Category: Uncategorized

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God —Matthew 5:8 Purity is not innocence— it is much more than that. Purity is the result of continued spiritual harmony with God.” Some seem to see God in everything. Others seem to never see God at all. For most of us, God moves in and out of our vision. Does it seem to you that the God who is concerned with every aspect of your life, who loves you and who wants the best for you is more real on Sunday than on Monday? He is no less present on Monday. The problem is with us. Isn’t that a result of our state of spiritual harmony with  Him?  After a Kairos weekend, after seeing God move with power, after being focused on Him for an entire weekend, it seems I can see Him in everything. But that vision soon begins to fade, as the dust and dirt of the world makes its way back into my life. We know that time spent with God is important and it’s not just because we have so much to learn; it’s because we need to be “in tune” with Him. We […]

Today OC is way ahead of me: “Goodness and purity should never be traits that draw attention to themselves, but should simply be magnets that draw people to Jesus Christ. If my holiness is not drawing others to Him, it is not the right kind of holiness; it is only an influence which awakens undue emotions and evil desires in people and diverts them from heading in the right direction. A person who is a beautiful saint can be a hindrance in leading people to the Lord by presenting only what Christ has done for him, instead of presenting Jesus Christ Himself. Others will be left with this thought— “What a fine person that man is!” That is not being a true “friend of the bridegroom”— I am increasing all the time; He is not.” I’m just not at the point of being concerned that my goodness and purity may be drawing attention to myself instead of to Christ. If any of you who know me personally have had that problem, PLEASE let me know. Instead I am feeling more like I need to go back to the beginning to ground myself in my relationship with Christ so that […]

LaDonna Taylor will be with us at Amana on Sunday at our 10 a.m. service. I look forward to her visit since last time she was with us Jesus healed my knee. My knee was as bad as Pastor T’s or Sally’s. I had a prognosis of continued pain and an eventual knee replacement. Since LaDonna’s visit, I have been pain-free. I have no explanation why Jesus would heal me instantaneously while others who love more and serve better need surgery for relief or continue to suffer. I do know that, should He choose to, Jesus heals, for His reasons, in His time. I am learning that we can’t save, heal or fix ourselves. In my sinful arrogance, I am somewhat slower to learn that I can’t save, heal or fix anyone else. Dr. Taylor has apparently learned this lesson. Perhaps that’s why her ministry is so blessed. She just does what she does best, play her violin, and point to Jesus.  When Jesus uses us in any small way to do the mighty things He does, we tend to think it’s all about us. Worse the person blessed may conclude that it was us and not Jesus. That’s […]

When I begin to work on my blog each morning, i do a couple of things. Sometimes I will look for the  definition of a key word. Today I did that for Carnality. It wasn’t much help. It means “worldly, earthly or relating to the physical.” Then I will do an image search using the same word. I got an eyeful when I did that with carnality. After reading and rereading OC, carnality reminds me of chewing gum, stuck on the sole of your shoe. Just when I think my walk is going pretty well, I get a reminder that I’m still pretty worldly. “Where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal . . . ?” —1 Corinthians 3:3 Maybe I’ll get involved in some “envy, strife and division” or maybe some temptation, thought long ago banished will return. “The natural man, or unbeliever, knows nothing about carnality. The desires of the flesh warring against the Spirit, and the Spirit warring against the flesh, which began at rebirth, are what produce carnality and the awareness of it.” I think what OC is saying is that before salvation, these pieces of gum on our shoes […]

Down in the valley I don’t do well in valleys and I think I’m in one. Saturday I attended a two and a half hour meeting that should have taken twenty minutes. It’s for a ministry I love, but it’s not the part where we see God work, but where  we do mundane planning. It’s not where God is in view but where we produce work that God will really have to miraculously transform. This week I face mostly paperwork. I like being a trial lawyer because I like being in trial, not doing paperwork. My big project at home, new steps for our patio, has moved from the won’t-it-be-great stage to the will-it-ever-be-done stage. Finally, I love winter, but really will this one ever end. I was as cold yesterday as I was all winter. Mainly I was looking forward to the hills of spring and have had enough of the valleys of winter. To top it all OC is particularly cryptic today. But I think he’s talking about what I’m going through, as usual. “Did not our heart burn within us?”Luke 24:32 “We need to learn this secret of the burning heart. Suddenly Jesus appears to us, […]

Have I been crucified with Christ? Galatians 2:20 To say I have been is an affirmation of a fact, a “done deal.” It’s more than a good intention, a promise to try. OC tells us that its result is “then all that Christ wrought for me on the Cross is wrought in me. The free committal of myself to God gives the Holy Spirit the chance to impart to me the holiness of Jesus Christ. “. . . nevertheless I live. . . .” The individuality remains, but the mainspring, the ruling disposition, is radically altered. The same human body remains, but the old satanic right to myself is destroyed.” How can I know that this crucifixion is a fact in me? It certainly has to be more than a feeling. There must be some evidence.  “And the life which I now live in the flesh . . . ,” not the life which I long to live and pray to live, but the life I now live in my mortal flesh, the life which men can see, “I live by the faith of the Son of God.” This faith is not Paul’s faith in Jesus Christ, but the […]

  I am blessed that my wife is also my best friend. Communication may be the fire of any relationship but a relationship is great when words are often not necessary. Merely being in the presence of the friend is enough and communication takes place without words.  If we are to be true friends of God our relationship with Him should develop to the “mere presence” level. When we start with God we delight in our time with Him but that time is infrequent and it takes effort. We have to go to our “special” place. We need solitude and silence. At the very early stages we do most of the talking. But as with any friendship, as it develops we begin to listen and listening becomes a greater delight than talking. My strongest memory of my first date with Rosemary was that we talked. I came away from that experience feeling that I had never spoken that much or that openly with anyone. It was just the beginning of our great relationship. That’s what we seek with God.  With a friend you never need to ask what they want. You just know it. But even after years of […]

I like this painting of Abraham. It’s not Abraham after he is the Father of Nations. It’s Abraham when Abraham Believed God. He  believed Him  before there was evidence of the fulfillment of His promises. What does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” Romans 4:3 God made promises to Abraham, promises that he would be  blessed to be a blessing.  Those promises were kept by God in His time and in His place. Abram had to first become a new creature, at least one with a new name. He had to leave country and family and go to a land he did not know. He had to have faith he would father a nation even as his body and that of his wife withered and aged. He had to believe even when asked to give up his son.  Abraham  believed God but it wasn’t easy and it wasn’t quick. Abraham had to become God’s man. To be God’s man means to be separate, one of the definitions of holiness. “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even […]