What do you see when you look in the mirror?
A mess?
A weak person?
A sinful person?
A damaged person?
Do you see an insignificant person?
What do you see when you look in the mirror? Continue reading
Category Archives: Following Christ Has Changed My Life
What’s With the Falling Trees?
In the silence of night, in the tranquility of the darkness, a tree fell in our front yard approximately sixty feet from our house; and we did not hear a sound.
Trunk broke at the bottom.
Tree approximately 60 feet from house.
Half top of tree laying on the ground green but bottom half branches dead. Will have to check out other trees also.
God Spares Us Once More
I don’t know what it is about trees falling and me, but this is the third tree that’s fallen in my yard. One was 22 years ago, then another one fell, mid November 2013.
It’s a frightening thing to think that something so huge and destructive can happen so close to the house. Thankfully, it only caused some damage to the pasture gate. Continue reading
God is There
Like each breath of air we take,
God is still there when we can’t see Him.
We cannot live or flourish without Him. Continue reading
He is Not There; He is Not Dead!
Here are two Gospel accounts of the resurrection.
Mark’s account:
When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body. Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb and they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?”
But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed. Continue reading
Mission Accomplished
What are the final words of a tortured, dying man who has just accomplished his great mission?
“It is finished.”
When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. John 19:30 NIV
Those words alone should be enough to tell us that Jesus died on that cross for a planned purpose.
For 32 years I have suffered from chronic pain off and on because of multiple car accidents. Blinding migraines that give me the sensation of my skull being crushed and an icepick stabbed in my eye (usually left eye), neck aches that feel like I have a screwdriver pushed into the lower back part of my skull, and low back aches that feel anywhere from like my back is on fire to sharp sciatica Charlie horses that last for months. Too often the pain has been so excruciating, that I cannot imagine dying hurting any more. If I was to die from the torturous pain I described above, I seriously doubt “It is finished.” would be my final words.
Those were Jesus’ words because He accomplished what He was sent on earth to do. Humanity owed a debt to God we had no means with which to repay. Jesus’ assignment on earth was to be God’s redeeming payment on our behalf. And He followed through with it; Jesus paid our debt.
Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. John 15:13 Jesus’ death was the proof of God’s love for us.
Please let us remember that Jesus’ dying words were for our sakes. Let’s remember that this weekend in humble adoration to the King of kings and Lord of Lords.
Behold the Lamb John 1:29
The original Passover freed the Israelites from Egyptian Slavery.
The final Passover frees anyone willing to come to Jesus from sin and spiritual slavery.
Jesus’ death on the cross freed us. Because of ours sinful nature inherited from our original parents Adam and Eve, we owe a debt to God we have no ability to pay off. Much like when we break laws on earth we owe a debt to society. Except the debt we owe to God is way beyond our ability to repay because, well, God is God and we are not; we are simply His creation. God wanted us in Heaven, but because of that sin and that debt, we are not allowed in Heaven. Continue reading
A Note From an Aspiring Author
Book writing, like wine,
only gets better with time;
and an enormous amount of revision. emy
Okay everybody, I am finally almost done. For reals this time! Really, I meant it!
But what a chore it has been.
For a while I have been threatening to write a memoir. Well, I finally did, but the funny thing is that it’s not my memoir. Though, of course, it has an awful lot of my heart and soul in it.
It’s really the fictional memoir of a homeless man named Nick. I have a desire to bring awareness to the tragedy of homelessness and the heartbreak of un-adopted foster kids that age out of foster care, and end up homeless.
As if those poor kids have not been through enough already.
Yes, this really does happen, by the way.
You may have some questions.
How did I end up writing a fictional memoir, rather than my own? And What on earth would make me think anyone would even be interested in reading my memoir anyway?
Stay Salty, Do Good Anyway
As Mother Teresa states, people will be people. It’s part of our human nature. Sometimes, no matter how good our intentions may be, some people will lie about us, falsely accuse us, judge us unfairly without all the facts, treat us terribly, gossip about us, cheat us, and rob us. Keep in mind those people will have to face God someday with their wrong choices.
What are we to do as Christ followers?
Stay salty, Do good anyway! Give our best. It is a tough one under such circumstances, but it is a requirement of God for our own benefit!
A Spoonful of Sugar
In the movie “Mary Poppins,” Mary, the governess in charge of two children, tells them through a very catchy song that “A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down in a most delightful way.” Mary is referring to the nasty tasting medicine, probably cod-liver oil, they are about to take that has been magically sweetened.
But in my opinion, the term “a spoonful of sugar” can apply to anyone doing an act of kindness for a struggling person.
Sometimes, all it takes to make someone’s day is an effortless or generous act of kindness. For some, it can be life altering like it was for a lady named Andrea, as she wrote in her blog about a stranger, a woman who paid her grocery bill of $17.38 when she had no money to pay, and the EBT machine was not working. Andrea, mother of five, and her husband had been unemployed for months, and had at one time even been homeless.
I am especially tender towards homeless people as I am now almost finished revising my fictional memoir of a homeless man named Nick, in the book called Black Coat with a Silver Lining.
Don’t You Quit
Don’t Quit
When things go wrong as they sometimes will,
When the road your trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high, Continue reading
HIS EYE IS ON THIS SPARROW TOO Still Learning to Lean on God 