Saturday's cartoon

Writing your own story

Life is a great adventure....or at least it should be....

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I'm in the middle of Donald Miller's book "A million miles in a thousand years" and I am really enjoying it. He talking about living out his story, or rather realizing that his life is a story lived out. I thought about that and wondered....if my life were a book would anyone want to read it? Would it be boring, scary, an adventure, a narrative or a fairy tale? I'm fascinated by this idea of my life being a story I'm living, a story I'm writing. It has me thinking differently about the events of the day. I'm looking at things a little different than I have in the past. Often a day is something to simply endure or a meeting something to get through, but if, as Miller writes, my life is a wonderful adventure of my walk with God (and it should be) then how am I viewing the events of my days? Am I on a pirate ship looking for adventure or am I on a cruise ship enjoying the moment not really caring about the sights to see? Writing my own story adds an element to life, a texture, that I had never considered. I have no illusions that my life is an exciting adventure, a story of mystery and intrigue, a story of a great hero saving the world, but I don't want to miss the adventure God is inviting me to walk with him. It may not be a story anyone else would want to read, but it's a story I don't want to miss living.

Children, costumes and candy

It's that time of the year...time to purchase mass quantities of candy for all the cute little children who will be visiting your house tonight. It's a great time to see all the "little monsters" making the rounds in some really strange costumes. For them it's great fun. For us it's an evening of answering the doorbell and passing out candy until we exhaust the supply. For our poor dog it's an evening of constant vigil as he guards our home with barks and bravado when he sees the strange masks worn by each child. Halloween, for kids, is all about the candy. For me it's money spent I didn't want to spend....oh wait, it's not time for me to a be Grinch yet. Sorry about that. Have fun and eat lots of candy!

Everyone is invited

Heb. 4:16 Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

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There's an amazing thing that happened a couple thousand years ago. God the son came and died on a tree to provide unlimited access to God the Father for anyone who wants to talk to him. In our day we take this for granted as the norm, but it's not the way it has always been. Now we have unlimited access to God without the need for someone to stand between us, because Jesus has already done that and opened the door to heaven to invite everyone to come in, approach God, talk to him and find all we need to live this life. We are so blessed to be able to come to God and ask for his help. Why don't we?

One of those days

It's one of those days. My brain is empty and I honestly can't think of anything to think about. So, for today.........

More than dreams

Joye and I are watching a video called "More than Dreams." The video tells the stories of five people who have come to faith in Christ. Each of them wanted to know God personally and this video tells their stories. The stories are amazing. The story we watched tonight was told by a man who came to faith in Christ while at Mecca on his Hajj. In the midst of the most holy time in his faith as a Muslim Jesus sought him out and he found salvation and forgiveness of sin.

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We have seen three of the stories and anxiously watch one each night. These stories of faith are so encouraging and remind me afresh of how much God loves us and desires a relationship with us. It's inspiring to know and see that God is still seeking lost sinners. My evangelistic heart is sensing a new fire building....

Monday's cartoon

And, since it's late October, here's one for the season and hopefully a smile instead of a tear-

Happy Birthday!

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Today is my wife's birthday. It's been my great joy (no pun intended) to be part of her life for these 35 plus years. Happy Birthday, sweetie.

Garage Door Opener

As an avid motorcyclist I loved this video. I thought you would like this amazing new garage door opener. You might not get it to work as well as this man has, but it will make you smile.

God has spoken

I take it for granted, but I know I shouldn't. I have a bible....rather, if you know me well you know that I have a bunch of bibles. I love God's word. If possible I'm reading his word at least an hour a day. It brings life into focus for me. I cannot see or understand the world, my life or the situations around me without it. His words are more important to us than the food we eat. I know many people in the world do not know God nor do they know that he has spoken to us. But I'm so glad that he has clearly told us of himself, of the world and has put life in focus. Without his word we couldn't see anything clearly.

Saturday's cartoon

(click on cartoon to enlarge)

The most important thing

This morning I'm reading in Colossians 1 and come, once more, to verses 13-20. This is an amazing section. It's the description of the incomparable Christ and his place in time and eternity. This morning I got stuck on this one phrase, "so that He Himself (Jesus) will come to have first place in everything." I read that over a couple times and began to think....God is working in this world and in our lives so that Jesus Christ will come to have first place in EVERYTHING! In my life, in my mind, in my priorities, in our government and in our world. God's plan is focused on one thing- the elevation of Jesus Christ above all things. I'm struggling with my words here, but as I think about this my mind wanders to these thoughts....what would it look like if Jesus had first place in everything in my life? In my work? In my family? In our country? In our world? One day he will have first place in everything, but today, in this moment I can begin to fulfill God's plans for the ages by giving Jesus first place in ME. In my work, my life, my family.... What would it look like for Jesus to have first place in me as I think about money? What would it look like for Jesus to have first place in my thinking? What would happen to my fears if he had first place? How would I speak about the government if he had first place? What would happen to my worries if he had first place? If he is really God, and he is, if he really will have first place in everything at some point in the future, how wise would it be for me to begin to give him first place in me and in all I touch? This is the kingdom of God beginning to get a foothold in this world by getting a foothold in my life. When I give him first place I'm introducing the world to the Kingdom of God in an individual life. I'm letting him rule in me...and as he rules in me he transforms how I think, how I view the world, my situations and the world around me. As I give him first place I show the world around me what everything will look like soon...when he will have first place in everything. This rule, this kingdom and his ultimate place in the universe begins with me...begins in my life as I let him rule....join me as we introduce the world to the Kingdom of God by letting Jesus have first place in you.

Marching to Rephidim revisited

In April of 2008 I wrote the following post in two parts. It's been a great blessing to me and to many others over the years. I thought I would share it with you once more....


There is a passage of scripture that I often go to for comfort and reminder. It's a very strange place to go for such things, but it has proven to provide them to me. It is part of the story of the Exodus of Israel from Egypt. They have left Egypt, crossed the sea on dry land, and are being led by God with a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. In the middle of this odyssey we come to this passage, Exodus 17:1 Then all the congregation of the sons of Israel journeyed by stages from the wilderness of Sin, according to the command of the LORD..... . Day by day, led by the cloud and the pillar, they are following God's leading...following him and trusting him. Then, in this short verse we find these words, and they camped at Rephidim... . They camped here by God's leading! But you must see the end of the verse to understand how important this passage is, and there was no water for the people to drink. When this passage first became clear to me this last phrase stopped me, and my response was, "WHAT?!?! You took them to a place where there was no water? And you took them there ON PURPOSE!?" Yes he did. And he will lead us to places like this....places in the desert where there is no water. Dry places, places where we ask, "why did you bring me here?" That will become clear in a moment, but you need to know that dry places are in God's plan for our lives. When you find yourself at your Rephidim know that it didn't happen by accident, God has led you there. He's working in your life....he has a plan.

Let me make this one thing clear- they were led to a place where there was no water. There were 2,000,000 of them with millions of animals, and God led them to Rephidim on purpose....to a place where there wasn't any water. Did I make that part clear yet? Why? That's a most important question to ask. Go back with me a few chapters to a shepherd in the wilderness who comes upon a burning bush. It's the same Moses who now comes to this same wilderness with the nation of Israel in tow. Why did God bring them here? Here's the reason, Exodus 3:1 Now Moses was pasturing the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian; and he led the flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb (Rephidim), the mountain of God. Let's skip down the visit with God a bit to this verse, Exodus 3:12 And He said, "Certainly I will be with you, and this shall be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God at this mountain." God led them to this very place to meet with him, to worship him! But here is what they saw, Exodus 17:2 Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, "Give us water that we may drink." And Moses said to them, "Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the LORD?" Exodus 17:3 But the people thirsted there for water; and they grumbled against Moses and said, "Why, now, have you brought us up from Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?" All they saw was a desert with no water in sight. What they missed was the fact that God was there waiting for them! In the next few verses God resolves their water problem, Exodus 17:5 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Pass before the people and take with you some of the elders of Israel; and take in your hand your staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. Exodus 17:6 "Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink." And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. This Horeb is the rock that was split in the middle and from it came water to quench the thirst of millions for months. God provided water, but they had missed the opportunity to ask a really important question, "Lord, why are we here?" They completely missed God in their thirst for water! How often I do that. I miss God in the midst of my "needs."
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So, as an expert in wilderness spirituality, let me suggest that when you come to a spiritual desert and find that you have no water the next thing you say is most important. Having been here many times let me suggest this as your next response, "Hello Father, I see we are in the desert without water. What are we working on today? How can I best glorify you through this time in the wilderness?"

When you find yourself out of work, hurting, wounded, left alone, discouraged, depressed, unhappy or simply thirsty for God and find that he has brought you to a dry place don’t fall into the trap of focusing on your need. Look around, God is there waiting for you….he has brought you to this place on purpose!

The Christian life is a team sport

This evening I am teaching in the book of Hebrews and will be working through the second warning passage. As I read it some light bulbs began to go off in my thinking. We are in the midst of some very difficult days...job loss, health problems for many, divorce is epidemic and fear is in the air. People are really hurting, the days are difficult. There is a temptation for all of us to simply run away and hide, but this passage in Hebrews talks about the team nature of this life,

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Heb. 3:12-13 See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness.

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There are several things about this passage that stuck out to me, 1. Be careful, we have a tendency to turn away from the Lord, 2. The solution to this is to be in a body of believers who can encourage, warn, pray for and help us, 3. This is a daily activity. We have to be in the business of caring for and encouraging each other every single day. You never know when someone might wake up so discouraged that they would choose to walk away, and 4. Sin is a deceptive thing, it hardens us to God so that we begin to think that what we are doing is ok.

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The one thing from this list that caught my attention is the team nature of the Christian life. It is not a life to be lived in a vacuum. We must be in community to care for each other, encourage one another and get a pulse on how we are doing. The deceitful nature of sin is that you get hardened to it and its impact on your life if you isolate yourself. That's why it's always true that someone who chooses sin will not stay in the community of the saints. Their hearts are hard and sin is easier when you get away from "those Christians."

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So, TODAY, encourage someone who is discouraged, check on someone who has wandered off, care for someone who needs help. Any day that has "today" in it is an opportunity for us to encourage one another to keep going. Difficult days will bring the church closer together. If you find yourself pulling away from the fellowship of other Christians, be careful....you might find yourself far from the faith and the community of those who can encourage you when you need it most.

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And, since it is TODAY let me encourage you, God is good, he does answer prayer, he does care for you, he will help you, don't give up, he is faithful, he really is there and will provide for you.

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1,500!

It's official! With this post I have written 1,500 posts. Thank you for your comments, encouragement and faithful fellowship over these four years.

And, as Forrest Gump says, "That's all I have to say about that."