June 18, 2006 - Throughout America, Christians celebrated Father’s Day this Sunday. Unfortunately, not enough will do so. Too many fathers are not. Too many sons and daughters grow up without a loving and caring father. Luckily, we all have two fathers, but forgiving the natural one is the first step to enjoying the spiritual one. Where that’s not possible, there is always grace, because all fathers come with some weeds in their life.
Monthly Archive for June, 2006
I was asked recently just how a person can have intimacy with God. Immediately I Cor. 15:46 came to mind. I didn’t fly back with a Biblical verse however because that’s not how it works in the natural as well. You don’t walk up to a gal and say, “Hey, let’s get intimate”. Neither do you see someone you might like as a friend, and just walk up and say you want a friendship with them.
Hey guys, we men must start with twelve-play! It’s something that happens long before foreplay. Three times earlier!
Continue reading ‘Intimacy With God’
I seldom eat mayonaise: usually only on turkey. So, I’m not sure about how many eggs you have to break, or is that just a metaphor? What I am sure of though is that you don’t enter into the presence of God without a major sacrifice. Last week, I inadvertedly dropped into an intercessory zone. I try to steer clear of those. Not my thing, you know.
Unfortunately, it’s one of God’s things.
Continue reading ‘He’s Not Cheap’
Chrisitians, more than any other religious grouping, are people of the BOOK!
The BOOK of course is the Bible and need I say there are lots of ways to interpret this BOOK? Let me say up front that I cherish the BOOK and I read it sacramentally. The problem is not so much the BOOK, but the PEOPLE who read the BOOK to justify anything and everything that suits their purpose(s).
It’s been said, and I agree, that Christians are people of the BOOK and too often Christians put the BOOK above PEOPLE. Can you hear the truth in that? I think I have embraced some of what that means. There are days though that I am not so sure what I believe, which I don’t see as all bad, unless it makes room for more deeper darknesses.
I know my ego is taking a pounding, but that’s good. And that also hurts!
Continue reading ‘People of the Book’
If you want to ignore the GREATEST STORY in all of history, you can: your choice.
Denial does not change reality though, so one has to come to a conclusion about the crucifixation and death of Jesus, and choose one of two options. It either marked the end or the beginning. I’ve chosen the latter and stand on I Cor. 15:15, 19 as Paul did. Believing that God raised Jesus, the Messiah, to a higher place, as Jesus the second person of the trinity, I can expect my humanity to be transformed into it’s original nature- Spirit!
All of this gets really cloudy, foggy, and even dark at sometimes. But we all have an inner and sure compass, if we’ll but follow it. We need not despair.
Continue reading ‘The Greatest Story’
I’ve been a Christian all my adult life, ever since “I walked the isle”, as they say, at the First Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas when I was seventeen. No, I don’t remember the “day or moment”. The Baptists circles I used to run in made “knowing the precise moment” of paramount importance. To this day I still don’t get how they could emphasize that and miss the Baptism of the Holy Spirit.
This is going somewhere. Hang on!
In my spiritual journey, that I’ve given my life (some of it at least) to, I never really thought much about the concept of TRANSFORMATION. When I started LRC nearly 20 years ago, I was “getting” the idea of change, revival, and transformation; however, it wasn’t until about a year ago that the REALITY of the spiritual concept of TRANSFORMATION began to take shape: have meaning.
Continue reading ‘Transformation’
June 11, 2006 - In America particularly you can choose to “skip the trip”. At least that way you can take responsibility for what comes your way. What’s really a bummer though is when a person thinks they’re on the journey (to find God) but they’re only chasing a religious shadow. A real Christian journey comes with far more dangers than we’re willing to face or admit.
Do you really want to be like Jesus?
Continue reading ‘Like Him’
One of the difficulties of finding God is we have put out an invalid APB (All Points Bulletin).
Using myself as an example, I can tell you that I’ve made that mistake. I was in search of a male, white, Protestant, and European looking persona. Yet, when I went to Durbin, South Africa, I found him to smell of curry. In Port Au Prince, Haiti, he looked black and spoke French. In Santa Cruz, Bolivia he was a she, dark skinned, long black hair, and barely four feet six inches tall. In Milano, Italy, he looked and talked like what I had envisioned a true mafia type would be like.
Continue reading ‘Invalid APB’
It’s Not Easy
What makes you think being a Christian is easy?
I received an email from one of those prophetic men this morning (Doug Roberts) who seem to always see what’s coming. One of his comments led me to what I’m about to write now. After I read his email, I shut down my mind and asked God if I am truly up to walking through what I see in 2006? Do I have the faith, ability, courage, and of course His support. It was probably just a rhetorical question, but I needed the affirmation I heard. Continue reading ‘It’s Not Easy’