Never Give Up
Anyone out there feeling like opportunity in life has either already passed you by or maybe got snatched up by someone just a little quicker and a little brighter? I know that feeling well.
Here is a treat from Rene Godefroy. Born in Haiti, to a legacy of extreme poverty, Rene was barely able to even dream of a different life–then someone spoke a word of encouragement to him. Now, his ambition is to speak that same word to others.
Rene Godefroy is the author of Kick Your Excuses Goodbye
Here is an audio link to Rene giving a short inspirational talk called Never Give UP.
Tent-making online
In the post entitled Will Blog for Shoes, I said the following:
Whenever someone discovers that I have a blog, you can be sure that one of two questions will follow: “What’s a blog?” Or, “Are you making much money from it?” I love both questions, because they help me to introduce the questioner to something that I believe is an integral part of the Great Commission in these last days.
I went on to say that If bringing in an extra few hundred dollars a month would help keep you afloat, then blogging may be a good way to make that kind of money and work from home doing it. Read more
Faith and Fear
Here’s another way to gauge the depth of one’s relationship to the Father: How do you act/react in an emergency?
In an earlier post, I told about what happened when my son broke his arm. In that post, I admitted that I ran on self for a couple of hours before I thought to really stop and pray about the situation. I ended that story by saying that the next time would be different.
Well, the “next time” came, and things really weren’t different. Recently, my nine year old daughter was missing. She had last been seen by her brother, riding her bike towards the church where a wedding party was going on. I yelled for her. No answer. I panicked. Read more
A Night to Honor Israel
Even though both Israel and petroleum are so often in the news, I was still surprised to come across a news this morning about a company that explores for oil and gas onshore in Israel. They will soon be sponsoring a CUFI summit and a “Night to Honor Israel” banquet in Washington, D.C. More information is at the Zion Oil and Gas Website . Here is the full text of the press release: Read more
Slammed again…
This morning, I’m slammed again by the Word of God. When will I learn?
My favorite devotional is My Utmost For His Highest, by Oswald Chambers. Lately, I’ve been severely banging myself over (and inner) the head for not measuring up, for not doing better, feeling like a total flop–you may have heard those same voices before. Total accusation, and what’s worse is that the slams are true. I am not perfect. Far from it. I fail daily. I tend to be selfish, lazy, ignorant, and pretty well clueless–and no matter how hard I wish it was different; I’m a flop.
So, greeting the sunrise with a sore body and a worried mind, I manage to stumble to my desk with a cup of coffee and pick up My Utmost For His Highest. Here’s how the entry for June 20th begins:
A pitiful, sickly, and self-centered kind of prayer and a determined effort and selfish dsire to be right with God are never found in the New Testament. The fact that I am trying to be right with God is actually a sign that I am rebelling against the atonement by the Cross of Christ…I cannot make myself right with God I cannot make my life perfect.
There you have it. It’s me again, trying to do the impossible. Trying to turn a pig into a lamb. I’ve known it before. I’ve heard it before. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve come back to this very same spot. Lord, when will I learn?
Oswald continues:
I can only be right with God if I accept the atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ as an absolute gift. Am I humble enough to accept it? I have to surrender all my rights and demands, and cease from every self-effort. I must leave myself completely alone in His hands…
Is surrender the path to victory? Is defeat a necessary element in success? Oswald says so. The Word of God says so. “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find,” says the Apostle Paul, in Romans 7:18. If the super-Christian, Paul, can make that statement and survive it–why can’t I?
Those accusations are right. Without Him; I’m in big trouble. With Him, says Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
Hosanna!
Love
From JoseMaria Escriva’s wonderful little book, The Way
It’s useless to busy yourself in so many external works if you lack Love. It’s like sewing with a needle and no thread. What a pity if in the end you had carried out your apostolate and not His apostolate!
This is something that I am reminded of almost daily. Without Love, all of the rest amounts to nothing. How often I am caught up in the rush to do the job or get my point across and forget that my main job, and the main point, is to Love one another…
The Oregon Trail
I was born here in Kentucky, but my parents moved out West when I was in the first grade. I grew up in a little logging town in Southwestern Oregon. It’s a beautiful area, but like many things in life, I didn’t realize how special the area is until I moved away from it. I do remember seeing license plates from just about every state in the Union, during the summer months. Oregon is a popular tourist destination. To me, it was just Home. Read more
A Father’s worth…
Here’s wishing all you dads the very best Father’s Day ever. For my part, fatherhood is the most important and best job that I’ve ever had. I remember that after the birth of my very first child, I was hesitant to have another–I just didn’t see how I could possibly love anyone as much as I loved the firstborn. When her little brother came, though, love somehow expanded and once again, I had more love in my heart for those two than one could reasonably expect exists in the world. It continued on like that for five more babies, but I finally quit worrying about it. Love grows.
Those Winter Sundays
by Robert HaydenSundays too my father got up early
and put his clothes on in the blueblack cold,
then with cracked hands that ached
from labor in the weekday weather made
banked fires blaze. No one ever thanked him.I’d wake and hear the cold splintering, breaking.
When the rooms were warm, he’d call,
and slowly I would rise and dress,
fearing the chronic angers of that house,Speaking indifferently to him,
who had driven out the cold
and polished my good shoes as well.
What did I know, what did I know
of love’s austere and lonely offices?
This same post went on the RoadTurn blog yesterday…I just can’t think of a better way to say it: Father’s you are crucial to your family. Keep up the good work…
The one reason
Reading a bit this morning, I came across a short article by Frederick Buechner
But, the Pharisees were not happy. They challenged Jesus, telling him that he should tell the people to be quiet. His response was this: “I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out” (Luke 19:40, KJV).
Buechner, speaking of this passage, says that “The one reason for having churches at all…is the hope that into the world the King does come.”
Isn’t it so? We are the Church, and our main purpose is to honor and glorify God. “Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest,” Let that be our cry, today.
Be imitators…
Be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us (Ephesians 5:1-2, NRSV).
A helping hand
Summer is early to Eastern Kentucky this year, with temperature and humidity racing one another to 95. This old house was built in the 1950’s and there is no central air–no A/C whatsoever, in fact. There was a wall unit that needed cleaned up and re-framed. I pulled it out when we were moving in last fall.
I got the unit fixed up and built a place for it to sit, but it weighs too much for one person to lift and handle. What to do? You got it, call a local pastor. I did, he and his wife came right over, we got the job done and had a nice visit. Things are cooling down around here.
Thank God for pastors. I don’t know how they do it. He had just arrived home from a morning of hospital visits, when he got my call. But, he didn’t hesitate a bit. He changed his shirt and came right over. And here’s the kicker–he’s not even my pastor. Mine is too old to lift that much. He’s just a guy with a big heart and a lot of love to share.
Thank you, Pastor John. I could not have done it without you.
Memories
I’ve been thinking, lately, about memories. It’s funny how some moments from the past have stuck with me and others are gone, maybe forever. One of the earliest recollections about my father goes back to when I was a pre-schooler. He had lost his knife, while out hunting, and took my brother and me back to retrace his trail and see if we could find it. And, I found it. Got a silver dollar for my attention to duty and spent it on banana popsicles. Read more
