Armed with not much more than a tooth pick he went to war. What would cause a man to defend or to engage in warfare of this sort? Obviously overpowered he won. 600 men dead in his wake.
Sometimes the people you meet will surprise you beyond your wildest imagination.
Judges 3:31 After Ehud came Shamgar son of Anath, who struck down six hundred Philistines with an oxgoad. He too saved Israel. Continue reading Pick Up A Toothpick!
HAHAHAHAHA!
Yep, shorthand for laughter, but it does not properly plumb the depth of the experience. I like to laugh. Ask any friend or family member. I think life is pretty unserious in light of the goodness and greatness. I also think laughter destroys the work of the enemy which is to make you feel pain and lose your joy.
Admittedly when things get tough I look to comedies to change my thinking. I will watch The Three Stooges, Dennis The Menace and other old B&W comedies. And laugh. And laugh some more. Continue reading Laughter & You (Or Maybe Me!)
Ride in a limo? Airplanes?
(This will be a long read! Please bear with me.)
Last night one of my dreams took place in front of our church fellowship, The Village Church. In the dream many people were inside the school wing and there was an opportunity to participate in helping get the new limousine ready to bless folks with.
A little back ground on me and limousines. When we had our church fellowship I was preparing to buy a limousine for the church. Not a new one but a nice one. (It even had a hot tub in the back!) My reason was (Other than it was kind of cool…) that I would chauffeur people for anniversaries and birthday parties in the church. And do special things to celebrate successes. Take elderly people shopping. (My wife tells me it was a better idea than the army tank I was going to buy.) But, “cooler” heads prevailed and I was asked to not do that.
The other little background is the road that leads to our fellowship was recently redone including a new bridge and the leveling of the road. (Proverbs 3:6) I see this as preparation. (Our church building is not on the main drag.)
One man owes the woman over $40,000 in child support for two young children. Another pays no child support and blows through the monies of parents. Children who never see their dads because their dads make choices not to see them. The injustice!
I don’t know about you but those circumstances set me on edge. They have the potential to make me angry and have from time to time.
Single parents with no one else in their life frequently struggle. I know from personal experience. I look with great pain at various Facebook posts that indicate single parenting is not easy. Whether by choice or circumstance being the “one” in a child’s life is hard. Continue reading Holidays, You And The Single Parent
(1 Samuel 8)
Israel asked for a king. Samuel was disappointed but the people were not pleased with his sons. As he prayed the Lord told him that it was Him, God Himself they had not wanted. “Give them what they want.”
People often ask but they frequently do not know what they are asking. More often they are asking for something more comfortable, less intense and not as dangerous.
I have more and more dreams as well as frequent visions of change in our region. I am sure others have their dreams of their regions as well. (Recently I saw New England changing dramatically. I saw pagans and witches being converted to the One.) Continue reading The Asking Of The People
I have started no less than 7-8 stories, words, etc., and the pages just stare at me. Windows open, emails open, Facebook pinging and a desktop that irritates my wife because my order is not her order. And the kids have come down here to flashing Christmas lights, snow on the ground and music about Christmas.
Innocence- Lack of guilt. No wrongdoing. Not evil.
Last night I had the opportunity to get my Christmas tree. My granddaughter, Mariah and grandson Jacob climbed in the car and went tree shopping. I had waited all week to do this. We went down to a particular tree yard and after looking at a few we selected the tree. While they prepared to cut off the bottom (When Mariah saw the 12 year old boy start that chain saw, I saw stars in her eyes.) and wrap it to tie it on the car, the kids were offered candy canes. When we got in the car Mariah said “that was really nice of them. They were really nice.” (She also told me the boy getting to run the chain saw was “pretty cool.” I think she is looking for pink construction shoes!) Continue reading Preserving The Innocence
I had a very intense dream last night. So intense that when I actually woke up I got up to walk away from it and the dream “followed” me. It kept on going.
In the dream I was asked to come on board and take over this publishing house. One of its projects was a local newspaper. I agreed and things went well. It was a quaint New England town with lots of white paint, green shutters and black iron fences. As we moved towards fall and foliage events I began to feel the job joy waning. I spent my time visiting people, writing stories, taking pictures and all the things one might do. Continue reading The Incorruptible Dream – A Telling Season
A young parent. Or perhaps even more difficult, a single mom or dad. Tough enough, but then throw in the Christmas holiday and it can often be a tumultuous time.
While pastoring, I watched many a family go through the holiday meltdown of “I need more presents.” Parents would sit in my office and ask “what am I going to do?” Communities would come together with meals and gifts as well as many church folks would sow into lives. (And I am not even talking about the greed that comes into place when they find out one or more organizations have opportunities!) Continue reading Your Children Need Your Love
Frequently I have had the unpleasant task of ripping the blinders off someone’s eyes. That point where they have continued over and over in a process or a relationship. Some may call it a wakeup call.
Wakeup calls come in all forms. They may be the result of a relationship crisis, a critical medical report or a firing from a job. Certainly that is not the “complete” list but that encompasses a lot.
The wakeup call is often founded in faulty thinking or process, misunderstanding of protocol or just plain disastrous choices. Not too long ago my brother was sent to the hospital with viral myocarditis. 2 years later after beating it he ran his first marathon. His wakeup was the hospitalization. His answer was reevaluating health. The results are simply amazing. Continue reading What Was I Thinking?
Bottom Feeders
While in the midst of worship I saw a number of sucker fish surfacing in the waters of a vision. All over the place these fish came to the top, breaking the water as they sought oxygen. Suckers roam the bottom of ponds and slow moving streams living off the bottom.
As I watched this I thought “jubilee.” It was a word that had been in my ears that day. And I was working hard to remember a word that Bob Jones had shared many years ago about jubilee, fish and water. Continue reading Bottom Feeders No More – It Is Jubilee!
