Monday, June 8, 2015
Keith Green - Rushing Wind
I have have been a Keith Green fan for a while now, but this song really explains why. Keith sings what I want most out of my faith; some very lofty, but spiritual goals. Listen to the words and enjoy the music. It brings me to tears every time I hear it. He and Rich Mullins were the best of the best. I miss them both.
A Prayer
Lord, I sense your presence today. I know you are always here, but for some reason, I am noticing it today. I was thinking about the immensity of the universe You created yesterday during outdoor worship. The size of it is incredible and even with all the "outer space", there is still no place I could hide from You, not that I would like to.
There is no god like You.
I also find myself wondering why you care about us. We are insignificant dots of DNA and spirit spread across a small blue ball that orbits a minor yellow star in an outer spiral arm of the Milky Way galaxy in a universe full of galaxies. And yet you see to our needs here and tend to all those other places at the same time. Who are You that You should be mindful of me?
One might think that I would know You much better now than I did all those years ago when I came to be, but I still feel we are just getting started with each other. You also have the upper hand (as always). You knew me before I was born. You know how I will end here and what my eternal life will be like. I know You from scripture. I "feel" I know You from my personal spiritual experiences, but there is still something missing. It's probably what Your servant, Paul meant by seeing dimly and then knowing face to face. That will be the Day huh Lord?!? Then I will know You as never before.
Your purpose intrigues me mostly because it is beyond me. Even so, I am glad to be in this relationship.
Thanks so much for the love and the grace. Thanks for providing a way to You that makes the trip easier. Thank You Jesus for doing the work to make that possible. I'm sensing the time is close. We will be meeting each other before long and it will be glorious for me to know you both face to face. Please just allow me to finish my sojourn here completely. There are still things for me to do I think. I have to get Dad home to You and that will require that I stay awhile. If You have other plans, then so be it, but please find another to help Dad home if that is to be the case. His mind is afflicted with a terrible disease. I cannot bear that he should have to endure it alone.
Please reach out your hand to my friend Nina this week. Guide her medical care. Bring her healing from her cancer and raise her up to finish her work here with Phil, her children and her grandchildren. Help her to sense your presence Lord and to know You are there, that You are God.
Lord please also bless my church,Your Church at Rising Sun, Iowa. I believe we also have work remaining. You have preserved us for over 150 years. I cannot help but think You have some purpose in that beyond just another light in our community. Please place Your hand on our leadership and staff and show them where you want to take us. Bend our will if necessary. Fan our faith to fire. Invigorate the saints with your Spirit and show us your power. Teach us to use that power as you intended.
As always, please watch over my Dad today. I do not always have a bead on his activities. Please keep him upright. Please heal his knee. And thanks for helping me with him. He is turning my gray hair white. I guess he is returning the favor.
I am not at work Lord, but please watch over them in my absence. Keep the peace for me if you will. They can yell at me when I get back. I probably need to retire.
Lord, I love you. Please show us all the way home.
In Jesus' name...
There is no god like You.
I also find myself wondering why you care about us. We are insignificant dots of DNA and spirit spread across a small blue ball that orbits a minor yellow star in an outer spiral arm of the Milky Way galaxy in a universe full of galaxies. And yet you see to our needs here and tend to all those other places at the same time. Who are You that You should be mindful of me?
One might think that I would know You much better now than I did all those years ago when I came to be, but I still feel we are just getting started with each other. You also have the upper hand (as always). You knew me before I was born. You know how I will end here and what my eternal life will be like. I know You from scripture. I "feel" I know You from my personal spiritual experiences, but there is still something missing. It's probably what Your servant, Paul meant by seeing dimly and then knowing face to face. That will be the Day huh Lord?!? Then I will know You as never before.
Your purpose intrigues me mostly because it is beyond me. Even so, I am glad to be in this relationship.
Thanks so much for the love and the grace. Thanks for providing a way to You that makes the trip easier. Thank You Jesus for doing the work to make that possible. I'm sensing the time is close. We will be meeting each other before long and it will be glorious for me to know you both face to face. Please just allow me to finish my sojourn here completely. There are still things for me to do I think. I have to get Dad home to You and that will require that I stay awhile. If You have other plans, then so be it, but please find another to help Dad home if that is to be the case. His mind is afflicted with a terrible disease. I cannot bear that he should have to endure it alone.
Please reach out your hand to my friend Nina this week. Guide her medical care. Bring her healing from her cancer and raise her up to finish her work here with Phil, her children and her grandchildren. Help her to sense your presence Lord and to know You are there, that You are God.
Lord please also bless my church,Your Church at Rising Sun, Iowa. I believe we also have work remaining. You have preserved us for over 150 years. I cannot help but think You have some purpose in that beyond just another light in our community. Please place Your hand on our leadership and staff and show them where you want to take us. Bend our will if necessary. Fan our faith to fire. Invigorate the saints with your Spirit and show us your power. Teach us to use that power as you intended.
As always, please watch over my Dad today. I do not always have a bead on his activities. Please keep him upright. Please heal his knee. And thanks for helping me with him. He is turning my gray hair white. I guess he is returning the favor.
I am not at work Lord, but please watch over them in my absence. Keep the peace for me if you will. They can yell at me when I get back. I probably need to retire.
Lord, I love you. Please show us all the way home.
In Jesus' name...
The Debris of A Cluttered Mind
I am groggy this morning.
My friend Ninasusan wondered in an email if I had forgotten how to blog. In answer, I would say thanks for the nudge, but there are many that wonder if I ever knew how in the first place. Nevertheless, I will try to crank something out here here.
Nina, I suppose you are on the way IMH. I will be sending up a few prayers again today as I have everyday since your diagnosis. I have a very strong and positive sense that this is going to go well for you. I am predicting that you are going to be very uncomfortable after your procedure, but I am also predicting you will be well . The Lord is not done with you here yet. You have things to do. If I figure out where you are, I will try to visit. Ghog loves you! He disagrees with you much of the time, but then he disagrees with most everyone. Its his nature.
Odd. I stepped out of my persona there for a minute.
Yesterday was interesting. We had church outside....as in outdoors. It was a bit breezy and humid, but it was a good experience. They pulled up a flatbed trailer on the north lawn by the edge of the west parking lot. The worship team set up on the flat bed and they led us all in praise. We sang one of my favorite oldies - "I'll Fly Away". The membership was in lawn chairs on the lawn and in the parking lot. There were sun shelters set up for those of us that cannot bare the sun on our preternatural, vampire like flesh. Despite my ground hog persona, I am the whitest white man you will probably ever meet. A true Celt. I burn easily. Melanin is a stranger to me.
Worshiping outside can be a distraction. There is stuff going on in nature that you find yourself staring at. There was a kestrel hawk that took a field mouse in the cornfield to the north. There was also a red tail hawk under attack by several small birds for hunting in their nesting areas. The cooperation of the different species of small birds (sparrows, grackles and red wing black birds) was amazing. The red tail evaded the attack, but only barely, by maneuvering close to the tree tops. For a large predator, he was very good at evasion, but I think he went away hungry. I immediately thought of the Church and Satan. Satan was having a very bad day. The church stepped out from it's walls and showed itself yesterday. Whether we constituted a threat remains to be seen, but we shall see. I think we need to recapture that sense of being dangerous to our chief predator. We need to send him back to where he came from and claim this territory for our Creator. We need to draw a line in the sand. Yesterday could have been a very good start.
I am sure all of Rising Sun and parts of Pleasant Hill could hear us. I am told we had to buy a noise permit. I was trying to imagine the early church worshiping outside. I am sure they did so from time to time. I bet they never had to get a noise permit. It was a good time though.
I am giving the sermon a B+. Steve, you told some good and very relevant stories from your personal spiritual experiences as well as examples from scripture, but the fire is still sputtering to take hold I think. It may require an accelerant. I do not usually advise throwing gas on the fire. You do not want to put out the glowing embers already present and you do not want an explosion either. Still, I think something else will be required. We have time. You have only been with us a year. We have time. Do not give up. Steve is pictured below. He is a bit bear like in appearance, but he is more like a lone wolf on the hunt - kind of scary to a ground hog :^)))
The cat in the picture is also noted for stealthy predation and a healthy, "do it my way" mentality. I am wondering what they all had for lunch. Hope it wasn't a ground hog.
Speaking of Steve, we will be taking a day soon to go fishing. Going fishing with a preacher can be an eye opener. The last preacher I fished with became a much needed friend. though he's gone and I miss him, he is still my friend and probably reading this. Hey man...how ya doing?
After the services yesterday, the church had a cookout and spent the afternoon together outside. I did not stay for the festivities. I had responsibilities elsewhere. Dad wanted to go home and I had to fix his lunch. I guess I could have gone back, but I got lazy and took a nap. The washing machine had to be fixed too. Not sure what I did, but it works now.
Dad has been weird. I've been having trouble getting him to church. It's odd since this was the man that used to tell me, "if you live in this house, you go to church." His right knee as been bothering him too, so I think we are going to see about an x-ray and maybe a cortisone shot. There is a lot of walking at church and that may be part of the problem. I believe a cane could help him, but he is too proud to use one. I have seen him use an umbrella like a cane, but it requires the excuse of rain which was absent yesterday.
Well, I have to do something even if it isn't right. Don't let the bears, wolves and kitty cats take you down. (oh, that was funny) Try to have a decent day.
My friend Ninasusan wondered in an email if I had forgotten how to blog. In answer, I would say thanks for the nudge, but there are many that wonder if I ever knew how in the first place. Nevertheless, I will try to crank something out here here.
Nina, I suppose you are on the way IMH. I will be sending up a few prayers again today as I have everyday since your diagnosis. I have a very strong and positive sense that this is going to go well for you. I am predicting that you are going to be very uncomfortable after your procedure, but I am also predicting you will be well . The Lord is not done with you here yet. You have things to do. If I figure out where you are, I will try to visit. Ghog loves you! He disagrees with you much of the time, but then he disagrees with most everyone. Its his nature.
Odd. I stepped out of my persona there for a minute.
Yesterday was interesting. We had church outside....as in outdoors. It was a bit breezy and humid, but it was a good experience. They pulled up a flatbed trailer on the north lawn by the edge of the west parking lot. The worship team set up on the flat bed and they led us all in praise. We sang one of my favorite oldies - "I'll Fly Away". The membership was in lawn chairs on the lawn and in the parking lot. There were sun shelters set up for those of us that cannot bare the sun on our preternatural, vampire like flesh. Despite my ground hog persona, I am the whitest white man you will probably ever meet. A true Celt. I burn easily. Melanin is a stranger to me.
Worshiping outside can be a distraction. There is stuff going on in nature that you find yourself staring at. There was a kestrel hawk that took a field mouse in the cornfield to the north. There was also a red tail hawk under attack by several small birds for hunting in their nesting areas. The cooperation of the different species of small birds (sparrows, grackles and red wing black birds) was amazing. The red tail evaded the attack, but only barely, by maneuvering close to the tree tops. For a large predator, he was very good at evasion, but I think he went away hungry. I immediately thought of the Church and Satan. Satan was having a very bad day. The church stepped out from it's walls and showed itself yesterday. Whether we constituted a threat remains to be seen, but we shall see. I think we need to recapture that sense of being dangerous to our chief predator. We need to send him back to where he came from and claim this territory for our Creator. We need to draw a line in the sand. Yesterday could have been a very good start.
I am sure all of Rising Sun and parts of Pleasant Hill could hear us. I am told we had to buy a noise permit. I was trying to imagine the early church worshiping outside. I am sure they did so from time to time. I bet they never had to get a noise permit. It was a good time though.
I am giving the sermon a B+. Steve, you told some good and very relevant stories from your personal spiritual experiences as well as examples from scripture, but the fire is still sputtering to take hold I think. It may require an accelerant. I do not usually advise throwing gas on the fire. You do not want to put out the glowing embers already present and you do not want an explosion either. Still, I think something else will be required. We have time. You have only been with us a year. We have time. Do not give up. Steve is pictured below. He is a bit bear like in appearance, but he is more like a lone wolf on the hunt - kind of scary to a ground hog :^)))
Speaking of Steve, we will be taking a day soon to go fishing. Going fishing with a preacher can be an eye opener. The last preacher I fished with became a much needed friend. though he's gone and I miss him, he is still my friend and probably reading this. Hey man...how ya doing?
After the services yesterday, the church had a cookout and spent the afternoon together outside. I did not stay for the festivities. I had responsibilities elsewhere. Dad wanted to go home and I had to fix his lunch. I guess I could have gone back, but I got lazy and took a nap. The washing machine had to be fixed too. Not sure what I did, but it works now.
Dad has been weird. I've been having trouble getting him to church. It's odd since this was the man that used to tell me, "if you live in this house, you go to church." His right knee as been bothering him too, so I think we are going to see about an x-ray and maybe a cortisone shot. There is a lot of walking at church and that may be part of the problem. I believe a cane could help him, but he is too proud to use one. I have seen him use an umbrella like a cane, but it requires the excuse of rain which was absent yesterday.
Well, I have to do something even if it isn't right. Don't let the bears, wolves and kitty cats take you down. (oh, that was funny) Try to have a decent day.
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