"Empty Shoes"

One of the things I remember growing up is my grandfather's empty shoes in the cellar.  He had an old cellar that I was captivated by as  nine year old boy.   Opening up the door a damp musty smell permeated my nose immediately and as I descended down the stairs on old rubber coated wooden stairs  they creaked and were "sticky" under my feet and made a "greeeech" noise . Upon getting to the bottom facing directly infront of me was an old cupboard with old fashioned ice chest hinges.  On the very bottom of the  cupboard were a line of shoes that looked to me like they were ancient.  They also smelled funny from being in the cellar.  I marveled not becuse they were old but rather my thoughts were that some day they would be "empty shoes" forever.  I did not relish that thought at all.  Death to me at that time was a foreign experience yet to be had.  My grandfather and I were close and so it gave me the creeps to think of that future time.
   Now scroll forward some 55 years later and I have seen death up close many times as I was in the healthcare field and it was just thrust upon me in inopportune times throughout my career.  
     As fast as death seemed to come sometimes, empty shoes came faster and I began to feel over time that this was a commonplace experience and so I got used to it.  But, I often thought of all those I had come to know over time  and wonder "where they were"  and if their soul was truly at rest. For me this was something of a fascination for me and concern of mine.  Because we bond to those we know throughout this life the holes people leave when they are gone don't really disappear.  And our hearts definitely feel it.  One should never get so used to death that we either don't think about it or we tend to think of it in rosy terms that may not be the case.
     Salvation as I have come to know it first hand is an importsnt consideration that I  have found that many people think of as an "extra" possibly  while even on their deathbed.  It definitely is not.  " For all have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God."  Romans, I think.  Therefore there will always be an atonement necessary for "all" of us, get that...a big ALL.  That is inclusive and leaves no one out.  It is a very personl experience to come to know the living God. And it is still a mystery to me that some would never come to know or accept the sacrifice of Jesus.  I know that I have longed to see more of an outpouring of God's Spirit in my time but I also think that Church gets in the way with too many traditions for the Holy Spirit to even enter into.  It takes a contemplative moment and a quiet time for those who gather to allow God's Holy Spirit to even draw close.  Some times Churches are too busy and to programed in our western ways to sense when the Holy Spirit draws near.
    And so I think there will be many empty shoes never to be filled again and I wonder where they all end up.

CAN YOU SEE HIM?

Who is like our God? Whose length of days cannot be numbered.  Who knows the end from the beginning. Whose heart is like that of a lion on the prowl.  Who can catch the Lord whose  feet are like a gazelle faster than a cheetah and the wind itself.  Unable to be seen.  Woe to him that inflames those around him whose justice is not justice but an uneven balance.  But blessed is the man whom the LORD chooses whose feet he catches.  HIs days will run over and his descendants  are without end.  /

The Light Of All Men

                                         
                           Thanks be to God for his  promises for all generations!   Merry Christmas







                                            

THE BIG VISIT

                       “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised,
                  you may now dismiss[d] your servant in peace.
30                         For my eyes have seen your salvation,
31                   which you have prepared in the sight of all nations:
32                           a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
                          and the glory of your people Israel.”

“This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, 35 so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.”

I am and old man.  I have been waiting patiently for years for the consolation of my country, Israel.  Many have come promising change, some zealots, some radicals, some in innocence not realizing what they do.  They stir up hope in the people and stir up trouble for the Romans, those who govern us daily reminding us of their "Gentileness."  They do not understand at all. They have their Gods many of them and all of them on display in some form or another.  We however are an ancient people, storied in our traditions of the One God of all men.  We know who we serve.  And I am tired tonight having stood all day at the temple, my Spirit alive but my flesh very tired.  I was stirred up for some reason all day and I had the urge to come here and wait at the temple.  I didn't really have a clear understanding only I knew I must. And then I saw them a young mother and father and an infant.  My Spirit leapt.  I went forward and looked down and then looked up and the mother.  She handed me the baby and I prophesied..........

     

ATime is coming and now is when light and dark is clear: True Christians stand up!

                                              “See, the enemy is puffed up;
                                                his desires are not upright—
                          but the righteous person will live by his faithfulness[d]—
5                                   indeed, wine betrays him;
                                                he is arrogant and never at rest.
                                  Because he is as greedy as the grave
                                                and like death is never satisfied,
                                  he gathers to himself all the nations
                                               and takes captive all the peoples.

     Are you ready?  A distinction is about to come about!  Can you see it on the horizon?  Just look at Habakkuks' written and inspired revelation of what God is about to do in his time!  He  Habakkuk was in a state of mind that might echo somestate of mind what we would call a depressed state.  The events of his time were appalling and The Sin of Israel increasing as evidenced by those in power taking undue advantage of the poor and underpriviliged.  And he feels there is no justice.

    But God had an answer, judgement by the coming Babylonians and the conquest of Israel.  Everything will be underseige and those who live by faith need not worry! 

   So even now those who speak of this nation as a Christian nation what do they do?  What words do they speak?  War....retribution....death....in the guise of defense> security> protection?  As they embrace their (own)  version of their Christian faith beware, it is not one of holiness, grace, or change, (i,e) being formed and being a new creation as Christ intended for those who embrace true Christianity.  How will a man like Trump, govern?  Seeking  to kill off and go after families of terrorist's?  Barring all of the Muslim faith from entering? Creating an atmosphere of hate, bigotry, and aggression as witnessed in his campaign gatherings?  Speaking of rapists and murders of all Mexicans? and finally building a giant wall of separation between borders of the U.S. and Mexico and alienating the  Arab nations with his rhetoric. Arrogant? Rich and powerful? Blasphemous?  Ridiculing all others who dis him?  Look at his fruit and let the Republicans  and all those who raise his poll numbers to the sky! Open your eyes and see the difference... The Lord is in his holy temple;

    let all the earth be silent before him.

What judgement awaits a nation that professes Christianity and is anything but.  It is the individual that is changed little by little, here a little there a little, line upon line, precept upon precept. In other words it starts in the heart and is transformed by the Spirit and finally into that final nature resembling..............Christ, one that can be raised up into glory, because Sin is no longer remembered by God.

     

     

     

     

Did you Watch carefully?

    Last night I tuned in for the first time this year the republican dabates because I wanted to see for myself what people are going after.  I wanted to see "The Donald" and why he is the front runner of the party he is now representing.   I watched for about 1 and a half hours and listened to the increasingly escalated tone of each one of gthe candidates as they talked in words of war,,,and defending this country against ISIS.   NOT one of them mentioned sending into harms way young men and now women into zones of terror.  It is because we do not want to think that way.  We Americans have been brought up in a culture of "win" and mindset of our independance ever since breaking free from the British rule of a King.  We want to win but do not relish the consequences Vietnam still lingers in my memory.  Far removed from our soil, men died for a cause they were taught to believe in and many were disillusioned upon return to this country.   What is Trump tapping into? and why are people listening to a blasphemous mouth of a man who makes faces and frowns while intelligent men (Bush) share this stage with him and seemingly lose favor to a man like this?  I almost could see the contempt in Bush's face towards Mr. Trump>

     Lest we forget the cost,  we are being drawn into a religious war from Zealots and Jihadists who do not think like we do.  Hiding  behind the Koran and a huge " veil of Religion" they wage a war of destructive force that is insidious.  Recruiting those who either must be dead inside themselves and who do not fear death as we do or they are so deceived that they are totally blind. Their hatred of all things "West is apparent.  Their conscience is seared.  Far removed from  a mentality of being judged for their actions from one who is mightier than they are and one who can eternally throw them into a deeper hell that they bring upon others.  And they will go there, trust me.,,,
    We think that what we see is all there is.  But that is not the case.  Spiritual strongholds and "Princes of geography" stragically hold places in their grip to cause turmoil.  I reference the book of Daniel and his fight to loose the strangle hold that his "Present King"  had upon him and his people because they would not bow down.   In his fast that lasted 21 days, Spiritual  battles raged in the heavenlies. MIchael was prevented from helping Daniel because of the "Prince of Persia." that detained him.  What is that? Or who?  We can only surmise because we cannot see that realm.
   If in fact there is Good and Evil then there are generals and soldiers that lead in that fight even in the heavenlies.  This world and history is replete with stories of Gods and Goddesses  and mythological creatures that exist in another realm.  Is there any truth to it? I think that there is.  But not as we see it.  It remains a mystery for now.
    But my point is,,, we are going to elect someone who has to deal with this present reality "AS IT IS" not how we want it to be.  I never in my dreams was afraid to go to a movie theatre when I was young.  I was a place to be lost in and to escape into a world where everyday things were put out of the mind at least for about 2 hours.  So I wll continue to tune in and be a part of the silent conversation until action is necessary on my part..................Someone please Trump.........Trump!

THE TEMPTATION TO BE ORDINARY

Ordinary:       Being part of the natural order of things; normal, customary, routine.  
     




That is what is the temptation of every day is to me.   Why?  Because I was changed some thirty years ago.........Christ was anything but normal, customary, or routine.   Every day walking with him must have been a continual eye-opener!  Yet there were so many who did not see. So many that were offended by his very life!




      So I was not offended when approached by his presence,  I was afraid!  I knew at that moment in time there was an intersection here on earth  of something I did not understand with my mind but my Spirit comprehended it right away.  And so the journey began.  Along the way it was certainly a twisty road and one I could not have possibly imagined.  Trying to understand the heavenly while being earthly and ordinary takes some doing, but Jesus made it easy when he said " take my yoke...for my burden is light."   
     

     What that has meant though was to die daily as Paul found out and not to succumb to the thinking anymore of the ordinary or routine or customary way of life I had known before else, why seek?  To seek is to want to find, explore, and know.  So now some days are routine with jobs, kids, shopping and all of the other things that we do on a daily basis to fill up our days here on Earth.   But the temptation for me is to forget that an incredible power resides within me waiting for the day when   BAM!   In the twinkling ( sounds benign and harmless!)  of an eye I will be changed.  But now I live daily also with the knowledge that I am different, I do know things, that are inconceiveable and are unquestionably true.  So like Jesus when he was 12 years old defending his need to be in "his father's house." to his mom and dad! (what did they think of him at that moment!)  Ordinary? I don't think so.  So too I must be in my father's house daily not thinking anymore that I am just ordinary and this is not arrogance on my part , but a necessary frame of mind because I (we)  have things to do,  

                                       " If you love me...keep my commands.  Love one another as I have loved you.  Pray without ceasing, Give and it will be given unto you,  pressed down and overflowing....
  Do I believe this as I am scrubbing floors, serving, seniors citizens, taking care of family, and shopping again and again and again............yes I do!   though ordinary events in life must take place................I am no longer ordinary!   I am counter culture................