Like you, we are glory seekers. We have wonderfully, “Tasted and seen, the Lord is good!” The greatest prize is in the pursuit of the fame, splendor and radiant beauty of our Sovereign! We came to Yeshua in the days of the Jesus... Read More...
Riverfront Property in Audio
I am so grateful and pleased to share freely the whole audio book of Riverfront Property: Connecting At The River Of Life! I’m confident you will receive a delicious drink! As you find your thirst quenched please recall those you know who would also love a drink, and pass the cup! Read More...
A Miracle Story
Thursday July 30, 1987, started out as just another hot summer day in Ellensburg, Washington, a town of about fifteen thousand souls in a picturesque valley a hundred miles east of Seattle... Read More...
In the summer of 1985 I had a real adventure. I was able to join Dr. Jim Davies and his wife Martha on a climb of Mount Ararat in Eastern Turkey in search of Noah’s ark. How can I share the power of that experience?
No, we did not find Noah’s ark but we got to climb a mountain bigger than you can probably imagine, appreciate the ancient history of a land cleansed by water, have great cultural experiences and get snowed on in August. We even encountered Kurdish terrorist who courteously did not shoot us but who relieved us of our possessions, including that nice SLR camera you see on my neck.
One of our delightful surprises was gathering sea shells around the base of the mountain. There were thousands. We hit the jack pot! Unfortunately the Turkish government doesn’t want them taken.
Sea shells on mountains. Don’t you think that is fascinating? You may go to Mount Everest and find fossilized sea creatures. Those mountains once were sea floors. When the earth went through the contortions of the flood the plates flexed like crazy. The waters receded as ocean trenches made divots downward and a few mountains popped up.
You will never witness a possum fossilizing by the side of the road. They simply rot. Fossils are always formed in water-laid sediment and found in sedimentary rock around the planet. The recipe to create fossils includes pressure, heat, minerals in soil and moisture to carry the minerals into the fossil victim.
If you have never studied the evidence for a world-wide flood you deserve an education. It is eerie fascinating!
God kept His word by sending a catastrophic flood to destroy the earth and He kept His word to preserve Noah and his family. Actually there are quite a few more promises His is about to fulfill! That’s why I want to stick really close to the Lord Jesus!
“By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith” (Heb. 11:7).
9/11 didn’t happen. It was a big show put on by Hollywood in collaboration with government spin doctors.
No planes flew into buildings and 3000 people didn’t die. It was a big hoax funded by bankers and investors in candles and tee-shirts.
9/11 was like Orson Welles, War of the Worlds. No Martians really attacked us.
9/11 was a huge publicity stunt with thousands of actors and movie special effects. Today, given proper perspective, we know it all as myth. Please go back to sleep. You are tired, preoccupied. The pillow is comfortable. Your eyes are drowsy. Soothing sleep is what you need.
By the way, the holocaust, the silly story about Pol Pot killing millions, the creative fable of millions dying in the Chinese revolution and the Armenian slaughter in Turkey are also fairy tales.
I wonder where we might go out to eat tonight.. Is there a good movie at the theater?
“From the tribe of Issachar,
there were 200 leaders of the tribe with their relatives.
As young children we were told stories of cannibals who ate the flesh of their enemies to show their domination and attempt to assume their enemies powers. We saw pictures of these scary looking flesh eaters in National Geographic or social science books and were rightly appalled.
Last week there were pictures of one of the Syrian rebel leaders eating the flesh of one of President Assad’s officers. America is considering backing cannibals because they have not killed as many thousands, yet. It is not at all clear in Syria if there is a good guy in the fight. Both Assad and the rebel forces are ultimately our enemies. That is why the vast majority of Americans are willing to let them fight it out. The rebels in Syria, if they win, may do much more damage to the world that Assad ever conceived.
Eating human flesh; can society decay lower than that? Of all the human atrocities what could be more vulgar?
The early believers in the Roman world were vilified as cannibals. The outsiders learned that Christians had a ceremony where they ate the flesh and drank the blood of Jesus. Those saints had lots of slanderous propaganda to contend with. Just like the news spinners of today the Church’s enemies would take, “sound bites” distorting the truth.
They would say, the leader of this appalling religion has said, “I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you” (John 6:53). Of course the uninformed society did not know the rest of Jesus teaching; “The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life” (John 6:63).
To consume Jesus is to consume His Spirit, His manners, His values and practices. There is a saying, “You are what you eat.” When we ingest the Lord and His Spirit dwells inside of us we assume the power and love of the Great Friend!
May the Saints of God become the caterers of Real Food to Syria and the nations of the earth!
The space aliens were tired and grumpy and needing a place to land. They had traveled millions of light years and needed to stretch their legs. Wally desperately needed to use a bathroom. They were also lost and needed to get directions.
As luck would have it they stumbled on the planet Htrae and settled down on a nation called Acirema – to the relief of all, especially Wally. The creatures on the planet were hospitable by and large. The people had a difficult language that required nearly an hour before they could speak it fluently. The customs were more challenging. They learned, for example, that it was social courtesy to buy something in a mini-mart if you used the bathroom.
This put them in a bit of a spot. They naturally did not wish to offend but the clerk did not recognize their Universe Plus or Comic credit buttons. They were hungry and had planned on being home for dinner so they had not packed anything and the smell of the foods was exotic and attractive to them, especially the burritos under the infrared heaters.
Now here was the peculiar answer to their quandary. Outside Chip and Ben were shoveling out the slag from the reactor and were about to put it in the dumpster when an Acireman pulled up in a vehicle that ran on wheels and hurried over to them. He seemed focused on the slag and told them excitedly that it had value to them. In fact, he gave them some of their currency in exchange for it. So that’s how the guys were able to have dinner.
As they studied the currency they found something very interesting, the words, “In Sam we trust.” Naturally they were curious. They asked the clerk who Sam was and how it was that Aciremans trusted in him. The clerk avoided the subject which only made them more curious.
Ben speculated that the picture of the man on the foil was Sam. But Wally said that couldn’t be because on other foils they had different pictures. Chip postulated that Sam was the currency itself because they noticed the Aciremans put much confidence in it. I guess they suddenly snapped into cultural awareness mode. They determined to find out who Sam was before they headed home. They had already gotten directions, by the way.
They attempted to inquire of the local creatures about Sam but received odd answers that only peeked their interest; “My faith is a very personal thing. I don’t talk about it.” “I used to believe in Sam until my child died.” “Sam is a myth our people are about to retire.” They overheard some say things like “Sam damn it” or “Sam bless you.” “Whoever Sam is, the creatures here must seek his power to bring trouble or happiness”, said Ben.
They decided to go to a center of education and came upon a school for young Aciremans. The timing could not have been more perfect . They walked into a pod of Juveniles with hands on their cardia and reciting a pledge to their banner . All three of the guys elbowed one another when they heard the children say, “One nation under Sam.” You can imagine how eager the guys were. They knew they would get their answers here!
Unfortunately they were in for disappointment. When they asked who Sam was and how the Aciremans went about trusting him the principle seemed totally stymied. He said, “We don’t talk about Sam her. This is a public school.”
I won’t belabor the discussion. It actually wasn’t very long. The instructor said it was illegal to talk about Sam and he was afraid of litigation if he did. Of course the guys were amazed. The children’s pledge would indicate that Sam was someone to be trusted but the educators were not allowed to share with the students who Sam was, how he might be known and how to go about trusting in him. Naturally it seemed crazy.
The space aliens were appalled. It was like all their enzymes fell out of their accelerators. They saw that the the Aciremans had intelligence for building mini-marts but somehow lost it all in dealing with Sam. Actually their quest for learning about Sam lost all momentum because of their amazement with the inconsistency.
Ben sarcastically said, “These people must be schizophrenic.” Wally corrected, “You mean bi-polar.” “At any rate”, said Chip,” it makes no sense to refer to Sam in currency, pledges and historical recording devises but not be allowed to talk about him.” Ben said, “It’s kind of like jerking your tractor beam. You say on the one hand that you should trust in Sam, and be under Sam, but you say to young inquiring minds, ‘We can’t tell you about Sam.””
In one last attempt they approached a professor of history who told them that in the nation’s heyday many had believed and followed Sam. But her words seemed old and dusty. They did get an answer however. Sam, according to history, was the Creator! He was reputed to be good but He had set standards that today were avoided. In fact Sam had fallen on hard times. Although most of the creatures there liked the idea of being blessed by a passive, benevolent power, they did not like the idea of being ultimately accountable to Sam as an evaluator.
It was late and Ben needed to get home because he worked early next morning. Chip, Ben and Wally left the planet rather disappointed in the Aciremans, but stimulated about Sam. They reasoned that they too were creatures so must have a Creator. Was His name Sam? Was He knowable? And was he to be trusted?
As it turned out they had an animated conversation all the way home.
AUTHOR’S NOTES
Many of you have read “Sam” before. I am putting it out again because I am looking for an illustrator. I am also looking for people that might be willing to publish it. Suggestions are welcome!
I had been thinking about it for some time. I detested that bathroom. Even after I’d toothbrush cleaned it, it felt dirty! So after dealing with an outdated, mold infested, countertop peeling, mirror corroding bathroom it was time.
We had been talking about remodeling since the day we moved in, some 4 years prior. The tiny walk space made it feel cramped. The configuration was just bad. It was not welcoming, the bathtub surround was so old and cracked it did not come clean. It needed help! Even if we took it down to the bones it was a small space but surely we could do SOMETHING. Finally the day came!
We began by gutting the room, back to the 2 x 4’s and plumbing. Then we moved under the house and removed the plumbing. That was a bold move. But I had complete confidence in my hubby’s skills. Did I say this remodel was supposed to take one week. Actually it was two weeks just under the house alone. My aching back, literally!
I actually dreamed I received the most wonderful back massage. But awoke from the dream to discover I was still in ownership of that same aching, pinched back I had been crawling around on hands, elbows and knees with!
I have this ability to figure things out, or as Steve calls it, “You can see things I can’t.” As Steve puzzled over geometry questions about plumbing I’m just trying not to explode with a helpful comment. I notice things. So I just quietly project into the joists, “If the angle needs to be (such and such) it makes sense to me that we would (thus and so). And eureka, it works! This skill is not perfect, and I cannot pull it out of a hat, it’s an inner observation, a gut feeling, a hope against hope, then again its faith at its best. I know He helps me! This skill does not work well while angry, frustrated, judging or pissed off.
Why I would love to tell you of MY skill, but it’s not at all mine, its a gift! And I have over the years (and they are many) discovered I can be the best help to myself and others by not going to that icky place but staying in a place of peace and tranquility.
Yes the bathroom remodel is behind us and I enjoy just walking into that room and just looking at it. The new crisp lines, the placement of the fixtures, the wide open space, its lovely and just what I had envisioned. People walk in and comment over its spacious feeling, its bright and cheerful, welcoming light!
Ultimately I thank God and that still small voice Who helps me out so many of life’s challenges, even the plumbing ones.
I was blithely walking through my college commons when I noticed something. The people I was walking by were cool. It showed in the way they cocked their hips and held their chins. It was the way they posed with their cigarettes and how they slung their arm around their girlfriend.
At the same instant I realized that I was not, and was unlikely to become, cool. I was not the academic or athletic superstar, not artsy or stylish, or socialite. I was not cool, just an average guy.
I was surprised, utterly blindsided, by an emotional response. It was a sensation of ecstasy and euphoria. I burst into singing as I walked through the campus, “I’m not cool, I’m not cool! Thank you, God, I’m not cool!” I felt light and carefree! I was walking on air, full of exhilaration and joy to the point of being giddy!
I wasn’t planning on having an emotional experience that day. It just dropped on me. It still lingers. It’s a feeling of gratitude, of belonging, of security and identity.
Think of the strangling, crushing weight many cool people must bear, then think of the glorious implications of not being cool:
We don’t need to primp, pose, pretend, or play act to be accepted
There is no image that needs to be fed or maintained
We can relax and be ourselves!
Many do not score high on the Cool Index but they are perfectly delightful, precious individuals. In fact, each is an original creation in God’s treasure box. And that’s better than cool!
We just finished our bathroom remodel! It was a lot of work so we thought we would show and tell. Since it is hard to get a good picture we figured we would throw in a substitute. Our bathroom looks a lot like this one except ours is mostly white and six by seven feet.
We worked hard! Since we moved each of the fixtures to new locations we had to put in new supply and waste lines. The crawl space is so cramped that we could show professional contortionists new moves.
I am pretty handy. I knew it would be a challenge but I supposed it would go faster. Why is it that so many jobs take 3.8389 times more time and energy to complete than you calculate?
This was a baptism to undergo. There were moments where the exasperations came in spasms, mostly in the legs. I deliberately took breaks to go to the hardware store four times a day just to visit with compassionate people and expend some useless cash.
At one point as I was in the crawl space with my left knee behind my neck and back pressed again nails coming down from the floor. Things were not coming together. I cried out to the Lord for His mercy! At that moment I turned toward the foundation and saw something I hadn’t seen before. One of the builders had drawn a cross in mortar on the foundation wall. They used a finger to make little lines like rays of light around the cross.
Talk about a revelation of grace! God had sent that man especially to build our house. His act of worship four decades previous was a consolation. I am glad to report, that thanks to the grace of God, no acts of reckless bath-rage unsettled our community and the project was satisfactorily completed.
The child with his finger paints and the artist with her pastels must have it. It’s essential to poet, musician and architect. It comes in handy to the home accountant and car mechanic. It’s called creativity!
Our Creator made us in his image. Like our Creator, we are equipped and disposed to create! Creativity dreams up cures for disease, and ways to twist that couch through the narrow doorway. Creativity gets a ship in a bottle and a man on the moon.
What is it that God has given you by way of creativity? What inventive quality lies dormant or only partially exercised in you? Do you have in you a novel, a song or a new way to tell you family you love them? Perhaps you have the fix for socks that lose their elastic cling or a new glue to fix broken relationships.
John Maxwell tells this story about one of my creative heroes:
“A school teacher gave students an art assignment. She waited as each child took out crayons and colored pencils and went to work. After a while, she started down the aisle, looking over the children’s crude drawings. She came to one boy’s desk, picked up his paper, looked and said, ‘Walter, flowers don’t have faces.’ Little Walt Disney looked up at her and said with authority, ‘Mine do!’
Walt Disney had a dream. He saw things others did not see – and put them on paper. Over the years that dream materialized into a mouse who talked, an elephant who flew, a cricket who danced, and flowers – thousands of flower – all with faces.”
Often when I hear an inspiring secular song or watch a stirring secular movie I wonder why creativity is often short in the Church. I know the Creator would release so much more to His Children, if we would inquire of Him. You’re loaded with gifts of creativity for art, gardening, wood working, baking, decorating and what not! Pump from the well of your God-given creativity today!
Imagine a child who has been told by a playmate that years ago white people owned black people like a family owns a lawn mower. She is appalled and approaches Grandpa to discover if it was really true, why it happened and how it ended. Grandpa does his best to explain how adults did things that children by instinct know are dreadfully wrong.
A couple decades from now-say the year 2032-a very similar conversation might go like this:
“Grandpa, is it true mommies used to kill their babies in their tummies?”
“Yes, Hannah. That was a sad time in our history. We are still dealing with some of that pain today.”
“Why, Grandpa, why? How could mommies do that?”
“You ask hard questions, Hannah. Many people back then thought that babies in mommies’ tummies were not real people. Our Supreme Court said that a mommy could kill the baby in her because it was not really a person but just bodily tissue, like a wart or a mole.”
“But Grandpa, how could they think like that?”
“Well, back then Mommies and Daddies got confused in their thinking. They said things to themselves like:
My boyfriend won’t stay with me if I have a baby
A baby would get in the way of next year’s vacation
I just can’t handle a baby right now
We have family problems. My child would be happier dead.
Part of the sadness is that the people who could have helped us solve our problems and made our lives happier never lived. Perhaps a Dr. Sara Winter would have discovered the cure for cancer. Secretary of State Randal Crest would have used his diplomatic arts to prevent the last war. The heartwarming novelist Linda Post would have soothed our broken hearts. But all of them, the friendly baker and funny car mechanic, were never born because their parents killed them before they could be born.”
“What stopped mommies from doing what they did?”
“Many of us thought if we could just change the laws we could stop it. We were partly right. What helped most was when people learned to help mommies who felt overwhelmed care for their babies. Others adopted children whose mommies felt they could not take good care of a baby. But what finally stopped it was our money collapse and the war.
Hannah, 50 million children were lost because of what confused mommies and daddies did. That’s a big number. They never grew up to help our government care for the weak and elderly. Our Social Security system collapsed. We were missing the people who could have defended us when the war came to America. Many of us died before the war was stopped. Only God could find a way to recover all that was lost. We are still missing those who could have been born to help us.”
“Grandpa, I don’t understand everything you said, but it makes me feel like crying.”
“Hannah, America has learned from our history and we are overcoming the pains. Every one of your playmates, and all of us, can be grateful that it’s over.”
