The Beacon Article 11/4/09

It was a beautiful spring day. I was looking for my nephew and niece (Jeremy and Tonya). At the time we lived in a big antebellum home. As I rounded the corner there sat Jeremy and Tonya. They had their pet guinea pig shaving it. Now that seemed like a good idea for children that were six and four years old. The guinea pig even seemed to be enjoying floating in shaving cream. Now I explained to them if they shaved the hair off the guinea pig it could get cold, sick and maybe even die. They didn’t understand the need for the guinea pig to keep its hair. You see sometimes we are like Jeremy and Tonya were. We get what seems like a good idea. We don’t seek advice (wise counsel). We jump right in and try to execute our plan sometimes not understanding the ramifications of our actions. We don’t take time to seek wise counsel. Proverbs 1:5 says: A wise man will hear and increase learning, And a man of understanding will attain wise counsel,
Jeremy has since grown and become a deacon in his church. He has learned and demonstrated wisdom that could only have come from God. Jeremy put his trust in God at a young age. I have seen the promise of God develop in him. You see he took Proverbs 3:5 to heart:
5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;

See you Sunday

With the love of Christ
Deacon Dan
John 3:30

The Beacon Article 10_28_09

My family celebrated my granddaughter’s birthday this past weekend. Audrey Gayle was born October 19, 2006. She could be a clone of her mother, Jennifer. Scheduling four families to get together is not an easy task. We enjoyed ourselves, visiting our granddaughter, grandson (Carter Daniel Knight), daughters, and sons-in-law. Have you ever noticed just how uplifting the laughter of children can be? There is nothing like watching a child open a present. The expression of surprise or the sound of them being so happy can brighten anyone’s day.
Their laughter is like music to my ears.
I love to watch our church family’s children go the children’s church. They are always excited and the expression on their face is much like them receiving a present. They race off to see what their teacher is going to talk about. Psalm 127:3-5 (NKJV) says:
3 Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord,
The fruit of the womb is a reward.
4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior,
So are the children of one’s youth.
5 Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them;…

Yes, I had a happy weekend. I pray that you did too.







With The Love of Christ,
Deacon Dan
John 3:30

The Beacon Article 10/21/09

Willie Carter, don’t recognize the name do you? Randy Travis sings a song that sums up Mr. Carter to me, the title of the song is “I Thought He Walked on Water”. In the song Randy alludes to Jesus walking on water when Peter stepped out of the boat and came to him. Randy compares a grandfather figure to Jesus.

I think of my grandfather every time I hear that song. How I wish you could meet him and some of you will someday (oh! by the way Mr. Willie Carter is my grandfather and my grandson is named after him). I saw Jesus in my grandfather. Why, you may ask? He loved me unconditionally. He served the Father and you could see the love of Christ in him. He loved people. Papaw also had integrity. Webster’s says integrity is 1 : firm adherence to a code of especially moral values. You could ask anyone about Mr. Carter. He was a good and Godly man, a moral man.
My grandfather was like a modern day Job, as we read in Job 4:6 Is not your reverence your confidence? And the integrity of your ways your hope? My grandfather left a legacy. I hope to leave a legacy like that for my grandchildren. My prayer is found in Psalms 7:8 The Lord shall judge the peoples; Judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness, And according to my integrity within me.
Where does your hope lay?





With The Love of Christ
Deacon Dan
John 3:30

The Beacon Article 10_14_09

The Deacons Corner

The green-eyed monster, the evil eye and jaundiced eye; no matter what you call it, jealousy is just an ugly attitude.
I am a hugger. I can’t help it, that’s just how I am. I have always been that way. I told Charlotte before we married that I hugged people. I don’t mean to be offensive, I just hug. We both agreed not to be jealous of each other. I can say God has blessed our marriage in that way.

We have a trust that supersedes jealousy.
We are asked in Proverbs 27:4 Wrath is cruel and anger a torrent,

But who is able to stand before jealousy?
Jealousy (or in other words covetousness) is not limited to just personal relationships. It shows up sometimes as a negative attitude when a co-worker gets a promotion you wanted. It may come when you have to work and everyone else gets the holiday off. It may even come when you don’t get a certain part or song in a program.

We are told in Jeremiah 6:13 Because from the least of them even to the greatest of them, Everyone is given to covetousness;……….

Let’s hide in our hearts this prayer from Psalm 119:35-37

35: Make me walk in the path of Your commandments, For I delight in it.

36: Incline my heart to Your testimonies, And not to covetousness.

37: Turn away my eyes from looking at worthless things, And revive me in Your ways.


With The Love of Christ
Deacon Dan
John 3:30

The Beacon Article 10_7_09

The Deacons Corner

Working in the medical field, I see people in pain and suffering from many illnesses. Many people recover and some don’t. Almost all take pain medicine. This world is full of pain. Pain comes in many forms - physical, mental, spiritual pain, and painful relationships. We have medicines for the physical and mental pain. Unfortunately, people go to all lengths trying to ease their pain. Some people build a barrier around them to keep others out and to minimize the pain. Jesus even felt the anguish and pain of the cross (of our sin). In Mark 15:34 and at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? There isn’t anything that we experience that Jesus hasn’t.
Many constantly seek something, yet don’t know what they seek. Look at what they call extreme sports. Adrenaline junkies take on dangerous hobbies to make their bodies secrete massive amounts of the hormone. They continually seek more dangerous adrenaline-pushing hobbies. They never get enough.
Some people seek love only to go from one broken relationship to the next, living in loneliness, crying themselves to sleep at night, doing anything to obtain the love they seek.
Often these attempts are much like trying to put a square block into a round hole. It just doesn’t work. Even Nicodemus was seeking something when he went to Jesus under the cover of darkness. In John 3:3 (NKJV)3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
When I think of the pain of this world, I am reminded of Revelation 21:4 (NKJV) 4 “And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”

Are you suffering from the pain of this world? Are you never satisfied, seeking approval, love, or gratification in worldly things?



With The Love of Christ
Deacon Dan
John 3:30