now some would say Zane was just imitating others around him and didn't really know what was going on. I beg to differ. As Zane was one of the first on the floor, other people began to come up to the alter and bow on their knees too. I'm not saying Zane started it and others followed, not at all. But I will tell you what God impressed upon me at that moment--that Zane is totally in tune with the Holy Spirit whether he totally realizes it or not. When it comes to worship time at church, I think God speaks directly to his spirit and Zane obeys. He dances with total reckless abandon, holding nothing back, and then gets on his knees when he feels something leading him to. I don't know if anyone else noticed that morning, but it was an awesome thing for mom and dad to see for sure. And one other thing God told me... "Zane is a lot more in tune to my Spirit than you are." --A stout dose of humility, conviction, and reality for Dad to swallow.

We Are Outnumbered

When my wife and I went from two children to three, I began to realize something in the dynamics of our family had changed more than just increasing the number by one... Suddenly, life got a little more complicated... we were no longer in man-to-man defense, but were now forced to play zone. We had three kids now! I couldn't hold all my children's hands at one time when we crossed the street. And suddenly, I could no longer keep their names straight or even pronounce them correctly about half the time! Sometimes I even got the two cats' names mixed up! Was I losing it? Something else dawned on me shortly after adding #3--that God was speaking to me a lot through my kids. I think He had been doing so for some time, even when we only had two. But now for some reason, it was more evident. So, that is what this blog is about... what God is teaching me through my kids (and to some lesser extent, life in general). And sometimes what I see my kids doing and what I hear coming out of my kids' mouths hits me right between the eyes and I know it wasn't just them and some impulse... it was God-ordained.