storm

Monday Morning Music: The Next Storm

/ Alex Doriot / Leave a comment

I’ve always enjoyed the rain. While others get depressed by storm clouds in the sky I tend to find them soothing.

In fact, I think it’s kind of funny when people freak out about a little precipitation. I know some people who won’t leave the house or drive their car if they see a rain drop.

And to be fair these people are probably more sane and just living more safely than I am, so I can’t really fault them.

It’s just that I don’t think hiding from bad weather is any way to live your life. So if you’re staring into storm clouds this week, maybe you could use a little Monday Morning Music to motivate you to step outside: 

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The Breaking

/ Alex Doriot / 2 Comments

forbes.com

Walter White never expected to be on the run. As the final season of “Breaking Bad” began last summer, the show flashed forward to a scene a year into the future. Walter White is on the lam in disguise using a stolen identity, running away rom God only knows what kind of violent pursuit.

When he began his descent into murderous meth-cooking kingpin, Walter White just wanted to get in and out of the drug business with a nest egg for his family.

Walter White never expected to become a drug dealer in the first place. He was just a chemistry teacher with no savings facing down a terminal lung cancer diagnosis which would bankrupt his family.

Of course, Walter White never expected to develop terminal lung cancer. No one ever plans on having cancer. Life just sort of breaks that way.

Life has a way of escalating quickly. Maybe not as quick as “Breaking Bad” or those DirecTV commercials. But the plans we construct for our lives always seem to be unraveling. Continue reading →

It’s Going To Rain

/ Alex Doriot / Leave a comment

photoIt’s going to rain.

If you live in the southeast, especially Augusta, you know this by now. The sun may be shining down right now. It may seem like the perfect day for driving around with the windows down blaring the song of the summer and sipping a Caramel Crunch Frappuccino. But at some point today it is going to pour.

Every day for the past 3 weeks we’ve seen the rain come. Flash floods are happening. It’s raining cats and dogs.

It’s going to get worse though. In fact, all of the cats and dogs are going to be washed away in the water. That’s how bad it’s going to get. You don’t see it yet on the forecast, but the hardest rain is yet to fall.

You may think I’m crazy for forecasting this weather. I’m no meteorologist, that’s true. Neither was Noah. He was just a guy who heard the voice of God.

God told Noah to be prepared, for a storm was coming. A storm like the world had never seen before. God told Noah to build an ark to protect his family and the creatures roaming the earth.

People thought Noah was crazy, building an behemoth ship in broad daylight. But he had faith in God’s voice. He knew that the sun never shines forever.

Noah obeyed God’s instructions. He was prepared when the storm hit. He protected his family because of his faith. Together, along with the world’s first zoo and aquarium, Noah and his family rode out the storm because they listened to God’s voice.

God still speaks to us, if we will listen. He wants us to be prepared for the storms. Not with raincoats and umbrellas – with prayer and community.

When we pray, study His word, and fellowship with the church, we are preparing for the storms in life. We are building the arks that will carry us through the hard rains.

Even when life is full of sunshine, we must still guard ourselves in God. We must still prepare the ark. The rain will fall. Don’t let it catch you off guard.

Wear God’s word as your raincoat. Wear it even when there isn’t a cloud in the sky. It won’t stop the storm from happening. But when the world tries to drench you with rain, it will keep you from getting wet.

 How can you stay prepared for the storms of life?