Stories and other stuff

 Maybe I'm a bit more sensitive to God's moving in my life than most people.  Maybe not most believers, per-se, but saying more than most people is not a stretch.  I think it's because one of the first things I wanted to know as a new believer was how God still talks to us today.  I did some online research about this topic shortly after accepting Christ in my life and it's right after that the Holy Spirit really opened up my eyes to God's Providence in my life. I was thinking about that yesterday.  I know someone who God has been so very gracious to and it seems that this person just keeps on going down a difficult path in spite of what God has done, rather than consider God's grace.  The thing I thought was that God knew how this person would react to being saved from some pretty severe consequences, only to return to a path of self-destructive behavior.  God knew that, and still, His grace was applied to keep a bad situation from being far, far wors...

 If you grew up in the 70's and 80's, you know the words of the title are a line from a movie.  A muppet said them to Luke Skywalker in the second Star Wars movie, which was #5 if you're binge watching the DVDs.  The young Skywalker told the Jedi Master that he was not afraid.  Yoda's reply was this:  "You will be.  You will be." Perhaps I've written about this before but I just saw a commercial again from Ron Reagan, who is unashamedly an atheist and to his own credit, at this point in his own life, he's not afraid of burning in hell. He's not afraid of it.  He's also acknowledging that's where he's headed.  I think it's easy to make stupid statements like that when you have no real concept of it.  Jesus described it as utter darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth a couple of times in parables he told.  He also used the parable of the rich man and Lazarus to describe what hell was like.  You can read the account...

I like to think I don't complain, then yesterday happened.  I had a chore at work I'd been trying, with varying stages of failure, to pawn off on someone else.  I was hoping somebody would like to take it on as a way to serve.  I was hoping someone would step forward and take that responsibility on for themselves.  I've been trying as long as I've been waiting for a warm day and the weather to change to do it.  And yesterday was the day. The thing is this, though:  The responsibility for the task being done was mine.  I was told by my predecessor that it would fall to me to ensure it was done.  And up to a couple of weeks ago, the task really didn't need to be done, but finally, the algae in the fish pond got to be too much.  I'd been talking about (which in hindsight, was me probably complaining) taking care of it.  And when I mentioned it on Wednesday night, the most unlikely volunteer I could have ever imagined showed up to help me....

 The town is small, tucked away up a river valley.  There used to be a store there, but it's closed.  There is a larger town 15 miles away, with shopping and gas stations and the like.  At the top of a hill in this town, sits a church.  It used to be a schoolhouse but a half-century ago the school was deeded to a group of townspeople that decided to start a church for their little community. The music is from the hymnal.  There are no drums, no electric guitars, spotlights, or smoke machines.  There is a pianist and an organist, and they play the hymns together.  There is no choir.  There are two ladies who lead the singing.  The only evidence of modern technology are the two screens in the sanctuary and the computer they are connected to so powerpoint slides can be used during the service.  Other than that, it's very much like taking a step back in time to a day when Sunday services were more simple. I've been blessed to see a coup...

 I had a pretty profound discussion yesterday about some Biblical things.  I have to say that the words I spoke were not my own, but those that the Holy Spirit gave me to speak because I really needed to speak the Truth.  Not my truth but God's Truth from His Holy Word.   It was a good conversation.  I had to differentiate between judging someone and making a judgment about a thing.  One is Biblical, the other is something believers do at their own peril.  In the defense of making a judgment about the subject at hand I had to explain to the person I was speaking with that I struggled with my own sins in the area of conversation so I was in no position to judge anyone. We spoke of Jesus eating with sinners and he very much did.  But He did more than that, He called them to repentance.  Think back to the man lowered through the roof by his four friends.  They hoped for a physical healing.  The first thing Jesus did was to forgive...

Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.  2 Corinthians 7:10 (NIV) One thing about reading the Bible I really like is how the words just become alive to you.  Yesterday, during my quiet time, I was reading a devotional a friend gave me.  This verse was part of the day's reading and the words "no regret" really jumped out at me. It's really neat how that happens.  You can read a passage of Scripture once and then read it again when you're in a very different place in life and have it speak to you in a whole new way.  I don't think I ever noticed the part about no regret. Accepting Christ as Savior was the best decision I ever made in life.  My walk has been anything but easy.  But ti's also been the most rewarding, fulfilling, and unbelievable thing I've ever experienced.  Sometimes, the old things, the old ways, try to call out to me, but I have no regret in making the decision t...

It kind of started a little while ago.  I somehow got lost from my humans and for a while, I was running around trying to find my way home.  I was hungry, cold, and scared.  Then one day a nice person caught me and took me in a truck to a big, scary place where there were lots of other barking dogs.  They put me in this big kennel.  They told me they were waiting to see if my people would come find me.   But they didn't.  Day after day passed.  The people there were nice to me.  They fed me and let me get outside the kennel for a little bit to go potty and things.  Then one day, they took me out of the kennel and I went into this room.  I was scared and they did something to me I didn't understand.  I felt this poke and fell asleep and when I woke up, those two things by my tail were gone and I hurt really, really bad.  They gave me treats that helped me feel better.  Then they put a new collar on me and put me i...