Attack of the Three Bailarinas I was sitting at my computer one morning when I heard my wife say "My love, I want some Honduran Cheese". Anytime she wants something special, she starts the sentence off by saying "My Love". The only problem is that we were in Georgia not Honduras. Like a good husband that I am, I started looking on the internet for a latin grocery store that sells Honduran Cheese. After about an hour, I found a store not to far from where we live that actually sells cheese from Honduras. (Don't tell my wife this but this cheese smells like a cat who has been dead for three days). I got dressed and headed for the store. It was a small store in a very small shopping center. The moment I opened the door, it was almost like I was in Central America with the smells of all the spices that we are used to. The only problem was that I felt someone staring at me. There was only one lady working behind the cashier and she was on the phone with someone but the feeling was overwhelming. There was only three isles in this small store and as I walked down the isle looking for the cheese, I could feel eyes looking right through me. It was a strange feeling but like I said, I am a good husband and I was going to find my wife her Honduras Cheese no matter what. At the back of the store, there was a small refrigerator with different kinds of cheese and one of them said "Cheese from Honduras". Just to make sure, I put it up to my nose and YEP, I had found the right cheese. I took it up to the counter to pay for it. I looked up and there was a small box on a shelf that only said "Three Bailarinas". I asked the lady what that was and she answered in very broken english "This is a special tea. It will make you feel very good. You will have strength and you will sleep good. Very healthful". Something made me say "I WANT THOSE BAILARINAS". I had to have it. Don't ask me why but I wanted what was inside that box. As soon as I was home, I opened the box to find just a small piece of paper that said "put tea bag in cup of water and heat in microwave for one minute". The tea bag looked like green tea to me and every once in a while I will drink some green tea because it is good for you so I figured that this is what is was so I made myself a cup of tea. After the tea was ready, I drunk it up and I felt nothing. I thought "What is wrong with me, Why did I have to buy this tea?". It was around 11:00 in the morning and I am not a breakfast person so usually my first meal is around 2:00 in the afternoon. Three hours past and I did not feel any stronger so I figured that I had been ripped off. I ate my regular lunch around 2:00 and I finished around 2:30. My wife had made Fried Chicken. At exactly 2:34, something happened. I had a pain to hit me in my lower stomach area which brought me to my knees. The pain lasted three seconds and then 15 seconds later a second pain and then a third and so on. My eyes was rolling back into the back of my head. I could not see and I started sweating immensely. I lost the feeling in my legs and in my mind, I could see three bailarinas dancing around actually laughing at me. My mouth started watering and I felt like I was going to die. What in the world is happening, I thought? I felt like my stomach was going to explode so I crawled my way to the bathroom. I am not going to go into details but let me just say that the Gulf Oil Spill is nothing compared to the 30 minutes I spent in the bathroom. I could actually hear the chicken I ate screaming in pain. When it was all over with, I was tired and worn out. I felt like I had ran a marathon, been ran over by a truck and beat up by Mike Tyson. (We are not related by the way). I was able to make it to my bed and I went right off to sleep. When I woke up, I felt much better but I was mad so I got in my car and took off to the store where I had purchased this special tea. I walked in and the lady was still behind the counter and I said "You tried to kill me, these bailarinas just about killed me". She just smiled and in her broken english she said "Are you happy its over with?" I said "You better believe it". She said "Did you sleep good?" I said "Yea, i was so worn out I slept good". She said "Do you feel stronger than you did when you were in pain?" I said "Of course, I could not hardly walk". She said "The bailarinas have done it again. You are stronger, you got a good sleep and you are happy that it is over". She then had me to stand of some scales and I had incredibly dropped 8 pounds. She told me that I was now clean of all the toxins in my body and that I would start feeling better. To my surprise, I feel so much better. Everyone knows the saying "No Pain, No Gain". well, all I have to say is that I will probably never be able to go see a ballet ever again. Some people are scared of clowns, I am now afraid of bailarinas. Products like these are probably not allowed in the U.S. but I can tell you this, Latin people with the lack of medical care and so much disease live longer than Americans. Some would say it is because of the bailarinas. Philip Tyson www.samaritanrevival.com/blog Still Not Good Enough I have been asked how I come up with what I am going to write about. I never know until the day I am going to write. Sometimes an idea will pop into my head and other times I am reading the Bible and something I read turns on a light bulb inside my mind and heart and I try to get to the keyboard before that thought goes away. This is one of those times.I love Psalms 37. I remember one day talking to my mom and I was asking her why there are people who are lying and doing evil things using ministry and she immediately quoted Psalms 37: 1-2 which say "Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity. For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb." Something tells me that she had seen this in the past 40 years of ministry. What I have on my heart tonight is something different. I was reading this encouraging Psalm when I came to verse 23 and verse 24 which says "The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and he delighteth in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the Lord upholdeth him with his hand." I want you to take a good look at this verse. First it says, "The Steps of a Good Man", not a perfect man but a good man. God knows that we are not perfect and He knows that we face some terrible trials here on this earth. God says that the steps of a good man are ordered by Him. What this is saying is that we as christians have to keep our eyes on Him and He will guide our path and this brings joy to Him. Here is the point I want to get to. The verse says "Though he fall", could this be an error? NO. The Bible has no errors so How can God be saying a good man can fall especially if his steps are ordered by Him? Let's keep reading. He shall not be utterly cast down for the the Lord upholdeth him with his hand. I don't even know what to say. This goes against a whole bunch of preaching I have heard in the past. If I understand english right, what this is saying is that we all should live our life according to His will but if we were to make a mistake, God is not going to forget about us or cast us away because if we reach out to Him, He will lift us up with His hand and give us strength to keep going. There are so many people who were in the ministry one time or the other and they made a mistake and they were cast away. Not by God but by "spiritual" men. They were told that they were not good enough to work for the Lord. Somewhere, these men forgot the story of David and even though he did some awful things, God still loved him and He used him in a great way. Isn't wonderful to know that the Bible says that the Lord will uphold us with his Hand. Just imagine being knocked down by sins of this world and God has His hand stretched out toward us and then in Romans 8:1, the Bible says that "there is no condemnation for those that are in Christ Jesus". Condemnation means "an expression of strong disapproval; pronouncing as wrong or morally culpable". We are not culpable anymore if we walk with Jesus. If you are walking hand in hand with our Lord, you are good enough no matter what anyone tells you. Whether you have been in jail, been divorced or anything else, if your life has changed and you have reached out to the Lord, everything is forgotten. I know that the hardest person to forgive is yourself. I know that by experience and I also know that people has a hard time forgiving. Our past mistakes make living on this earth pretty hard but please be assured that Jesus has forgiving you and He has forgotten. You know what is good about falling sometime in your life? You learn that you are not good enough to judge others but we are good enough by the shedding of the blood of the son of God to serve. No matter what you have done, if you have asked God to forgive you then you are good enough to sing in the choir, play in the praise band, lead prayer in a service, preach and tell others what God has done for you. You are good enough. If someone tries to tell you differently, don't argue. Just tell them to reach Psalms 37. Philip Tyson www.samaritanrevival.com Words that kids don't want you to know I am 41 years old and I having trouble talking to young people today in English. Yes, I speak english but something has definitely changed. I can be having a conversation with someone and if I have a smile on my face, it usually means that I am very confused. By the way, it does not take much to confuse me. Sometimes I get messages on facebook but instead of words, people use symbols and supposedly it is a good thing but I have no idea what they are saying.I meet with youth pastors and even they confuse me. As you already know, this blog is called Uncharted Territory and the english language has become an Uncharted Territory for me at least. Really folks, if someone takes a listen to one of our songs and says "That is Sick", the first thing that comes to my mind is "He hates it". Well, he is actually saying that it is great. Don't ask me why but that is the new english lingo. I called one pastor and he said "Good to talk to you DUDE, Your group is SWEET". I know he was saying that he liked our group but I am still a country boy and the first thing that popped into my mind was "Sweet Tea". Anyway, I thought I would write down the news English Lingo used by young people today. Some of this stuff is really confusing but if you go to a big church that has many young people in it, you will probably hear some of this stuff. I am not saying it is bad, just confusing for me.
I could go on and on but the english language has changed and I have not even learned the original one yet.
Imagine this sentence. I am going to munch with my tonk son and my peng wife before I am swipedout. Does that make since to you. Not me. Youth Pastors will probably have to take english again during seminary just to relate to kids today. Hope you enjoyed. Philip Tyson www.samaritanrevival.com/blog Trying to understand Human Nature Take a good look at the picture above. Yes, this is in Honduras where we work. This is a scene we see basically everyday. Every morning, no matter what day it is, you will see men passed out on the street who have drank themselves into a passed out state. Look at the picture and for a moment, ask your self how this makes you feel. As we travel and meet people throughout our ministry, we have come to learn that people see things in different ways. I know that you have heard the saying "The glass is half full or it is half empty" but the difference in peoples views go much deeper than this. For example, I see a man who is lost, hurting, sick, and something is definitely missing in his life. He is searching but found nothing and he has given in to a drug that can numb his feelings temporarily. He needs help, he needs someone to lend him a hand, someone to show him that God can give him what he is looking for. He needs salvation, redemption and forgiveness. Some people may see a man who is dirty, smelly, not fit for society. Someone who deserves to be imprisoned and taken off the streets. Someone who has probably left their family and because of the state he is in, he deserves no sympathy. Someone you would step over if you saw him in the street. Someone you might be afraid of and you would probably cross the street to keep from walking beside him. Some people may not see him at all. May not even notice that he is there. They may be so busy with everything they have going on in their life that they will not allow this to be a distraction. Just another drunk man in the street and who cares. The truth is, people see things is different ways and you can blame this on different levels of spirituality if you want but I believe it has to do with someones heart. As a christian, what are our priorities? Do we have a heart of stone or has God soften our heart to the needs of others? Do we jump to criticize or do we look past someones faults to find a way to help? Criticizing has become one of worst plagues that has hit Christianity today. Human nature still confuses me and even though we were created in God's image, how many of us actually act like followers of Christ? How would Jesus look at this man who passed out on the sidewalk. Would He laugh or would He cry? Would He cross the road or would kneel down to help? Samaritan Revival has had the opportunity to sing with some wonderful groups and as time goes by, more doors are opening up but we have experienced some strange situations when it comes to the views of other christians. Needless to say, we love the ministry of Casting Crowns. I received a comment one day on our blog saying that "the message of Casting Crowns is GREAT but something about them IRKS me". I don't think I even know what that means but I don't think it is a good thing. At the same time, we like the music of Greater Vision and in September, we will be singing with them to raise funds to feed the hungry in Honduras. One man wrote me and said "I don't know these men but just by their picture, they look like crooks". Both of these comments came from people who express to be christians. If a christian can criticize two wonderful but "DIFFERENT" ministries then what should we do? What is the correct path to take. Some people love Billy Graham and others believe he is a heretic. Charles Brady, who is has helped an incredible number of unknown Gospel Groups" is loved by many but hated by a few also. Why? Not because of what he has not done but for what he has done. In other words, Envy. If I am not going to do it, no one else is either. It reminds me of someone crazy who is in love with a girl he cannot have so he says "If I can't have her, no one will". I can't leave myself out of this. To be totally honest, I rarely receive any positive emails, most our pretty negative. Something I said in some of my blogs will rub the wrong way with some people, so what should a person do? Should we minister, sing our music, preach our sermons and then stay away from everybody? Thank God I am not a Pastor. This has to be the most difficult ministry anyone can be involved in. Pastors never make everyone happy in their congregation. Someone will always find something wrong with their sermon or how they delivered it. Here is the good news. Jesus experienced the exact same thing when He was on this earth. He even had it worst because the pharisees who thought they knew and understood every word of God's Law, followed Him around trying to find something they could use against Him. You know what make me laugh when I read about Jesus and the Pharisees, usually when they asked Him a question, He would answer them back with a question. Talking about annoying, but SMART. He wanted them to think and ponder for a while. One questions He was asked which I love so much was "Which commandment is the greatest of all" Jesus simply said "To the Love your God with all your heart, all your strength and all your mind" here comes the great part "and love thy neighbor as your self" You know what this means to me? I have to love this drunk man laying on the side of the street. I have to love Greater Vision and Casting Crowns even though they are different. I even have to love Charles Brady (LOL) and guess what, I cannot criticize them. I have to many faults in my own life to criticize someone else. To end, I want to quote something Mark Hall wrote on his Facebook page. "In the war of the mind, I will make my stand: In the battle of the heart and the battle of the hands. Battle of the heart: guarding my time with God and pouring into my new life. Battle of the hands: setting up roadblocks of accountability in my life that keep me from the opportunity of compromising what God is doing in my heart" We are in a battle of our hand but also a battle in our heart. Have you set up roadblocks to keep from compromising what God is doing in your heart? We are all in a battle and satan wants us to become bitter and he wants to cover our eyes in thinking that we are the only ones that knows what is Right. Satan cannot take away our salvation but he can try to take away our joy and if you want to know what true joy is? Help someone that is in need. See past the way a message is being delivered and rejoice that the message of God is being delivered to the Lost. We are all different but if we are true christians, we have the same purpose. Like the Biblesays "The Gospel of Christ shall be preached to all nations and then the end will come" Human Nature cannot be understood in this world but as Christians, we should have God's Nature living inside of us. Philip Tyson If We've Ever Needed You, Lord It's Now Casting Crowns just released a video of the song "If We've Ever Needed You" Live which will be on their DVD which will be released at the end of August. The words of this song is the prayer we should be praying to God in these days we are living. You can catch the video here and you will definitely fill how strong the Holy Spirit moves during this concert. Mark Hall is my mentor and every song he writes is spirit filled and anointed. Please leave us a comment. Tell us how this song touches you and what you think about the message in the song. Please read the lyrics and then watch the video. Hear our cry, Lord, we pray Our faces down, our hands are raised You called us out, we turned away We've turned away With shipwrecked faith the idols rise We do what is right in our own eyes Our children now will pay the price We need Your light, Lord, shine Your light If we've ever needed You Lord, it's now, Lord, it's now We are desperate for Your hand We're reaching out, we're reaching out All our hearts, all our strength With all our minds, we're at Your feet May Your kingdom come in our hearts and lives Let Your church arise, let Your church arise If we've ever needed You Lord, it's now, Lord, it's now We are desperate for Your hand We're reaching out, we're reaching out We're reaching out If we've ever needed You Lord, it's now, Lord, it's now We are desperate for Your hand We're reaching out, we're reaching out If we've ever needed You Lord, it's now, Lord, it's now We are desperate for Your hand We're reaching out, reaching out We need You now Revive us now We need You now Posts 1 - 5 of 77
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