From JJ Lester comes this ditty regarding the Great Divide....

Decisions

Isn’t life full of decisions.
Everyday we’re confronted with decisions.
Truth is there’s only one decision that really matters in the end.

There’s another tricky word, truth.
Most people don’t care what the truth is.
They decide their truth based off their feelings and emotions.
And yet there is only one truth.

But the truth is not my issue.
I know the truth so there’s no decision there.
What I don’t know is the impact my decisions will have on those that I care most about.
My family.
My position in Christ.
Will it be positive?... Or negative?

So I look at truth. Truth is this, I’ve made some really, really bad decisions in my life. I’ve also been affected by others bad decisions. But the worst part is the ones I love have been affected by them too.

Truth is anyone that says they have no regrets in life are one of three things.
1.you’re a liar
2.you have a seared conscience
3.you’re God

I have so many regrets.
People I’ve hurt by my bad decisions. The greatest is wasting so much time not serving Christ.
Romans 8:28 says ‘....we know that God works all things together for good.....’
Isn’t it a shame that He has to. Grace

At the end of all things Great Divide we all made bad decisions.
Mike did & said things that hurt. Not only me but the ones I love.
I certainly did things that hurt and absolutely said things that were terrible. Most of them toward Mike. Some at myself. Some at God.
Out of hurt.
And anger.
Mostly anger at myself.

Regardless, it changed my life. And the lives of ones I love. So I buried it. Deep. Way down deep.

I’ve been asked over the years what my interest level in getting back together to do a TGD show would be.
My response has always been the same. I have no interest.
I never say never. I don’t like limiting God that way.
But I always said it would take an act of God to prompt me to do it.

God acts. He is not dormant. He is actively working in our lives. Psalm 139:13-18

Here’s a truth I learned not long after Mike departed. Forgiveness is not for the person you’ve been wronged by.
It’s for you. Read 1 John 1.
Go to someone you have been wronged by and say ‘I forgive you’.
They’ll probably respond ‘So what’.
Truth is they may not even feel like they’ve wronged you.
Or they don’t care if they have.

I’ve dedicated the last 9 years of my life to rightly dividing God’s word.
His word is amazing.
Never comes back void.

One day, as I was studying over a passage, it hit me.
I realized another truth.
Every single day I do something offensive to God.
Every single day I sin.
I openly wrong God.

And yet every single day He forgives me.
He does not hold a grudge.
He does not cut off communication.
He forgives me.
That’s it. That’s what forgiveness really is.

I thought of everything that anyone has ever done to me.
I held it next to all the wrong I do to God on a daily basis.
It didn’t even come close to measuring up.
So how can I, knowing all the ways I wrong God every single day, not forgive the minuscule things others have done to me?
They pale in comparison.
And the truth is, that is love.

Here’s another truth.
Love is not a noun.
It’s a verb.
Love is what we choose to do to others.
No matter whether they choose to love us back. Read 1 John 4.

You see God loves us 100% of the time.
It’s not based on what we do or don’t do.
He still loves us completely all of the time.
Love is not a feeling.
It’s an action.

And then one day I get a message from Mike.
God is active.

I’ve already forgiven Mike.
I apologize to him and everyone else in this life that I’ve wronged.
Don’t forgive me for me.
Forgive me for you.
But I do regret hurting you.
Whoever you are.
I do regret decisions I’ve made.
They were selfish.
With self always comes waste.

Truth is I don’t care about the show.
It’s not about a show.
It’s about reconciliation.

One more truth.
The theme of the entire Bible is reconciliation.
That’s it.
Be reconciled to God through Jesus Christ.
Read 2 Corinthians 5:17-21

Christ commanded me, and you, to love one another.
It doesn’t say love others when they love you back.
It says “love your neighbor as I have loved you”.....
That’s Jesus speaking.
That kicks it up a few notches huh.
1 Peter 4:8 says ‘Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sin”
That says it all.

There aren’t two greater guys in the world than Kelley & Scotte.
We endured together when Mike left.
We made lemonade when we were dealt lemons.
It wasn’t fun.
It’s not what we wanted.
But we did what we had to do to keep our heads, and more importantly, our families heads above water.
And so it does my heart good to know they have reconciliation.
They deserve it.
Their wives and children deserve it.
So does Mike & his family.

We all grew up together in The Great Divide.
There was a time that we did love each other.
We believed in each other.
Too much.

I’m thankful we can all look back on it now as friends.
I hope the decisions we make this time will bring joy to those we love.
I hope we choose to love one another.

But this time I won’t listen to the voice in my head.
I will listen to God.
I will seek His wisdom.
Not the wisdom of other men.
I will trust God.
Not other men or myself.

Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight.

And so Mike, Kelley, Scotte and myself have decided to perform as The Great Divide this August at College Days Bash in Stillwater, OK at the Tumbleweed’s.
We have reconciled.
That’s the decision that matters.

Lamentations 3:22-23:

22 The LORD'S lovingkindnesses indeed never cease,
For His compassions never fail.
23They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.