What if heaven had a device that measured the percentage of Holy Spirit work versus political discourse in the world?

When Jesus came down from the hill, large crowds followed him. 2 Then a man suffering from a dreaded skin disease came to him, knelt down before him, and said, “Sir, if you want to, you can make me clean.”[a]
3 Jesus reached out and touched him. “I do want to,” he answered. “Be clean!” At once the man was healed of his disease. 4 Then Jesus said to him, “Listen! Don't tell anyone, but go straight to the priest and let him examine you; then in order to prove to everyone that you are cured, offer the sacrifice that Moses ordered.” Matthew 8

If heaven had a device that measured the amount of holy spirit work and the amount of political discourse in the world what would our world look like to God? What if God could see the  people with the strongest holy spirit filled faith and compared  that with the parts of the world that had too much political discourse?

For the longest time I often wonder if there is way too much political discourse in the world. This is easy to see with the 24 hour cable news channels competing with  all the other sources. As most probably know the news media is big business that strives to search for newer and bigger headlines to capture more advertising dollars.  They hire 'talking heads' who will put their own spin on the news or offer political opinions.  We listen to these pundits like they were ear candy so we can go into our various social circles and offer their opinions as our own.

There is so much political discourse that I fear it is drowning the one true  source for our contentment: the holy spirit. If God could look into a glow globe and see the parts of the world where the holy spirit is doing it's greatest work I fear it wouldn't be in the  bigger cities of the world, nor would it be in the civilize regions that have access to the 24 hour news networks.

As I reflected on the leper colony in the time of Jesus I thought  how similar this is to our modern day political world.  In the day of Christ it was extremely unpopular to just 'hang' with any one with that dreaded disease that many thought was the result of sin. Many were discouraged from going near the leper colony, or even associated with them. 

When Jesus came upon a man with leprosy he essentially broke the traditional mode of how we ought to respond to anyone who doesn't fit our world view.  As I read about this healing I started thinking of what if scenarios.  What if instead of listening to political pundits we retreated and prayed to the God of the universe for his understanding of these events? What if we spent time every morning meditating on God's word and asking God to revealed to us something to take us through the day?  What if we all prayed for God to fill our God shaped vacuum of our heart with God's love for the world and his people?

God doesn't want anyone to perish. He wants all to come to the cross and see  the sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus Christ as something for them.  The words from John 3:16 'for God so loved the world that he gave his own begotten that whoever believes in him shall not perish,but have eternal life'. 

God's word is life giving. God's words are life saving and God does his greatest work through people who constantly search after those words until their holy spirit is so sufficiently filled that others can see something different  about them  which  they do not see through those who listen to the political pundits and those who choose to be filled with the unwise wisdom of those talking heads.

As your holy spirit is filled with God's radiance God will be able to use you to impact the world with the greatest news ever told!

Some thoughts of how we can help a family hit hard by sudden, unexpected traumatic grief.

 34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:34

This week I received some tragic news from good friends of ours. This wife and mother of two teenage daughters lost her husband to a sudden and unexpected event. Until that tragedy they were a normal family doing normal stuff all families do. One moment they were planning future events and the next moment they were dealing with deep profound grief. I began reflecting on what our Lord commands us to do when tragedy strikes close by. Are we to turn and run in the opposite direction just to avoid the awkward situation of looking them in the eye and having nothing to say to them, or are we to try to wrap our arms around the grieving family and sit in the mire of their grief just as Job's friends did when Job lost everything, including his family.That morning my son and I did our devotions in the lower room of our home. The chapter I read came from the Gospel of John, chapter 13. I

How should we respond when devastating loss enters our world? The natural tendency of some is to become so ingrained in life's activities in order to try to drown out the sorrow of those around us. Some will try to convince themselves that the Church is meeting all of their needs and there is nothing more they need to do. Still others may decide to cut their friendships with the grieving family and gravitate toward others that make them feel good. Still other may try to numb their pain with alcohol until sleep settles in. What does Jesus say we should do?

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.

When those you know who are effected by personal tragedy the answer is simple: show your love for them by helping them with the simple things that are no longer simple after their loss. Just as Job's friends sat with him in the aftermath of job losing his family and everything he owned we are commanded to do the same for those facing personal calamity.

When sudden loss enters our lives we lose the capacity to think clearly, do the daily tasks that were simple for us to do before the loss. Simple everyday decisions also become more difficult to make after our loss. We also tend to gravitate to the high starch, high trans fat comfort foods because it makes us feel good, at least on a temporary basis. If it is the father who passed away the family now must find a way to keep the lawn cut, the grass clippings raked up and this is in addition to the indoor tasks that need to get done. Roles change as more responsibility is placed on the children to help with those tasks. Teenage children may notice a drop in household income and may be forced to take jobs to help support the household.

The sudden death can be the shining moment for the body of Christ. While the family is grieving over the loss of their beloved family member this body can rally around them and help perform the chores the family needs to get done. Things like bringing meals over and staying and eating with them, taking the family out to a movie, renting a movie and staying and watching it with them, asking them if there is anything they would like you to pick up at the grocery store, calling them at different points to see if they are doing well, become face book friends with them and post encouraging thoughts or bible verses that will encourage them. These are just some of the things you can do to encourage them. To most of us looking inward this is a momentary pause before hopping back on the expressway called life, but to a grieving family recovering from the pain of this loss is part of a journey that may take several years to recover. This family will recover sooner when the body of Christ decides to strap on their hiking boots, put on their backpacks and learn to walk with them on this journey no matter how long this journey takes.

The bible tells us that we need to be the hands and feet of Jesus. You become God's instrument to help a grieving family heal. I have a feeling that when God sees this from the heavens he can smell the sweet aroma of fellowship flowing upward to the heavens!

We are called to be Children of the blessing, not a curse

J
John 16:33New American Standard Bible (NASB)
33 These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.

I was reminded through a simple stroll with my bride of 26 years of how important my faith  has become. Up ahead in what use to be a bank was a open doorway with sign beckoning us to come and have our palms read.  As we walked by I saw one young woman looking intently at her palm as the palm reader told what she thought she needed to hear. As I glanced at this momentary encounter I could not help thinking of the numbers of people in this world with no faith or a weakened down faith mixed with new age  and every thing good philosophies falling for the snake oil of this palm reader.

I remember graduating from Hopkins Lindbergh class of 1974 into a uncertain world of gas shortages, a cold war that was beginning to thaw, and the office of Presidency that came under scrutiny with the resignation of Richard Nixon and watching those around me collapsing under the heaviness of life's uncertainty with a economic repression.  

That spring I had just accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior and Lord and little did I realize it at the time the little seed of that commitment was growing into assurance.

My commitment to Jesus Christ taught me to put one foot in front of the other and worship God regardless of how I was feeling.  Feelings, I have learned, are fleeting and temporal. My faith, on the other hand, was based on the facts found in the bible and in the archaeological research.

This week in the news we observed another tragedy in the news when a 19 year old South Carolina man got up at the conclusion of a bible study and killed 9 people point blank saying he had to do it. What he didn't know at the time was the reaction he would find when he faced the judge and the families of those loved ones stood up one by one and told the 19 year old young man that while they miss their love one they forgave him.

To outside observers with no faith this reaction is incomprehensible, but to those who accepted Jesus Christ it is perfectly understandable and something we are called to do. 

With each painful tragedy we have a choice to make. Do I run to my liquor cabinet and pour a scotch and water to cope with the tragedies of life, or do I go to my knee and ask God to help me make sense of it? He wants to be your guide in this life and teach you to be a blessing to everyone you encounter. The things you learn in your new found faith will give you the strength to walk by those open doorways when the beckoning palm reader calls you.

All you have to do to begin this new journey is to pray this prayer.  

Dear Jesus, I am distraught over the tragedies I have been reading in the news and watching on television. I know I cannot cope without you. I know I am a sinner and  have fallen short of your perfection. I know that Jesus Christ was your perfect sacrifice when he died on the cross of Calgary, was buried for 3 days before his resurrection and appeared to thousands before his ascension. I ask you to come into my life and help me by being my guide and giving me the assurance that no matter what happens in this life that I find my permanent home in heaven.  Thank you Lord for your assurance of salvation and giving me the ability to cope with all future uncertainties.

The simple act of decluttering one room filled with memories helped me see the freedom we have in Christ

The Life of Freedom

5 Christ has set us free to live a free life. So take your stand! Never again let anyone put a harness of slavery on you. Galations 5:1

I took a couple of days this week to help my wife. We have this room that is so literally full of stuff since Maria died that the room became the place to take her stuff  to when we were unable to handle the emotions of them. Many of us who go through tragedies, traumas in life will do the same thing. Pretty much everyone at some point in their lives will do the same thing.

Those once warm fuzzy possessions of our l loved one now become painful reminders of them that become forgotten and tossed in a room. To go into that room becomes impossible until you are ready. Some are able to successfully navigate through the memories of the past. Some are not, at least not for several years.

I knew a couple who were so distraught after the tragic loss of their daughter that they sold their house and moved just to avoid the pain of reminders of their loss. I knew another couple who paid other family members to pack their deceased child's possessions and move them to a storage room. A couple of decades later they still are not able to deal with her earthly possessions.

In my own grief journey I have realize that life is going to be hard and painful events will occur at different points in our lives; yet when they do we have a loving Savior who is willing to walk with us to help us navigate around those minefield of painful memories.

With Jesus help you no longer need those mind numbing activities to stop the pain. Addictions of every kind do not need to be kept up when we have God to help us heal.

In the process of decluttering that room I found this piece done by my wife years ago that best captures the lies we tell ourselves that keep us from moving forward in the healing process. I think it captures the essence of the God we serve.

1. God is good-Psalm 119:68 When things do not go right the enemy will move in and cause you to question God's goodness. The truth is regardless of your circumstances, regardless of what you feel God is good and everything he does is good.


a. when you feel from God and you are tempted to feel that he doesn't love you

b. When you feel ugly or fat- remember God created you as a masterpiece. Psalm 139:19 I praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made

C. When I feel rejected. God accepts me through Christ. Ephesians 1:4-5

d,When you need more things and are consumed by desires. God is enough. Psalm 23:1 The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want

e. When you feel anxious about your circumstances. Psalm 37:5 Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will act.

f.When I feel something has happened that will ruin my life forever. God doesn't make mistakes.Psalm 18:30

g When I feel my sin is too great to be forgiven.. The blood of Christ is sufficient to cover all my sin.
I John1:7

h.When I feel like my potential is limited by my past. 2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ he is a new creature.

I. When I feel like I don't know where to turn for help and advice. Psalm 107:20

j.When I feel like God is asking me to do something that is impossible. Philippians 4:13

k. When I want to blame others for my responses. i am responsible before God for my behavior, responses and choices. Ezekiel 18:20

l.When I feel that submitting to an authority will steal my freedom. The greatest freedom I can experience is found by submitting to God ordained authority. Titus3:1

m.When I feel like giving up on the church. I need the church. 1 Corinthians 12:20-21, 25 There are many parts we are one body.

n. When I feel like a career is more rewarding and valuable than marriage and motherhood. In the will of God there is no higher calling than to be a wife and mother. As a guy, there is no greater calling than to be a father and husband to one woman.

o. When I become consumed with wanting God to fix my life. Ephesians 1:4-6 I Thessalonians 5:23

p. When I don't understand a difficult situation I am facing. It is impossible to be godly without suffering. 1 Peter 5:10

q. When I want things to go my way. It's not about me, it 's about HIm. Romans 11:36As the day ended and we saw a once overflowing room get bigger with spaces to walk between I could feel a huge lifting of burden from my shoulder. Taking that step and getting rid of the things too painful to process is true freedom in Christ.

Simple truths, yet so profound. No matter what profound event had occurred in your life Christ wants you to know that he is there to carry your burden and walk with your through life's journey

Sadness and Jo y, two cousins who have more in common than you might think

16 However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name. 1 Peter 4:16

When I was younger I use to think that sadness and joy couldn't exist at the same time. Either joy had to go back into it's closet when sadness arrived, or sadness had to leave upon joy's entrance. When sorrow comes our way we are often reminded to 'be strong and don't cry'. When sorrow comes we go about our busy days of life looking for empty spaces to stuff our forlorn feelings of sadness into, until that is when there are no more empty spaces to be found because all the pain we shoved in pushes outward demanding to come out.

Then one day I saw the statistics and what happens when people neglect their pain. I recently read about the higher than originally thought suicide of our military woman; this on top of the other statistics of our military men. One article went to describe the traits of those who go into the military. Some go in trying to escape painful pasts consisting of childhood traumas. As the old saying goes they jump from one frying pan into the next.


Looking back on my own journey I think we have it all wrong. Joy and sorrow can coexist in our lives. Instead of shoving all of our pain into those empty spaces we learn to embrace those feelings by finding trusted listeners willing to travel life's journey with us all of us would be better off for it.


As a Christian I learned that when life's sorrows come it is Jesus that helps me wrap my head around the pain associated with that loss. I've learned that nothing else really works. Other things help, but they do not completely heal the pain. Through my relationship with Jesus I am introduced to a sanctuary of believers who are willing to lift me up like Aaron lifted up Moses. Through God's command not to neglect the Sabbath I develop a weekly ritual of attending a worship service and crossing paths with other wounded warriors (military or otherwise).


As a Christian I learned that it is ok to embrace those feelings of sadness that occasionally appear because I know that Jesus answers my prayers in my time of need. Tips I can offer you when your enter the house of sorrow:
Find trusted listeners willing to listen to your pain without judgment

Journal your thoughts

Read the Gospel of John and write down key verses

Start attending a Christian church near you.

Join a small life group where you can share life's stories 

Think of your Christian journey as a Spiritual Adventure filled with 

joy and sadness.

Life may be filled with sadness, but over abundant joy will abound!

Spring time is a sign of newness in the air and newly minted high school graduates, open houses, food, fellowship and wishing them blessings as they take on life!

26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Matthew 6:26

I love Spring for all of it's newness. The dead of winter is gone with the trees and flowers in full bloom and the grass we thought would never come back from its dormancy now brims to life calling us out doors! Spring is a time when we get to see how much our neighborhood children have grown through the year!  As our children grow they take on more responsibility and with that responsibility the decision making for their lives. Spring is a transition time of saying goodbye to their younger selves and opening doors to their new selves!

Spring is also a time of high school open houses, food, fellowship and wishing that newly minted graduate a grand farewell as they make their way into the world and develop what their heavenly father intended them to be. Open houses can be a mix bag of emotions as we grieve the years when we had greater parental control. For some of us relinquishing control can be difficult. Like a childhood game of tug-a-war we struggle to hang on to the rope (control)  as our kids pull from the other side. 

The cable news channels do not give us any hope that it is Ok to relinquish such control. The threats of violence combined with sudden losses makes us want to hang onto our kids way past the point when we ought to release them. Instead of saying goodbye we want to gather them up and hide them in a shelter from life's storms. 

 When we hang onto our kids past the point we should have released them we run the risk of harming their psychological development. 

Which is why I am comforted by the words of the bible for it is in that ancient text that God speaks volumes to us. Like the verse from Matthew 6 when he reminds us to look at the birds of the air for their heavenly father feeds them and yet you are much more valuable as they?'  

That verse is a reminder that our God, the one who sent his son to the cross to die for us, loves our children as much as we do. It is a reminder that as  we say 'goodbye' to our children we take a more strategic role and praying for them.

One of the things I learned from my grief journey is how resilient our children are when storms come. They are stronger than we often give them credit for. I believe that God had a major stake in our children's lives and when storms come he often wraps a protective sheathing around them until they are ready to handle whatever it is that effected their parents. 

Finally, as you go about your list of open houses enjoying the food and wishing these newly minted graduates farewell remember that their heavenly father loves them and wants nothing but the best for their lives. Mom's and dad's, your job is done and now you get to sit back and watch your child become what God intended them to be!

Ex-Muslims Lighting the Way for Islam's Collapse? - World - CBN News - Christian News 24-7 - CBN.com

Ex-Muslims Lighting the Way for Islam's Collapse? - World - CBN News - Christian News 24-7 - CBN.com

You will never find this news in the mainstream media, but  it corresponds to all of the research I have seen where people of the Muslim faith are coming to Christ through dreams and revelations. Many people of the Muslim faith are coming to Christ because of the atrocities of ISIS.  If you watch the video at the link above one Pastor is baptizing 100's of Muslim's into the Christian faith.  It further illustrates to me that as we go about our business day we should be praying for those who go to the mosques and for the encounters we have with those of he Muslim faith because many of them are in crisis with the daily  bombardment of ISIS and Radical Islam's stomach turning attacks.   This is a much larger war than the one we read about in the headlines.  It is a spiritual war that requires us to use our greatest resource: prayer. 

The reporter is convinced that Islam is a dying religion and the war radical Islam has created is a perfect example of their disparate desire to hang on to their faith.  Jesus Christ is tirelessly working through believers everywhere to give them the real hope for a better tomorrow. Message? Keep praying, tirelessly go to your knees and pray for our Muslim friends and do not shy away from opportunities to share your faith with them because many of them are searching and are in crisis right now.