Walk Through the Doors God Opens for You

Have you ever found yourself trapped in your own environment? There you are, doing the same things, following the same routines, and then something totally unexpected happens. You get an offer to do something you never thought of, or life presses you until you begin

A Door Opening

to see, “I could do that.”

Maybe you have thought ahead a little bit and realize where the track you are on in life could take you if you don’t do something about it. In From Woodstock To Eternity, Dustin Morgan finds himself in this very place as he gets a glimpse of what awaits him if he keeps on with his wild, bachelor mindset.

“It was like I could see ahead in the future, and I imagined myself being in my forties, still trying to play the field. It seemed kind of asinine that I would keep on running around like a kid, cruising the bars, chasing skirts; everyone I knew would be married with families, and then Boom! It hit me. In spite of all my friends, and associates, and my community of hippies, I could end up living by myself. The likelihood that this scenario could very well happen scared the hell out of me. It still does. It bothered me so much I had to shout out loud into that, gloomy, misty darkness,

‘I DON’T WANT TO TURN FORTY ALONE!!’

“Well, it looks like this is my chance. I can see a door opening from another world, and I think I need to walk through it. I’ve been considering some things I thought I would never consider before. Yeh, Buck, I think the time has come for me to do something crazy.”

The door Dustin is talking about is the door to a lifestyle of marriage, one he has never contemplated before. As a matter of fact, marriage has always represented confinement to him, but times are changing. It is significant that the door is opening up to him – he is not trying to open the door. An opportunity is presenting itself to him in spite of his old ideas. What is being opened up to him is the chance to grab hold of the concept of marriage and see it as a good thing. It is the chance to completely change his mind. Will he take it?

This is a very popular painting of Jesus knocking on the door of our hearts. He is on the

outside, we are on the inside. He is offering the opportunity for us to enter a world totally different than the one we have been living in. He is also giving us the chance to change our mind about things and to be willing to embrace the mindset of heaven and righteousness.

This image shows both sides of the door. The people on one side are completely wrapped up in their daily routines, then they hear a knock. Jesus has come with a new way of thinking. Just like Dustin Morgan’s predicament, they may not want to leave their old way of doing and thinking, but the crack of light through the opening door offers them a way to escape. Will they take it? Will you take it? Dustin Morgan took it, and it changed his life forever.

Walk through the door. See what eternity has in store for you.

4 Levels of the Christian Life

Have you ever wondered why some Christians are so passionate about Jesus, and others just mention Him once in a while, or worse yet, only when they’re cussing? Yes, even some Christians use the Lord’s Name in vain. If you are on the “not ready to get into it” side of things, you might look at full blown Christians with an idea like, “If I looked like that, talked like that and lived like that, I would lose all my friends, and maybe even my family. Plus, I would look like a Bible thumper, and that would embarrass me.”

If you were on the “Jesus saved me and I owe him my life side”, you might look at the non-committed Christian and say, “now why can’t they overcome whatever is holding them back, or why can’t they see the principles that are so plainly laid out in the Bible?”

There are levels in between, as well. In the book, From Woodstock To Eternity, Morgan’s parents were devoted Christians who faithfully went to church, but he seldom, if ever, heard a conversation about Jesus during the week. He may have been a part of their thinking at times, but they did not make the presence of God a part of their normal family life.

“They talked to Jesus and about Jesus all the time, as if He was a real person, living in the air all around them. This was a different attitude towards God than what he grew up with. He had always gone to church on Sunday with his parents, but during the rest of the week, Jesus was not in the picture. Mom and Dad were moral, ethical, hardworking people, but they didn’t talk to Jesus on a regular basis. They didn’t act like there was someone else in the room, so Morgan had no reason to think there was such a thing as a living Jesus watching over them.

Now, this new reality was being forced upon him. Not harshly, or menacingly, but by default. This is how his sister and brother-in-law saw it, this is how everybody in the church saw it, and so he was being inundated with the presence of Jesus. He didn’t mind, everybody was extremely nice, and he was making friends that were in another world from the friends he had back in Virginia. It’s just that everything was so, well, so straight.”

There are 4 levels of Commitment to the Word – Which one are you?

Barely There

This is someone who has heard the Gospel, is intrigued by it because it has a grain of truth to him, but considers the effect it will have on his life and says, “not for me.” It could also mean that the person actually believed it and got saved, but has no desire to to anything about it. He continues on like nothing happened.

Enthusiasm then Apathy

This person receives the Gospel with great joy, thinking it will solve all their problems, but

applying pressure

when they start to live it, they don’t receive the “help” they perceived, but instead,pressure. This opposing pressure comes from friends, family, situations, etc. They get discouraged and shrink back from being a vibrant, upbeat, energized Christian.

Loving the Old Life

This is the one that ensnares most “middle of the road” Christians. Even in this category there is a wide range. It could be your average good ole boy who is ashamed to let his rough and tough buddies know he is a Christian. He goes to the bar after work, he cusses on the job.

It could also be your average “good Christian” who regularly goes to Church, and even sees the Church family as their body of friends. However, if they did anything as radical as home school their kids, got rid of their TV, or quite their jobs to raise their kids at home intead of Day Care, they would be ostracized. Their church family friends would say, “We didn’t expect you to go that far!!!! What are you, some kind of fanatic?”

Total Freedom

This is the realm, in our culture today, where you are walking in strength and confidence and joy, but everybody else thinks you are nuts. Not to worry, Jesus has given us a promise.

“Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you

Treasure in Heaven

falsely for My sake. “Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” Matthew 5:11-13

“But I don’t want to be reviled and persecuted”, you say. No, that is not for this level. That’s what the people back on level 2 say. On this level of total freedom, you embrace the persecution and see it as a badge of honor. When you get here – You are FREE!!!