Stories and other stuff

One of the most important things I've learned about being a Christian is that it's not about religion, but about a personal relationship with the Risen Lord.  And part of that relationship that we can have with God because of Jesus is one where we're listening for God's voice. I do that.  Sometimes I hear it through His word, and last week I could kind of understand some things that God would have me do.  I've been waiting for something and I may be waiting for a little while longer.  It's not an answer I wanted to prayer, but that answer was more than one that involves just waiting. God reminded me through some things that I need to be living my life. I know these verses from Jeremiah 29, but this premise was explained to me in a couple of different ways.  These are from Jeremiah 29:4-7   4  This is what the  Lord  Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried  into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon:   5  “Bu...

I have long ago abandoned any idea that I have control over my life.  I surrendered that long ago when it became abundantly clear that fighting for control from God was akin to spitting in the wind.  I'm surrendered and plan on staying that way. Yesterday at church, one of my fellow church members shared this thought with me:  You're always so busy doing this or that.  You really need to take ten minutes out just to have coffee and a chat.  I can always make time for that; there's always time for making time for important things like that.  The problem is that I work nights and he's retired, so his idea of me making ten minutes typically looks like a Tuesday morning at far earlier than I want to get up. My week looks like this: Monday:  Bible Study. Tuesday:  Mow the lawn at the church.  I like to do this on Tuesdays because every other Tuesday is hot dog day. Wednesday:  Whatever gets thrown at me Thursday:  This is the da...

One of the things that interests me these days is the argument people make about how they don't believe the Bible because it was written by man.  That's true, and the argument I would make is that it was inspired by God and written by man. I had a lesson in that today while preparing a sermon for tomorrow night's chapel service at the Rescue Mission.  I still can't believe I get to do this once a month and as usual, I never have any idea what I'm going to write about, past an idea.  My idea was to talk about peace.  I know I need God's peace in my life and I try to chase the peace.  When I have it, it's a huge indicator to me that I'm where I should be and looking up instead of anywhere else tends to invite that peace into my life.  That's another story, though. I googled some Bible verses about God's peace which led me to Isaiah 55 which is an invitation from God.  A sermon that was supposed to be about peace turned into an invitation from ...

I have several forever friends.  They're the kind of friends you have that will be your friends for life, no matter how long it's been since you've talked.  I spent the weekend with some of them this weekend.  It's amazing to me how friends can not see each other for years and then pick up right where you left off.  We all had a lot to catch up with each other on, and it was fun to reminisce over some of the good times we had. The friend that put us up for the weekend is one I've known longer than either of us would like to admit.  I remember when he first met his wife and they've been married long enough that they have great grand-children now.  I'm still waiting on my first grandchild.  They have a herd. They're retired now, the both of them and they live in their dream home in central Utah.  It's an amazing place and I'm so happy for my friends.  One of the guys now lives out of state but drove down to spend some time with us.  ...

Hey. If anyone actually still reads this thing, hello. Haven't been in a blogging mood lately.  Mostly because life has been a bit unhinged.  For me, that's saying something. I titled this post "the one you'll never read" for a reason.  It's because the last blog post I wrote was so raw and real, and at the same time, so completely WRONG about what I thought God was doing in my life. I should have known better. It's an abundant life and tonight, I'm able to sit out on the patio and enjoy the new table the neighbors gave me.  I'll never figure me out.  I'm air conditioning the house and sitting outside even though the Dodgers are on TV.  I can't watch. They're killing me. Most things are these days; to the point where a lady I worship with prayed with me last Sunday.  I had a dilemma that pretty much took care of itself, for the time being, and in the mean time, I'm trying to live by the answer to that prayer. Sometimes...

Everybody has a story.   I want to start off this morning by telling you the greatest story ever told.  I can do it in two words: Jesus saves! In today’s culture, if I were going to tell that story for maximum effect, I would just drop the mike.  Literally and intentionally. And then walk back to my seat. It’s a powerful, simple, and poignant story and I used only two words to describe what the Savior did for me.  He saved me. I could tell you my story, and some of you know a lot of it, but again, that’s not the purpose of today’s message.  Today I want to talk to you about other people’s stories and the times we have to listen to them. To do that though, I have to start off by telling you a story about what I saw in Fort Worth when I was there a couple of months ago. I knew one person in Fort Worth.  His name is Brandon Cole and he’s a pastor of C3 church Fort Worth.  C3 is kind of a new movement in chuches and I had an incredible expe...

I learned something new today. I learned about Hutterites.  At first, I thought it was just another crazy story I have to tell, and from a certain point of view, maybe it is.  Given how it started, I thought so too.  But some research and with the aid of google maps, I have a better understanding of the folks I met today. Our story starts on a rural stretch of road near Turner, Montana.  This is a two lane highway, and yours truly is going 70 mph down it with his mom riding shotgun when this woman runs across the road.  She has another woman "in tow" if you will, and the only way I can miss running them over is to slow down.  The second woman hesitated, then decided to cross the road.  As I flew by at about 40, I noticed the one woman had her thumb out.  I waved and so did my mom as we passed them. I'm thinking I shouldn't pick them up, but made it just a few hundred feet down the road when I changed my mind and backed up. I asked them if ...