Old Motel Signs in Arizona

My teenage years where spent in the shadow of this sign. I grew up in a motel. I know that sounds strange and it was. My parents managed the Hacienda Motel on a street called the Miracle Mile in Tucson, Arizona. Recently I went to Tucson and spent some time talking pictures of some of the old motels on the strip. I share them in black and white because it feels like they are as old as they really are. I am amazed that many of these small motor courts and motels are still there and still in business. The Miracle Mile was a strange place in which to mature and an even stranger place to develop a ministry mindset. God used my parents to minister to many people and lead many to faith in Christ. A motel on the strip was a great place to meet desperate people in search of mercy and grace. Some found both in the Lord Jesus Christ. I am grateful for a very difficult place in which to grow and mature.
Ed Litton

Happy Birthday America

This picture was taken this last weekend in Baldwin County's Magnolia Springs. There is no more beautiful flag in the world than the flag of my nation. There is nothing like being in a foreign land only to see a plane with that flag on the side or that flag waving over an embassy. There are few things more heartbreaking than the rows of this flag at Arlington Cemetery. Few things more moving than to see an aging verteran stand with tears slatuting all that those red stripes, white background, blue sky and star represent.

It is a grand old flag and it still makes my heart stir.

Ed Litton

Yes Santa Clause There is A Virginia!

My family is from Virginia. That means more than the place from which we hail or the place of our origin. Virginia is in the Litton DNA. I always complained as a child that my parents lapsed when they stepped across the state line and gave birth to me in Tennessee making me the only member of our family not born in Virginia. I love to visit my native state of Virginia as often as possible.
My son Josh reminded me this week as he drove his belongings to New York City and passed through Virginia that when we crossed the state line I always said these words. "Yes Santa Clause, there is a Virginia" or "This is the greatest state in the Union."

Recently Kayla and I went on a College Road Trip. We went to the great state of Virginia and I want to share three pictures from our journey. One is a shot of the Shenandoah Valley from the Blue Ridge Parkway. The next is a Dog Wood Tree blossom. Finally a water fall near my boyhood farm in East Tennessee.

The legend of the Dog Wood is that when Christ died on the cross, that the cross was made of Dog Wood. The bloom of that tree is shaped in a white cross and there is a splash of red where His head, his feet and his hands bled for our sins. The legend of the Dog Wood is a legend but the reality of His death is more real now that it was two thousand years ago.
Look for His mystery and beauty wherever you travel. His glory is everywhere.
Praise the name of Jesus!

Ed Litton

Stop Beating Yourself Up

Several years ago I was jogging in a neighborhood in Panama City, Florida, when I came upon this stop sign. Someone had added their own commentary. I can only imagine what they where going through at the time. Whatever the circumstances, they did many of us a favor with this added commentary. I have enjoyed this picture and its message many a time. We can all use a few commentaries on stop signs. Stop blaming everyone else! Stop the destructive behavior! Stop spending what you don't have! On and one we could go. I think the greatest Stop Sign Message would be one that Jesus said kneeling next to a woman condemned and judged. Stop sinning and stop condemning yourself. For a person who cannot escape the obvious nature of being caught and condemned in sin those are sweet Stop Sign Words indeed.

Thank You Jesus for those Good Words!
Ed Litton

Take Jesus at His Word

In John's Gospel, after Jesus' encounter with the woman at the well, He returned to Cana in Galilee. An Official came to Jesus and pleaded for Him to heal his sick and dying son. Cana is a good twelve miles from Capernaum, the home of the Royal Official. After climbing the foothills and mountains into Cana the man begged Jesus to come and heal his son. Jesus then says: "Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders, you will never believe." The man makes an impassioned plea, "Sir, come down before my child dies." Jesus responds to this hurting father, "You may go. Your son will live." Now notice what the scriptures says in verse fifty about this man. "The man took Jesus as his word and departed."

When your life gets blindsided by sickness, disease, heartache and the prospect of loosing someone you dearly love, then you are often very willing to make any trek to find Jesus. Once found you may want Him to come with you to solve your problem and ease your fears. Jesus has such authority, He need not travel to the site of your suffering. He simply exercises the authority the Father gave to Him. He speaks and thing happens. That is the active powerful grace of God at work on your behalf.

Notice however that the Official has to do something also. He has to believe by faith in order to recognize the power of God. He has to take Jesus at His word and go back to this place of responsibility. Where are you today? What do you need Jesus to do by grace in your life? Are you willing to take Him at His word? Are you willing to go back to your place of responsibility knowing that all authority belongs to Him? Ephesians 1:18-23 speaks of the authority and power that are under the feet of Jesus at this very moment. When we ask Him to move according to His will, then at some point we need to turn around and take Jesus at His word and go forward with our lives. As one who knows how paralyzing fear and grief can be, it is a great reminder that after we ask, seek and knock, our work is far from done. We then need to take Jesus at His word and depart to finish living the life for which He cherishes, protects, guides and provides.

Take Jesus at His word!
Ed Litton

Open Minded?

When Jesus met with His disciples following the resurrection Luke tells us that he ate broiled fish. Let that taste swirl in your mind for a moment. I wonder if the white flakey fish was douched in butter and Tony Chachere's? This tidbit of information reveals a unique quality to the body post resurrection. It brings joy to know that in our resurrected experience we will be able to eat. That is however, not the main thrust of this passage in chapter twenty four. Verse 45 says; "Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures." I do not dare suggest that I fully understand this, but what a thought. He opens minds so that His disciples can understand the Scripture concerning Himself.
Paul prays for the "eyes of our hearts" to be opened. We need open eyes and open minds to the Word of God. Our very understanding of God's word is predicated upon the work of the Holy Spirit of God. Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit would lead us into all truth. This is a vital part of the grace of God working daily in the life of the disciple. Pray for an open mind in your relationship to the Word. Pray for open eyes to see, understand and perceive what God is doing in our world. He is moving and we can live much of our lives with closed eyes and closed minds if we do not pray such prayers.

Eph. 1:18-19 I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength,

Open My Eyes Lord!

Prayer is a challenge. Have you found this to be true in your life? I certainly have. Often times it seems that we can master many of the disciplines of the Christian life but prayer remains our last and greatest challenge. It is easier to study for a sermon or bible study and even teach it but prayer is easy to neglect. Devoting ourselves to prayer in private can seem like a boring and unhelpful because it seldom leads to immediate or tangible results. We like results so we tend to gravitate toward things that make us satisfied.

However, if we pray in faith, pray like we mean it, the benefits are real and will become obvious if our eyes are opened. This week's passage of scripture Ephesians 1:15-19 we enter into Paul's prayer for the believers in Ephesus. This is a powerful prayer for our good and God's glory. It is also a model for how we can pray for ourselves, our children, our mates and the other members of our church family.

Read this passage and pray for the Lord to open the eyes of your heart as well as the eyes of the hearts of First Baptist North Mobile.

Looking forward to Sunday!
Pastor Ed