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Gateway Church's Podcast

Got Passion For God And Country

Duration:
25m
Broadcast on:
08 Nov 2008
Audio Format:
other

John 11 verse 35 long reading two words bubba Jesus what? Jesus wept I Grew up saying to my dad who was a pastor Bob. I learned the verse today Jesus wept And I thought it was kind of funny Recently I was reading through the scriptures again, and I came across that verse as I have so many times We're in the past. I kind of just read it But this time it read me this time it changed me whenever it dawned on me the humanity of Christ and the fact that we are so quick to attribute his God being from his human being the God being of Jesus is so easy to look at to call upon because we are not in a position to call ourselves gods and it's a little more difficult and maybe To call ourselves humans When we consider Jesus as a human too because he did in fact live his life Without sin and as the song said he died as though he had sin And you and I know he died for us. So what's my point? My point is this the man Christ that that God being with us that was born of a woman had all the natural inclinations and all of the humanity you and I have Emotionally he was no different and the fact that he wept and it's recorded for us Shows that he did not want to hide that attribute Because there's something about tears that tells me something about the individual You know what it is that there is passion in that person I believe in passion. I cannot imagine a life without passion my wife gets a little put out with me Because I am very passionate about almost everything in my life I'm passionate about our relationship. I remember on our 25th anniversary. We were celebrating We're on a boat. We're out on a beautiful lake and I'm holding her on this romantic evening in my arm and I'm talking Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, and she looked at me and she said baby. I see what Darnie Do you ever shut up? I said I'm offended. I'm not speaking for 30 seconds she counted I Made it to 17 The point is I talk about what I believe and I talk about what I love What is your passion? Have you got passion? Have you got passion about something that intervenes in your sleep with dreams? intervenes in your day with daydreams of slipping away and Passionately living a life that the mundane job doesn't permit you to enjoy Don't lose your passion Jesus wept at the tomb of Lazarus I hardly believe and I may stand corrected by somebody a lot smarter than me But it doesn't make sense to me that Jesus was crying over dead Lazarus when Jesus knew he's gonna raise that boy in a few Minutes why cry over it's built milk when you put the milk back into carton Something like that I Just thought of that too. I Should take notes on my messages. I can't wait to preach and see what I'm gonna say What is this about? Jesus weeping is weeping over dead faith not dead Lazarus because nobody in that crowd could really believe he was who he said He was I'll tell you how many believed as many as showed up at the tomb on the resurrection morning He told him he was going to be raised on the third day and not one of them showed up to see it I'm not picking on the disciples. Maybe I'm picking on us. Do we believe what we talk about do we have? passion Let me tell you you will have passion for something that has cost you plenty If it hasn't cost you anything, you're not gonna have much passion for it When it comes to serving God, I serve him passionately because it has cost me a lifetime I'm not here to remunerate those things that I feel like have been of great expense because the joy and the glory of eternity is Greater than any sacrifice I've ever made in my life But for those sacrifices that glory is worth it and make no mistake for my country. I have paid a price I Don't stand here with my face blown off half my skin Removed and taken off my legs and put on where I was burned. That's painful. I put my face in the pillow one day Just a screaming pain and I didn't want anybody to hear me scream So I buried my face deep in the pillow and I let out a screaming pain and no one in that hospital knew Until I lifted my head and my face remains stuck to the pillowcase and That scream I could not contain I Can tell you about pain. I know what it's like to look down and see my own heart beating in my chest I can tell you stories of hurt and pain that are beyond measure. I'm not here to tell you this sad side I'm tell here take you the good side. You see on July the 26 1969 and forever teenager in the house I know that that sounds like somewhere right after the war of 1812 But July 26 1969 while serving with the United States Navy special forces I was a brown water black beret attached to but not part of seal team one And we were symbiotically cooperating in an effort to beat the Viet Cong on their own territory That day I lost my battle That is to say that battle for the war sake The grenade that blew blew six inches from my right ear it ripped my chest open left me standing exposed on the bow of a little fiberglass riverboat and Within seconds. I knew I would be dead. I leaped in the water But phosphorous as any vet in this room that stood a while ago. We'll tell you water will not extinguish phosphorous I burned in that water Unabated My skin was all around me. I guess you could say I was beside myself I waited all night to share that and you didn't get it. I Needed to pull myself together. How's that? And while all of this chaos is taking place a strange sense of peace is around me And I swam to the bank of the river and all my knees. I looked at the damage It overwhelmed me and I fell over backwards at which point all my team thought I was dead The word went back to my commanding officer. I was KIA That's why I don't buy that little car either the Kia don't drive around in the car kill in action And it took eight months in the hospital for them to find out I was still alive And so then they started paying me again that was really nice and my wife finally had enough gasoline to come see me And it was 34 years later when the senator of this great state decided to find out who this guy is it goes to Iraq all the time and be whole they came up with my medical records that apparently had said I was KIA and Find out that I'd never given been given my medals and I got a purple heart 34 years after my injury in Vietnam Now some people may throw their medals over the wall I would have chased mine over the wall I didn't like the fact that he had taken that long but I was I Hope modest enough not to ask for but when they decide to give them to me I was honorable enough to take them when someone says thank you. You're supposed to say you're welcome And when they gave me these medals of one which I wear tonight It wasn't so I could brag about it that a lot of people get medals in battle But somebody said thank you and for a passionate person It means something to be given thanks for what you've done. So for everyone of you veterans who stood a moment ago from one vet Well done, and I worry about that Because when I get to heaven and you're burned really bad well done Couldn't they say you did good Or medium rare Some of you just got it. That's all right. That's all right. I'm the same way That grenade blew and blinded my deaf my ear blew my face off blew my hair off blew my ear off Got all these spare parts spare parts mind you I put them all on bed the other day my wife said good night And I was in the other room And I don't mind a hair piece. I hate chasing across church parking lots on windy Sundays My ear fell off and I was preaching in Jamaica What do you do then everybody's sucking air like a Hoover covering her mouth and pointing me I? Check my fly. I didn't know was wrong That's a problem with these kind of pulpits man Can't check anything He said your water which is there Almost turned it over No, what do you do? I they're not breathing. This is another Jones town in the making without the grape Kool-Aid I reached over picked up my artificial ear dried the sweat stuck it back on I thought okay It's enough not at all. They thought it's a miracle and they all got saved Now what do I do the next dilemma do I tell them no no no It's a phony ear then they would have said well you're a phony preacher They would have stoned me and I didn't want to come here tonight and pastor Robert call me next week and say What are you doing tell those people you went to Jamaica and got stoned? Now what you've just heard is a silly little monologue about being burned shot up blown up mutilated Dismembered bloom a thumb off bloomer fingers off what you got back on just don't work God left my preaching finger It works fine. Thank you, and I got a good mokstand out of the deal What have I done? I've told you a sad story of being hurt and we've laughed and The reason we have laughed is because you're laughing with me not at me because I can't help but laugh when I consider the fact That on July the 26 1969 the devil himself took his very best shot at me Let the fuse lowered the boom and fired knocked me halfway into eternity And I'm still here because no weapon formed against me can prosper And greater is he that's in me that he that's in the world I Guess what I want to say to you is do you have passion that when something goes quote-unquote wrong You recognize who your enemy is and you don't say why me God. What if he answered you? Well, I don't know George or something about you. I don't like Sorry, George, I was trying to hit your wife you moved You know orbit rotation windage all that stuff Jesus wet because he was passionate he was a man of love Because he was the epitome of love agape the love of God So I'm saying to you tonight when 9/11 took place I couldn't sit down and say well isn't that a sad day I? Remember staring into that television screen and I bellard out God Almighty don't you leave me out of this war you let me do something for my country. I spun around I looked at Brandon I said baby. I need an M16 She said you need to sit down before you have a stroke A lot of patriotism there well, I sat down of course. She's always right God tells women stuff men have no idea God's even considering talking about And I didn't want to be on the floor and her saying see I told you so I Remember two weeks later when my phone started ringing Generals kernels were calling me saying mr. Weaver would you come? Would you speak to our troops? We're going to war and they need to know there's life after injury. There's life after war I said general I'm coming, but I gotta know sir. Do you have an M16? I? Did I said to one of them. He's stuttered him hard around there Finally I said it's all right sir. You just bring them 16 and I'll bring a john 3 16 and we'll go fight this war together And bring these boys back home and I believe I Believe today that they call me because God had a plan for my life now. Look at me. Do you think they call me for military exemplary perfection of the body? Do you think they call me for my? intellect I was in the top ten percent of the lower one-third of my class I Tell you why they call me Because I'm a man of passion and I love our troops and I'm not about to sit back and wish him well I'm willing to go to the last man standing on the farthest corner this earth to tell him of the love of Jesus Christ and make no mistake Make no mistake if any of you in this room say well He just a war monger. You haven't pulled your head up from a pillow and left your face in it. I Hate war, but I love freedom more than I hate war and I'm proud of my scars and stripes And I'm proud of the men I served with and I'm proud of the troops that are serving us today Can you give me an amen on that? So no one walk out of this room misunderstanding what Dave Reaver said I wish to God there would never be another war But I thank God that somebody's willing to stand on that wall let my grandbaby sleep good at night and not be afraid of what's coming down to pike tomorrow and She's a beautiful one - five and a half year old sat in my lap blond hair blue-eyed Squeeze my face and sang to me holding this mutilated face in her tiny little fingers. She sang to me you are So beautiful and he should bounce us to get my brother to me Can't you see I couldn't see he he I was crying and blowing snop bubbles by then I Am happiest man ever stood in this pulpit. Let me tell you something ladies and gentlemen. This is what I look like doesn't matter Yes, I'd love to have my face back. Yes, it'd be nice to be able to extend my fingers and shake a hand with somebody in them Not jump backwards and wonder what happened. I'd love to be able to live just one day of a normal life But I'm afraid I'd get so bored with it. I'd say bring back the scars I'd rather be the way I'm supposed to be than the way I wish I was because I believe God had a plan in all this. I was sitting on Trinity broadcasting one night when Jan Crouch looked at me and broke her promise She said she would ask me easy questions Sound like Hillary don't I? She said she'd ask me easy questions and the question she asked baffled me She said Davy do you know why God let you be scarred maimed and burned? And I'm thinking No, but this blue-haired wonder is gonna explain it all to me. I Was so mad at her. I could have pieced her little head off But it wasn't the Jerry Springer show. This is Christian TV And you got to fake it for Jesus And I faked it, Bubba. I was a gentleman when I didn't want to be a gentleman I spoke nice when I didn't want to speak nice. I said I don't know why God let me be scarred maimed and burned and she flipped her hair over her shoulder Well, I'll tell you she said Jesus didn't do that to you. He didn't shoot you. He didn't burn your body But he didn't stop it from happening because Davy He knew he could trust you with those scars What's he trusted you with because I'm gonna tell you whatever he's trusted you with is where you're passion lies And if you don't have passion, don't waste my time, please Because in the days that lie ahead of this nation You're gonna need all the passion you can find to get through And as I race to my conclusion, I'll tell you just recently I was in Baghdad And I pulled up in a little private jet that was supplied to me by a general and it's really kind of funny I'm an e5 for all your military. That's that's fifth grade enlisted And the fifth grade association is not far off from where I was But when I was asked about the military to travel with them department of defense gave me a new ranking civilian wisers called GS 15 in the military. It's called oh 7 which has to be a one-star general I even get a car with a star and a driver. I sit in the back where the wind is up So nobody can see the idiot they're saluting, but I Flew in this beautiful little airplane settled in the Baghdad that night rolled up beside this big c-130 The tailgate was down and there were two rows of soldiers. I Knew immediately what was happening. It's a patriot service. They're loading on a fallen soldier. I Got out of that plane as fast as I could and I ran over to the c-130 and I stood at the wake of that giant aircraft as they were unloading a fallen hero enough of the light was splashed on my face that the Chaplain who was Air Force because it's an Air Force vehicle Who was conducting the Patriot Service recognized me? He was the chaplain at the Air Force Academy a few months earlier When I did the baccalaureates at the chapel And he said Dave Reaver, please come in. I Felt like an intruder to pass between those young soldiers and I looked in their faces as I walked up that ramp They had not had a break from the early morning killing to that mid-night in Baghdad with tears streaming down their dirty faces and mud balls dripping from their chin I Stood behind the casket and the chaplain said would you pray and I prayed for this young fallen hero's mom and dad? That God would somehow comfort their broken shattered heart and all the dreams that had once been I Prayed for those young soldiers standing on those ramps I Felt my emotions begin to slip away Has now on my fifth tour to Iraq? I'm standing there Seeing the price again being paid for freedom And out of the blue it came to me pray for his very best friend Wherever he might be and I did I prayed that God Would somehow send someone? to find that young man I heard the big whipping blades of a Black Hawk begin to turn and I looked out and my two star was saying it's time to come We have to get on this aircraft and I did I finished a prayer jumped on the black Hawk in a way We went and I did a 70 mission tour. I Have never been any tireder in my life than when I left and I got back to Atlanta and It was again midnight and I'm sitting there and they tell me the aircraft is broken and I didn't want to hear the aircraft is broken I don't know I can think about it's getting in my bed and sleeping for a year Just get me laid down. I was so tired And I sat with a seat next to me open so nobody could be up against this fat boy. We got to spread our wings and there were seats everywhere and his kids said I'm right beside me and I pointed at the empty seats and looked at him and I said dude Dude He said I know sir, but I noticed your backpack in your desert boots. He said Are you coming home from the war? I said yes, I am where are you coming home from? He said well last month My very best friend Was killed in Iraq I Said was he a second lieutenant Was he with striker brigade? He looked at me in his eyes got huge, and he said Mr. Who are you I? Said Bubba. I am the answer to my own prayer And I have been sent by the Holy Spirit himself To minister to you and tell you there's another very best friend waiting on you His name is Jesus and y'all to get to know him I'm happy to tell you that boys already been to our ranch Out in Colorado where we train wounded warriors coming home from the war. They've lost legs They've lost our lost arms in fact on Monday night if you watch TV and you'll see the special we shot this week And you'll see two of those young warriors Once sitting there with no legs go ahead. Let your heart get broken Let your heart be broken for these kids and then listen to their words Because I have the incredible joy training them and how to be pulpit pound in prosthetic preachers We bring them to the ranch and we teach them how to get up and talk my Goal is ten thousand Wounded warriors pardon me three thousand wounded warriors in the next ten years. I can do that. That's one for every Every victim on September 11th. That's the way I fight this war with a John 3 16 We can do this There's a very best friend that's waiting on you Just recently when they're I came upon a place where they wash out the helicopters and The gurney's after they pick up our wounded and dead and as I walked over to it the colonel that was leading me Didn't explain what that stain in the Iraqi dirt was in that sand. I said what happened here. Oh, he said mr. Eaver. This is where we wash out the helicopters Before you could snap your finger. I was on my knees taking my boots off. He said sir. What's wrong? I said don't tell me colonel. It's you're about to walk through this holy place You're not walking through here with your boots on sir Would you oh no? He said he sat down beside me start taking off these boots He said my goodness. You're off a passionate about it. I said you would be too, sir If at one time in your life There was a place you came upon Where the blood was shed for your freedom? I said I want to fence around this place when I come back in a few months And I want a stone with an engraving on it. They said here's where the blood was shed. This is holy ground And I said then in a year or two and I'll pay for it if I have to I want a Standing monument for every little Iraqi boy and every little Iraqi girl That comes along to stand here with their shoes off And say this is holy ground. This is where our freedom was purchased Why am I passionate? Yes, you could say I've been there done that and I take my shoes off on holy ground Because I believe for Jesus shed the blood for day reaver There's a monument it stands on the hill in my heart. I Still call it Golgotha But I've got another monument It's an empty tomb where my very best friend Was raised from the dead In sign language that means I love you, but my thumb got blown off. I guess you could say I speak sign language with a lisp. I Love you. I'm Dave Reaver and I approve to this message (audience clapping)