Moments

II Timothy 1:7 - For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. God did not give us a spirit of fear. My interpretation is that we will indeed fear sometimes but we are not to let fear abide in us; move in and live there. We are not to be fearful people: living lives controlled by fear. So if we do have a fearful spirit, where did we get it? Certainly not from God. The scripture at the head of this page attests to that. Where does the spirit of fear come from but from satan. Who else would want us to think less of ourselves? Who else would like to blunt a potentially bold witness? Who else would like to see us give up control to the spirit of fear which he diabolically controls? Who else wants to destroy us and our hope? Who else. And as give in and let our lives be lead by fearfulness, we may withdraw from others, withdraw from service; withdraw from having courage. We may begin to trust our fears more than we trust Go...

This morning my 5 year old granddaughter came into my room to hug me goodbye as she was leaving for kindergarten. Then she noticed the frosty look of my patio door. It was cold outside and the door was covered over in condensation to the extent that we couldn't see outside. She sensed somehow it would be all right if she went over and wrote on my door in the condensation. When she had written something, she seemed sort of pleased and asked me to look. I did and she read the words she had written: "I love God." Wow ! What a great way to start a day with I love God, written on your door by your grandchild. Yes, even though we could not see out into the world through the fog on the glass, we know that we love God. When all we can see is God, that will be enough. I hugged my granddaughter goodbye and told her that God loved her too. She said, "Yes, I know. I would wish that for all the world: that they love God and know that He loves them too.

As a child I once got lost in the woods. It is hard to remember it now but I do remember the fear upon realization that I was indeed lost. Things looked differently. Nothing seemed familiar. Finally I came to a gate that I had never found before in my other adventures in these woods. When I looked across the pasture past the gate, there was a strange old house. In my young mind I wondered if it were a witch's house. Then the conflict: I was lost and this was the only sign of civilization that I had found in seemingly hours of wandering around in the woods. I had to take the chance, but I would be ready to run back to the woods if things got bad at all. As I left the gate and the woods and walked cautiously toward the old house,little by little it began to come back to me. As I began to come to myself I realized that the gate that I had come to was the one I opened to go into the woods to begin with. The old house was no witch’s house. It was my Grandmother’s h...

Philippians 4:6 -- Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication (humble request or prayer) with thanksgiving let your requests be made unto God. Prayer and supplication should be made with thanksgiving. We are to thankful when we pray before we get an answer. Sounds a little different. But the Word often stands the world's logic on its head. If we haven't got an answer yet, or we asking with thanksgiving, what could we be thankful for? I would venture that we could be thankful that we as human beings can even approach Almighty God with our prayers and supplications. And, we can be thankful for the peace and comfort of bringing our prayers and supplications to a God who cares. " Casting all your care upon Him; for He careth for you." I Peter5:7 And, we can be thankful for the measure of faith He builds in us, when we bring our prayers and supplications to Him and are able to surrender our care and control into His hands. At these...

Luke 11: 23 He that is not with me is against me: and he that gathereth not with Me scattereth. There is not middle ground; no straddling the fence with Jesus - no politicians here. You are either "all in" or you are all out. On a secular level I have found this to be true with ironman training. The cost and reward are high, the training rigorous. A half-hearted ironman attempt can lead to serious problems out on the race course. You can't be "almost an ironman. The time limit is 17 hours. Finish within that time and you are an Ironman. Don't finish within 17 hours and you are not. And one who does not gather is one who scatters. If I call myself a Christian, claim to be "all in " for Jesus, yet my life is no different from the way of the world, am I gathering or scattering in the expression of my faith to the world. And, when the world hears my profession of faith and does not see the evidence of Christ acting through me, my confession a...

John 15: 16 -- " Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, He may give it to you." He has chosen me. How great is that? When I was a kid playing sports, I was puny and when teams picked players, I was one of the last to be chosen. Sometimes, I wasn't chosen at all. One time I tried so hard at the try outs yet at the end of the day, the team coach took me aside to tell me I would not be chosen. I was heartbroken. However, someone must have been watching me try so hard yet not be chosen. A few days later I got call from another coach ask me to come to come to another try out. This time I was chosen. I was so grateful that I just played my heart out for this team. In fact, I even chosen to be on league's all-star team. I believe Jesus knows our heart, sees our struggles, knows we have little talent on our...

We can know where you are standing with God by who and what is standing against us. When unsure of whether we are following Gods will, leading a life for God, look around and see who we are standing with and who is standing against us. The character of those we find ourselves around and who stand against us will often show us where we are standing ourselves, and whether our spirits are being led in the direction of God or away from it.

It is either “real” or it isn’t.  How do I  sit numbly through church and lifeless liturgy, then go home and feel spiritual and close to God?” Faith either moves me or it doesn’t. Faith and commitment to God should bring us to higher ground.  It is like an uphill course, every step an effort, but every step an adventure into taming the wilderness within. The effort changes us, keeps us awake, keeps us keenly alive and afterward things look different. The exercise of our faith makes  a difference that you can see in yourself.  and others can see Christ in you. Faith is real in our lives and makes difference ...or it isn't, and it doesn't.  There is no middle ground.  Lord give a hunger for the stunning experience of the reality of God.

It came to me that I frequently to pray for others but didn't pray for myself. A look at my written prayer list shows I am not on it. The first thought was how selfless I am without realizing it. How nice that I would pray for others and forget myself. Before I pat myself on the back too much, something moved me to a deeper look inside. And, it was revealed to me that perhaps I pray for others and exclude myself because I am hesitant to work on myself? Maybe it is easier and safer to dwell on the problems of others than to confront my own? Maybe I am not being all selfless and spiritual after all, but have my head in the sand, hiding out from asking God to take over. Self-sufficient in that I can handle my stuff. It is the other, less capable, that need God's attention, not me. Perhaps, not praying for myself discloses that I do indeed need to ask God for something: humility. Others will continue to be prayed for, but a new entry has been added to my prayer list. Lor...

The picture had been there since she was an infant but for some reason this day my little granddaughter saw the picture of Jesus over our fireplace and pointed. I said, “That is Jesus.” She repeated, “Jesus.” She pointed again and said, “Hold me up to Him, Pop-Pop” (my grandfather name). I picked her up and held close to the Jesus in the picture as she pointed and felt the face with her finger. She repeated with a smile, “Jesus.” Yes, Jesus. She was being lifted up and brought into closeness to the image of Jesus. And so too our role as Christians. We are called to bring those who see Jesus only from afar, into closer moments with the Risen Lord. To lift this child up to see the picture, I had to be strong enough to hold her. We are called upon to increase our own strength through the exercise of our faith so that we may able to lift others into His presence, who then, perhaps, with the wonder of a child, smile and speak the name Jesus into their lives. What remains...

"But Jesus called them unto Him and said, Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God." MATT 18:16 It was calendar training time for my granddaughter: day of the week, the months, and then, the holidays. She can’t read yet so----- “What’s this day?” “Palm Sunday. That’s when Jesus came—“ “Riding a donkey,” she interrupted, “and the peoples put branches in His road when He came to town. What’s this day?” This is Good Friday. That’s when they took Jesus to the cross and---“ “They nailed His hands and hurt Him and put him up on a cross. And He died. What’s this day?” “This is Easter. That’s when --- “ “I know about Easter. That’s when He come up from out of the ground and come alive for us.” I couldn’t have summed it up any better. I had no idea she had such a vision of the gospel experience. It made my heart glad, not just for her but in knowing there are probably countless other little children who have ...

This particular scene from the movie Braveheart has always inspired me. No, it’s not the scene in which Wallace makes the fine horseback speech that impassions the men to fight against terrible odds. No, my favorite scene is the one where the enemy on horseback are thundering down on Wallace and his ragtag army. Wallace has brought long, sharpened poles that had been laid out before them on the ground between them and the approaching enemy. Let the charging horsemen get close then raise the sharpened poles to stop them. That was the plan. Imagine how that might have been: a bloodthirsty enemy intent on disgrace and destruction, thundering down upon them on horseback. And Wallace told them to hold; hold. The horsemen got closer-hold! Hold!-closer still, they can hear the heavy breathing of the horses-hold! Hold! In the “fullness of time” the poles were raised and the horsemen were stopped. And, eventually, they were victorious in the battle. For us, the continuing sag...

My Father and I in our aluminum boat, right after daylight, skimming on the river surface. It seemed we disturbed little with the mirrored surface of the river, glazed to accept us; wisps of fog rising from the water in strands. We made a small furrow with our boat with the forested world parading by us on both shores. Yes, we made a small wake; the small waves of which lapped gently upon the shore. In a moment it was smooth water again behind us closed behind us leaving no trace we had ever been there. So, it with life. For all of our world-changing tasks, and all the highly “important” things we thought we had to do, and all the exalted things we thought ourselves to be, still, life closes behind us, leaving no evidence of the little wake we made. Only what we have done for God will remain. The glassy surface of this world will close forever behind us when we die, but for those of us who know Jesus. eternal life with "Our Father Who art in Heaven will" open be...

She wasn’t pretty. In fact, she had a somewhat disheveled look to her. Who knows what her job was where I worked at, but she came around to transact some sort of business in my department now and then. Everyone avoided her as much as possible. “She’s mean and hateful,” they would say. “She’ll bite your head off. Better to leave her alone.” Indeed, she looked the part. Her furrowed brow, her large eyebrows, the narrow hollow eyes, the set jaw, all gave her the look of someone you better leave alone. She never had much to say, and what she did say was short and curt, in a “better leave me alone” tone. No one could stand her. But Something wouldn’t let me stop wondering why someone would want to be such a mean and disagreeable person. Every time she would come around that thought would peak my curiosity. Besides curiosity, I also felt pity that someone could choose to live life so full of bitterness. On my own I am not that caring or sensitive but God has a way of melt...

“My wife died you know?” The one-time British sailor squinted up at me through ninety year old eyes as if to see if I were going to listen before he went on. There was pain and need in those eyes. “She was beautiful too; pretty as a picture; pretty as a picture, and played the piano like an angel. Sixty years we been together. She was beautiful. Played the piano like an angel. I miss her you know. I got nobody now. People don’t care about old folks like me. They don’t even seem to see me. It’s like I am some kinda piece of garbage or something cause I’m old and worthless now. I miss her you know. She was beautiful. Played the piano like an angel.” I am not too far from old and worthless myself. Some say I am already worthless. And for all the times I have gutted out races; all the times I have raised my arms in joy at some finish line, for all the awards I have won and all my other moments of accomplishments, projects completed, gardens raised, pastures mowed; de...

11/10/09---- With the new day I look back and see I have survived, still intact. How did that happen? I remember the desperate moments, the extreme tension; the hunkering down in the storm. But I also remember that in the midst of those storms there was the urgency for prayer: I needed to pray. I sought out the chapel in the hospital, but it was closed. The chapel had regular hours but thank God, He is open 24/7. There in the empty waiting room my broken prayer seemed somewhat small and futile. And in this indifferent, self-seeking world in which I found myself feeling isolated and alone, prayer seemed almost out of place; sort of like I was waving loose ends of tattered threads in a raging wind. B The world had been found to be comfortless and as my feeble prayers were, they were all I had, all there was, and all that could offer a measure of comfort. My faith, my prayer was all there was to hold on to. So I did. When the winds abated, I looked up to realize that all had ...

"Our Father who art in heaven" --- That's the One ! The One who formed me and begat em, enlivened, awakened, and infused His Spirit within me to be "born again" unto life eternal. Praise my Father: my Holy Father for now and evermore! This is Fathers Day - a Sabbath. Perhaps every Sabbath day is Fathers Day; one in which to praise, honor, and worship "my Father who art in heaven" and yet lives in me.

Mark 5: 1-6 And they came over unto the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes. And when He was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, Who had his dwelling among the tombs; and o man could bind him, not with chains: Because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken I pieces: neither could any man tame him. And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones. But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped Him. This man was big strong, with almost supernatural strength, but he was cutting on himself. His own strength came to nothing, except to increase his capacity for self-destruction. His demons were his source of his strength and the cause of weaknesses and self-degradation. He lived among the tombs: dead already in a sense, desperately crying out. Wh...

A couple weeks ago I did a triathlon and had to wear a wetsuit for the swim portion. There was no assistance for getting us out of those tight-full body things, and trying to remove the wetsuit and get onto the bike was a real chore. It was a wrestling match with that thing. And, it reminded me of a line from "The Spirit Song" which goes something like: "Let Him have the things which hold you ----." Well, I certainly was ready to give up the thing which was "holding me." I would have given that wetsuit to anyone who would have helped me out of it. And oh how liberating it was to finally be free of that which held me; to throw it down on the ground, put on the new things to get me on my journey on the bike. Putting off the "old man," so to speak. I thank God for the wetsuits in life He has taken from me, helped me out of, and ask Him to continue to help me in my transitions, to be on the path He would have me on.

Standing at the edge of the lake, waiting for the event to begin, I humbly ask your blessing that Your plans and purposes for my effort be lived out in me today, for Your Glory. May I fear not to enter the waters cold, or to climb the steep hills of the course. Help me to remember that I am "beautifully and wonderfully" made, and you have placed all I need within me. Give me courage to step out in faith: to try more, to risk more, to care more, to be more than I am now, that I may grow toward all you would have me be. And when I push beyond myself, when my steps grow weary toward despair, continue to carry me on, that I might finish this race with grateful humility. In Jesus' Name---Amen

Matt 5:6 Blessed are they which hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. The filled life seems to be about being hungry and thirsty for the right things. Can we be hungry and thirsty after things other than our His righteousness in us, and be filled? Or, will we remain hungry and thirsty, empty in a place within ourselves that only God can fill. Once I completed a marathon and was cramping badly. For some unknown reason at the time, all I could think of was something salty. Only when that need was satisfied did I get the cramps under control and my body on the way to recovery. Perhaps the world has a hunger and thirst for something it does not realize or will not accept. Perhaps the satisfaction of that hunger and thirst get misdirected to food, drink; lifestyles dedication to self, possessions, and various forms of consumptive behaviors? And yet there remains that empty place in our lives, in our hearts. There is still a hunger and thirst that c...

Be still and know that I am God……Be still ourselves to receive His stillness. He still cares, still consoles, still heals, still delivers, and He still saves.   In our empty vanities it really doesn’t matter what we think about our supposedly special selves, and our special times, our special technologies.  We are still a fearful desperate people, still desperately needing Jesus. Be still and know that Jesus still lives and Jesus still saves .

Thinking of football highlights, I remember a runner going down the field full steam with an approaching tackler about to meet him. But, the runner pushed out a stiff arm in the tacklers face and continued going down the field unimpeded to the goal line. Sometimes I think we stiff-arm God. We move down the fields of our lives, enjoyed the speed, the force of our selves. When the God of universe would like to meet us, not tackle us, but lovingly embrace us, we stiff-arm God, going our own way to our own goal line to celebrate ourselves. God gets left back there on the field somewhere. But when catastrophes come and circumstances tackle us, throwing us to the ground: where is God? Doesn’t God care? What kind of God would let this happen? A God that had been stiff-armed, left far down the field and out of lives; a God that would have loved to embrace us. But all God ever got was left out of our game after being stiff-armed. So we try to blame God for all we are not, all w...

For this day the tomb was empty---- For this day all things made new---- For this day sins were forgiven---- For this day free from the law of sin and death---- For this day of life eternal with You---- For this day, oh thank you Lord

I Surrender All is the title of a haunting old song. Surrending all - Hard to do. Yet, it seems that the only way to victory in Christ, is through surrender of self.  What a task it is to overcome so much self-sufficiency; so much pride, so much arrogance, it seems we can't surrender because we get in our own way.  It can be hard to surrender if I think that if I just hang on, I might just win this one, all by myself.  Today, I went off to my prayer spot to pray for my sister who is having surgery.   Oh, I had my laundry list, my grocery list and personal wish list,  all ready for God.   I  my online order ready for God to  start shipment.   However, the p eace of the moment and the aggravating chatter of my own prayer thoughts, seemed to suggest that God was saying, "shut up!" And so I did. Releasing myself to the peace of the place and the intimate moment with God, I asked the Holy Spirit to come settle His peace in upon ...

I have been training for an Ironman event but injuries have plagued me. Prayer has been supplemented with heat, ice, stretching but things still hurt. I prayed about this back in November when I started the training. I prayed every time an obstacle came up and God seemed to open up the will to go on. I have sensed God's pleasure in me doing both the training and the eventual event, for His glory. Lately, I have been on the borderline to cashing it all in. The injuries didn't seem to get better. Today though, I felt pretty good. Things didn't hurt quite so much. God do you want me to go on? I will,you know, if that is what you would have me do. God, I prayed, I wish I knew. Do you want me to go on? Just a hint? Any clue? My 61 mile bike ride was great and I had planned to try a run after the ride. Wow, but I felt great - But - The first step of the run brought a fractured feeling of pain upon impact. Each step my hip feel worse. Barely moving forwar...

It was a very tough 15 mile run today. I was tired, very tired right from the beginning. It got worse - worse to the extent I was calling out like Simon Peter when he walked on the water and began sinking: “Lord save me.!” My left shoe was making a scuffing sound, and in the scuffing sound I began to hear the refrain, “Jee- sus, Jee-sus, Jee-sus." On I went, feeling awful but sustained by the sound of the shoe scuffing out the name of Jesus. At two miles I almost turned around but almost hypnotically I followed the Name up the hill to continue on. A song came to mind: “I need thee, oh I need thee. Every hour I need thee…” Oh yes, I needed Him but I needed Him every moment; every step. “I need thee, oh, I need thee. Every step I need Thee. Oh bless me now my Savior. I run for Thee.” Fifteen miles was not in my body this day. I was out of the bounds of my capability but not out of His. At the end of the fifteen mile run, I was thoroughly “poured out like water” b...

There was a time before cell phones. Hard to conceive, I know. Back in those pre-historic times, the engine in my auto just quit on a desolate, dark highway, miles from home. Fortunately, the road was straight, the country flat, and far up the highway, a dim light shone. It was cold, and the icy wind whistling through my clothing made the moments that much more desolate. But, I kept walking to the dim light. There was nothing else to do; nowhere else to go. As I kept on the straight path, over time, patiently plodding forward, the light got a little bigger as I got closer. Finally, after walking well over a mile, I arrived at a fully lighted intersection with a pay phone. In thinking of that event long ago, I thought of the scripture where many disciples left Jesus and He asked the disciples, "Will ye also go away?" And Peter answered, "Lord, to whom else should go? Thou hast the words of eternal life. And we believe and are sure that thou art the Christ, t...

Have noticed in reading the story of the prodigal son, that the change occurred in the wayword son when he was at his lowest ebb, feeding pigs; trying to keep from starving by eating their food. The scripture says, "he came to himself." From that point his life takes a different direction, a new road, a new perspective on himself, his place in the world and about his father. But, he had to come to himself. To me, that suggests that the capability to be who he could be was in him all the time. He had drifted from who he really was. Sometimes we might drift from the person God sees in us; the person that through Christ we can be; the person we really are; close to our Father's love.

The more I read the Bible, the more I am made aware of how much I don't understand---yet. But, the hunger to know more, to be more, to live more closely to God, has brought me to many personal revelations in studying His Word. It has been impressed upon me that these revelations are not my own personal property but belong to all who would read, or hear. At the same time this is an opportunity for me to step out in faith, and by exercising my faith, become stronger in it. Faith is the bird that feels the light And sings when the dawn is still dark. (Rabindranath Tagore)