I know I am jumping the gun in my order but this one is hot on my heart.
The last few days I have been in contact with some long time friends. I love them and I know my heart is broken for them. I think as you get older, you ought not feel like life is so out of control when things happen. Sometimes you truly need to look to Him. Being with Him is a relationship, the development of a lifestyle. And developing it after you have lost all your energy, your friends and your family is hard. Continue reading Community, Grace-All Important To Their Growth→
Without community service, we would not have a strong quality of life. It’s important to the person who serves as well as the recipient. It’s the way in which we ourselves grow and develop. Dorothy Height
Last night I was fortunate to be able to celebrate a friend’s birthday at a local restaurant. A few of us gathered together together, surprising her. (Her husband had planned it!) It was amazing. As the conversations moved about the table, the friendships strengthened and the community advanced. Community is formed by relationships. As people’s lives overlap others, the community forms and advances. Continue reading People Need People To Grow→
I walked over to the garden. I stared at the flowers. The vegetables. It was amazing! And the vision disappeared.
So lush, so fruitful, so abundant!
As a child, a neighbor was looking for a young person to help on his small farm-ette. I soon became his right hand man, helping him a couple of times a day for a quarter each time. I would go down in the morning and feed the chickens and geese, gather their eggs and check for critters! Once a week I would shovel chicken manure out into a pile for summer growing. I would have to shoosh the geese out because if they got excited in the small coop it could be dangerous. Continue reading The Sounds Of Abundance!→
Before the critics run after me over the use of the word religion, let me bring clarity to the word itself. First James talks about “pure religion” in James 1:27. “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” So, with that said, I believe there is a religion that adds value.
When many of my friends talk about the religious or religion or religiosity we are describing the actions that bring business and not relationship. The following of rules without the knowledge of One who cares for them. Continue reading Time To Stop The Religion Train→
My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ,in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Colossians 2:2-3 NIV
Last night while in our class, as I “closed” with prayer the power of the living God showed up. He really likes to be talked about “like He is in the room.” The results were tangible as people just wanted to hang out in the presence of the One who has given us life. People shared how good things were. (The whole class was a testimony to God but this was like “extra.”) One woman sang wonderfully over another as others prayed. I want to be clear, so often I get caught up in what I am to do I forget what He is there to do! Continue reading Encouragement And Love Found In The Seedbed of Grace & Community→
This morning I woke, coming out to the living room and sat here for a moment. A quick rehash of what might be accomplished today was on my radar screen. And then I looked at the floor. Four very empty children’s chairs. A part of me sees the prophetic in the picture. That if you “build” it they will come. The chairs had been moved from our destroyed home in Springfield. My wife and I had cleaned them up and put them on the floor. The first thing my grandchildren did upon arriving last night was go to sit in them excitedly.
There is something about the preparation for a child or children that excites me. These four empty chairs and a table suggested my love for them, hospitality towards them. I never look at those chairs or the pictures of my children without thinking of my love for them. Without uttering a prayer. (There is a large piece here for people. Do children feel welcome?)
When I was young everyone knew or had seen Mexican jumping beans. They were seed pods that had been occupied by the larva of a little moth. The bean would begin to jump as the bean was heated, because the larva would spasm in response to the heat, attempting to move the bean to a cooler place to avoid dehydration and possible death. Just holding the seeds or beans in your hand would cause them to heat up and jump.
One day I brought some to school and put them in our teacher’s drawer. As she came in she told me to “sit down…Now!” I told her I was looking for my snake. Needless to say when the beans jumped in the drawer…. Continue reading Mexican Jumping Beans – Turning Up The Heat→
Real marriage doesn’t usually happen in the bright of day.
Someone asked how Tina and I were doing in the midst of our traumatic house loss. Our answer is, “we are doing good.” Sure we are emotional about the loss and all it entails, but at 3PM today, it was behind us. And we are doing well. Our marriage is strong. Continue reading Marriage In The Trenches→
Do not despise community to preserve your weirdness or pet doctrine. Community is where we are fitly joined together… sometimes with dynamite and bulldozers required. It is hard to learn honor in a vacuum.Continue reading The Need For Healthy Strong Church Community→
I know I am jumping the gun in my order but this one is hot on my heart.
