Dairy Queen Breakfast

Good morning, folks.

I want to thank Brother Ronnie (Daniel) for the opportunity to be with you all this morning.

Forsyth was my stomping grounds from 1990 - 1994 while I was the Pastor at New Providence Baptist Church in Smarr.

Brian Moore is the Pastor there now and he and his team are doing a dynamite job following the Lord and reaching out to Monroe County for Jesus.

I left New Providence and went to East Thomaston Baptist Church where I served until I left the ministry in 1999.

I look back on those days and consider myself young, but mostly I was just naive.

I thought all Christians were nice people and all Church folk wanted to do what the Bible said.

They aren’t and they don’t and I didn’t realize that my calling was to navigate through that and lead as many as will to come to Jesus.

In 2013, the Lord began calling me back in the big league when I was called as interim of the First Baptist Church of Gray.

And on July 13, 2014, I became the Lead Pastor of that Church - and guess what I found.

Not all Christians are nice people and not all Church folk want to do what the Bible says.

But an older and wiser Randy realized that following Jesus means focusing on following Jesus to the best of your ability.

God was gracious to surround me with some good, strong, Godly men and a boat load of hard working and hungry for Jesus men and women.

And this time, the experience has been different.

It hasn’t been easy but neither is owning and operating a DQ, running chicken farms and drug stores and schools or even being a student now days.

I asked Brother Ronnie what the topic for today should be and he said to speak on whatever I felt led to speak on.

So Brother, you asked for it.

Let’s talk politics.

Well, maybe not exactly as you expect, but let’s see where we can go.

My youngest son and I recently went to his doctor in Huntsville, Alabama.

Luke was born hearing impaired and he has an Esteem Hearing Prosthesis implanted in his head.

Every year we go and get it checked out and calibrated.

We stopped at Olive Garden on the way home.

There are church folks who are very kind to their pastor and on special occasions someone will drop me a gift card or two.

Luke and I decided on Olive Garden because we had $175 in gift cards that had accumulated over time.

We went with the express purpose of chowing down.

We were seated in a odd little cubby hole with 4 tables.

We were at one end - two older gentlemen were at the other end.

And by older, I mean my age - and they talked politics.

Our area wasn’t that full and I could hear ever word they said without eavesdropping.

They were talking about the Alabama US House of Representative’s race.

Seems they weren’t satisfied with the direction of the country and they felt it urgent to get this particular person elected.

They spoke about flipping the House and the Senate back Republican - hopefully with a super majority so the country could be saved.

I can’t say I disagree with them really.

I am old enough to realize that both Republicans and Democrats are snakes and our goal is to elect the least poisonous of the bunch.

But I’m pretty sure their solution isn’t going to fix anything - at least long term.

I think something else has to happen first and I think it belongs to the church.

If you have a Bible and want to read with me, turn to Exodus 14:1-3 and then verses 10-13.

Let me give you the background right quick.

The scene is Egypt.

Joseph who the Lord used to save Egypt and everyone around from starvation has died and about 400 years have passed.

Everyone who remotely remembered Joseph was dead and the home folk weren’t taking very kindly to these foreigners.

The Lord blessed the Israelites and they had lots of babies who grew up to have lots of babies.

And at the time of Exodus 14, depending on who you read, there were anywhere from half a million to 1.2 million Israelites living in Egypt.

Only they weren’t living and working and participating in civil society.

They were slaves and the leader Pharaoh wasn’t such a nice guy.

You remember the burning bush scene right, where Moses saw the bush on fire, but it didn’t burn up?

God spoke to Moses there - do you remember what God said?

Exodus 3:9-10 “And now, behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.””

These people were helpless.

They were born into their situation.

Just like you and I go to work and do all of the things we do every day to keep our lives running, these people were doing the same thing.

And we get to vote - and I know I’m a conspiracy theorist so call me a wacko - but I no more trust the voting system now than the man in the moon.

The Israelites didn’t get to have even that much of a voice.

Like them, we are subject to the whims of weak people in Atlanta and woke people in Washington, D.C.

Many of them parading their god and guns talk but only 2 Timothy 3:5 “having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.”

Bondage.

So what happened in the story.

Moses does what God tells him to do.

After 10 plagues, each one progressively worse than the last - culminating in the death of the first born of everything on Passover -

Pharaoh relented and let the Israelites go.

We know the story of the Red Sea and all of that - but there is a tid-bit in there that I didn’t see until just the other week.

I started doing something different in my daily quiet time.

I listen to a podcast that Jen Wilkins is one of the hosts and she mentioned starting to read the Bible out loud.

Well, I can't do that where and when I read - but I can listen.

So I started listening to a few chapters every day and guys, it makes all the difference in the world.

The story comes alive because it was written to be said.

And here’s the tid bit I missed.

They’ve left Egypt.

They’ve made it to the sea.

But then this happens: Exodus 14:1-4

Exodus 14:1–4 ESV

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell the people of Israel to turn back and encamp in front of Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, in front of Baal-zephon; you shall encamp facing it, by the sea. For Pharaoh will say of the people of Israel, ‘They are wandering in the land; the wilderness has shut them in.’ And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will pursue them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, and the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord.” And they did so.

Skip down a few verses and we hear this:

Exodus 14:9–12 ESV

The Egyptians pursued them, all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots and his horsemen and his army, and overtook them encamped at the sea, by Pi-hahiroth, in front of Baal-zephon. When Pharaoh drew near, the people of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they feared greatly. And the people of Israel cried out to the Lord. They said to Moses, “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt? Is not this what we said to you in Egypt: ‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.”

Now pay attention - do you see what happened?

God brought His people out of slavery in Egypt.

It was going to be a hard trip anyway.

But then God Himself made it worse.

God seemingly put them in harms way.

You heard that right - “the people of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them...”

Where did happen?

At Pi-hahiroth.

And where had God told them to move to.

Pi-hahiroth.

God put them in harms way - at least - it looks that way.

And they believed it was that way - “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness?”

Why did God do that?

Why did the Lord who we say is merciful and kind - God is good all of the time, all of the time God is good - right?

Why did He do this then?

Why did He put them in a place where there appears to be only one outcome and that is annihilation?

They had to see.

Just like the Church has to see.

We have to see what?

Gentlemen, we have to see that we aren’t going to vote ourselves out of this mess.

The evil is too deep.

The darkness is too pervasive.

Do you guys remember Disney’s Wonderful World of Color?

It started in 1954 - 2 years before I was born and it ran for 27 seasons.

I loved the stories of Daniel Boone and some of the science programs.

Remember how they would tour our National Parks.

They were places that I so wanted to go to as a little boy - still do even today.

The programming was wholesome - children could be children and be filled with wonder and awe.

It was a Wonderful World.

What about Disney today?

From an article titled, “I’m a mom and I’m saying goodbye to Disney.”

Talking about the plot of the new Disney movie, “Turning Red,” “Mei (the lead character) and her friends are in a tug of war with their parents that the writers sexualize as they have the characters catcalling boys at school, endorsing “stripper music,” and making plans to rebel against their parents who have legitimate concerns for their safety. But it gets worse. The abortion lobby gets in on the action in the very end when Mei goes out with her panda tail and ears on display. When her mother disapproves, Mei apes the abortion lobby’s signature and sinister catchphrase as she says, “My panda, my choice.”

I remember Disney with Daniel Boone teaching his son how to be a man.

The new Disney is teaching your daughters and grand daughters how to be strippers and how to tell you to take a flying leap.

Gentlemen, we aren’t going to vote ourselves out of this mess.

It’s not an electoral war.

We’ve been told what’s going on - why are we so hard headed that we don’t listen?

Ephesians 6:12 “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”

You can’t vote that out.

So, why are we in this mess?

I believe God has intentionally put His church in harms way.

I believe He’s done it on purpose.

That He’s put us in a place where our adversary is on full display and seems to be in full control.

And the Lord is doing it for one purpose.

Exodus 14:13-14 “And Moses said to the people, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.””

But there is one more piece of that back in Exodus 14:4 “And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will pursue them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, and the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord.”

The Lord is doing this to show us that only He can deliver us so that He gets the glory and everyone will know that He is the Lord.

Only that will wake up the woke crowd.

Until the church cries out to the Lord in desperation, I don’t think much will change.

So go vote for Herschel and David and whoever is running against whoever else.

Turn the House and Senate super red.

Impeach Biden and Harris and install the Republican speaker of the house as president.

And you know what?

Disney will be just as woke as ever.

We can’t do this, gentlemen.

It is not our war.

God deliberately put us in harm’s way so we’d cry out to him.

Folks, our churches must get on our knees and repent.

We’ve been a part of the problem.

We’ve fought each other over stupid things.

We’ve gone along with the sin we see all around us.

We’ve participated in the sin.

Wake up gentlemen.

We have been called to such at time as this - that’s why we are here.

Let’s stand up and be counted.

Thank you for having me today Brother Ronnie.

May God richly bless each of you, your churches and - as they say - May God bless the United States of America.