Take Ten with Pastor Don
From February 28, 2023 Podcast.
Welcome to Take Ten with Pastor Don. I’m Don McGarvey pastor of the Troy Mills Christian Church in Troy Mills, Iowa.
When I was in 5th or 6th grade, someone found my dad’s old silver trumpet and got the idea that young Don needed to learn how to play the trumpet. So, I did.
I played the trumpet all the way through high school and even some in college. I was okay but never good. My natural knack was not music. Not sure what it was, but it certainly wasn’t music.
I remember when I was in ninth grade, our band teacher got this silly idea that the school band should march in the Memorial Day parade.
I practiced and practiced the music and got so I could play the song. And when we practiced marching, I could march and stay in step.
But the day came when we needed to practice both the song and marching….at the same time.
When we were only marching, I was fine. Or when we were standing still and playing the song, I was fine. But trying to march and play at the same time for me was a mess to say the least.
If I focused on the song, I got out of step. But if I focused on keeping in step, I messed up on the song.
I remember hearing the band leader scream my name, “McGarvey, play the song!” Or I would hear, “McGarvey, get in step.” It was embarrassing and frustrating all at the same time.
A day or two after the parade I went in to talk with the band leader. I told him that if we were going to keep marching in parades, I didn’t think band was for me and that I was going to drop out of the band.
I think I noticed a bit of a grin trying to come on his face. But he controlled himself and said if that was how I really felt, he understood.
I still think he did a little bit of a “happy dance” as I was walking out.
In Galatians 5:25, Paul wrote about keeping in step. Listen:
Galatians 5:25 “Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.”
I’ve always been challenged with this. Keeping in step with the Holy Spirit means that every day I need to look at what the Spirit is doing and make sure that I keep in step with Him.
I remember when I first became aware of this verse, I noticed that it was my job to keep in step with the Spirit. It wasn’t something God was going to do, it wasn’t my pastor’s job, but the Word says it is my job. I’m responsible for this one.
Another thing I have noticed along the way is nothing about God is static. God is always up to something. His Spirit is always moving.
The Holy Spirit is always leading us on the path God has prepared for us. And that path doesn’t go around in circles. It is always moving forward.
The nature of God according to Isaiah 43:19 is that God is always doing a new thing. To be part of the new thing God is doing, I need to not hang on to the things of the past. That could even be the things God did yesterday.
Again, if I understand the passage in Isaiah 43 correctly, one of the biggest obstacles to the new thing God wants to do is when I hang to the last thing God did so much so that I don’t allow myself to participate in the new thing He wants to do.
Too often we want to make a shrine of the last move of God. Israel did. They made a shrine out of the bronze snake God told Moses to create and all those who looked upon it would be healed. You can read about this in Numbers 21.
About 750 years later when Hezekiah became king, he discovered a group of Israeli’s worshipping the bronze snake. You can read about this in 2 Kings 18.
Years ago, I was that the opponents of any new move of God were the people who engaged in the last move of God. They don’t want to let go. They don’t want to move forward into the new things God wants to do.
Tradition is a wonderful thing and we should celebrate our past and honor those who have gone before us. Many of these folks blazed new trails in the church, in our worship of God, and in how we reach out to the places of influence that God has placed us in.
All these things have help pave the way for God to do the “new thing” that He wants.
I’ve said many times over the years that what has brought us to this point in our walk with God is not enough to sustain in our walk with God in the days, months,
and years to come. We will always need a “new thing” from God.
He’s ready to do it. That’s not the question. The question is, are we willing to let Him do it?
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Thanks again for your time, this time, until next time, God bless!
In Pursuit! 