Walking with Jesus

Just wanted to let you know that I've posted my first post at http://gospiritdeep.blogspot.com/ . Walking with Jesus will still be my blog for our family,and I would love for you to keep reading it. Simply get me your email (comments will not be published) and then answer the invitation I send you via email. I will be making this blog private soon. After that you'll have to follow me at GoSpiritDeep . I would rather not have to split my glog, but doing so will help me present a more ministry focussed face to the world without exposing my family to the predators who are ever present out there.  GoSpiritDeep will be a Bible Study blog, and the sermons and reflections I used to post here will now appear there first. I'm not sure where the political, cultural, and other ideas will go. Perhaps I'll have to be more explicit in the biblical foundations for those posts? Olivia has already privatized her blog, so I'll sum up both our thoughts in he...

One of my core beliefs is that God makes the rules, not people. Only one implication of this reality is that when people do try to make the rules they aren't as good. They tend to be flawed. They tend to favor one group over another. They tend to get worse over time. I believe that is where we are today in America. The Constitution was written in a convention designed to address issues with The Articles of Confederation, which was the first document to unite the various independent States, the 13 original colonies. When such effort seemed beyond reason to accomplish, a new document was proposed. It was ratified with the understanding that discussion of 12 Amendments would follow quickly on specified issues. 10 of these Amendments are now known as the Bill of Rights. The other 2 were not ratified. As more Amendments have been added to the constitution, they have changed the shape and functioning of our government. Unfortunately, some of these changes were (in my opinion) di...

Micah Update: Micah is doing really great right now. We can hold her anytime we want to now (as long as she tolerates it). She can breastfeed once per day, and to say that she is doing very well with that is a real understatement. She switched to vapotherm last Tuesday and has done very well on it. Her eye doctor's latest evaluation was "It looks like there was never anything wrong" with her eyes. She has had two tub baths (loved them!). And, she now weighs an amazing 4 pounds, 14 ounces! Overall, Micah is doing amazingly well, and we may even begin working toward home as early as her due date (September 13th). We feel incredibly blessed, and look forward to achieving Micah's remaining goals before we get her all to ourselves for a little while. We do plan on having a celebration for Micah, but not until her first birthday. The doctors have encouraged us to avoid groups (especially at the holidays), to keep her visitors very limited, and have as much "us...

Where I work, there is always a TV on. If it weren't, I wouldn't watch it. I am daily thankful that we don't have it at home. Most of the time, the noise coming from that socially-engineered direction is completely foolish and often meaningless. Various false 'goddesses of culture' with their collectivistic talk shows harp about their opinions as if their opinions were the only ones that mattered. Meaningless and fanatical game shows and adulterous soap operas usually follow. Other noise describes renovations of such critical locations as the back porch that cost more than the average American makes in 10 years or feature a 3 million dollar, diamond encrusted vent-hood for the stove (coming to your local superstore soon!). Even the news isn't worth listening to, with its focus on our limited options as we consider our vote for the next President. The powers that be have determined that for the first time in our nation's history that I am aware of neither of ...

There was an old lady who swallowed a fly. I don't know why she swallowed the fly, I guess she'll die. At some point, somebody decided that it was the government's job to "fix" the situation. I don't know when it started. Was it the civil war we fought (which was illegal at the time)? Was it the so-called New Deal of 80 years ago (which FDR's unprecedented "use of the authority of government as an organized form of self-help for all classes and groups and sections of our country.")? I don't know, but somehow we decided that individuals, autonomous faith communities, and common sense weren't enough. Somewhere along the way we swallowed the fly. There was an old lady who swallowed a spider, that wiggled and wiggled and tickled inside her. She swallowed the spider to catch the fly. I don't know why she swallowed the fly. I guess she'll die. At some point, somebody decided our government needed to fix social ...

We are politically conservative, Bible-believing Christians. We are a reflection of the hopes and aspirations of our Founding Fathers. We pay our bills and buy our groceries without foodstamps (when we can). We believe in the Constitution, in prayer, and in a strong defensive military. We like small government and the right to speak our minds freely and defend our homes. We believe murders should be executed because God says so. We believe in saving the baby humans and outlawing abortion on demand. We don't believe in a Welfare State. We don't trust career politicians from any party. We don't want the federal government to make us all equal or control education (indoctrination). We don't believe in taxpayer-funded sin. We don't believe minority views should control all of us. We don't want a President who appeals to liberals and 'moderates'. We are the majority. This is our country too.

A few days ago I had a conversation with a member of my family and God gave me a phrase that I've been reflecting on since Christmas: We need to try to live in a PG world. I'm not going to suggest that this is easy to do (the world is absolutely not PG rated). But, it is at least attemptable. If you are a Christian, I want to challenge you to consider the influences you allow to shape your heart and your soul. If you are not a follower of Jesus, I want you to consider that maybe the compromise you see so many "Christians" have with the world isn't what God intends for us. We aren't reflecting the reality we claim to believe, and it is largely because we want to be entertained by worldly things. So, Christians... I am providing an action list. It isn't in any particular order, and I really don't need to tell you how these things affect our hearts. However, if you feel something on this list is too extreme (is that possible in a faith where a perfec...

. 9-11 8 The Lord sent a word against Jacob, And it has fallen on Israel. 9 All the people will know — Ephraim and the inhabitant of Samaria— Who say in pride and arrogance of heart: 10 “ The bricks have fallen down, But we will rebuild with hewn stones; The sycamores are cut down, But we will replace them with cedars .” 11 Therefore the LORD shall set up The adversaries of Rezin against him, And spur his enemies on, 12 The Syrians before and the Philistines behind; And they shall devour Israel with an open mouth. For all this His anger is not turned away, But His hand is stretched out still. 13 For the people do not turn to Him who strikes them, Nor do they seek the LORD of hosts. 14 Therefore the LORD will cut off head and tail from Israel, Palm branch and bulrush in one day. 15 The elder and honorable, he is the head; The prophet who teaches lies, he is the tail. 16 For the leaders of this people cause them to err, And those who are led by them are destroyed. 17 Theref...

There are some evils we choose, and there are some that sneak into our life because we get lazy, compromise, grow up with them, feel compelled by culture, or don't see life from God's point of view. 'Obviously' we should avoid the... well, 'obvious' ones such as adultery, gluttony, pride, living a homosexual lifestyle, and throwing a tire-iron at the lady who cut you off in traffic this morning. These are a no brainer. I'm not saying they are easy choices for everyone all the time (that car-lady lives in my town too!), just obvious ones. But, not all evils are obvious. . . I've been asked to preach on October 31st. I'm praying about what to bring, and God has been bringing the idea of evil (guilt), mercy, and reformation. For those who don't know, this date is not only Halloween, but Reformation Day, the anniversary of the day Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door of the church in Wittenberg, calling for the Catholic Church to refor...

. So, I read this ' manifesto ' supossedly written by Joe Stark, the man who flew his private plane into an IRS building in Austin recently. In my personal opinion, the man was not crazy. I believe Joe Stark was angry, hurt, desperate, even at the end of his rope, but he was not just some vauguely 'insane' guy. I believe he made a bad choice, one that seems irrational, perhaps. But, I don't think that's the same thing. He was serious and he was committed. He was committed to standing up for what he believed in and he was serious about forcing others to hear what he had to say in a world that didn't care about his voice. Guess what? It worked. We're all talking about it, reading about it, and writing about it. Joseph Andrew Stark was a man of resolve, and whether you agree with his actions (would you dare?) or not, I don't believe you can just call him a nut and shake your head. He was serious about what he believed, deadly serious. . As a side note...

The Bible does not mention the lottery. There are no references to it at all, because it did not exist when the Scriptures were written. In fact, the only possible references to ‘gambling’ in the Bible regard the casting of lots for the cloak of Jesus at Calvary. Truthfully, I believe even this event was more about decision making than gambling and says nothing about whether what they did was right or wrong. Therefore, we who oppose the lottery need to choose carefully how we include the Bible in our conversation about it. I will attempt to do so with several general and one particular biblical realities. A case could be made for opposing the lottery on several bases. God instructs us to work for our money (2 Thessalonians 3:10) and that a man who wants to get rich quick is not faithful but evil (Proverb 28:20,22). He says looking to Fortune and Destiny for our security is the same as ‘forsaking the Lord’ (Isaiah 65:11-12). And, God says hasty wealth does not last. (Proverb 13:...

The company's trademarked logo is "Life is short. Have an affair." Its commercial was banned from the Superbowl, a venue not normally given to conservative values. In fact, its commercials used to be on TV only after 9 o'clock, just like its dial-a-porn and fortune-telling friends. It has 3.3 million registered users. 200,000 of those members live in Texas and have joined in the last two years! The company is called the Ashley Madison Agency, and it provides dating services for married people, especially women who are in unhappy marriages but can't afford a divorce in today's trouble economy. Are you kidding me!? I don't watch a lot of TV, and I guess I'm behind the times. But, with the Swine Flu scare growing I wanted to watch some news last night and see what I could discover to help protect my family. So, it may be that I'm naive, but I was absolutely floored when I saw a commercial advertising adultery. Now, it wasn't just a dirty commercia...

It’s no secret that I don’t like Halloween. I don’t dress up in October. I don’t carve pumpkins. I don’t hand out candy to children at my door. I don’t go to “church fall festivals”. I don’t watch Halloween movies. I don’t buy Halloween candy. I don’t do anything Halloween. But, why don’t I? I used to celebrate it. I used to dress us and go trick-or-treating. I used to sneak around in the dark with my friends and imagine all sorts of creatures lurking in the shadows. I used to be excited to hand out candy to the children who came to our door. Hey, we used to run a haunted house out of our garage! But, then, about the time I really started living for the Lord, I was exposed to some of the origins of Halloween and I began to grow in my understanding that any association with Halloween on my part is a compromise of my Christian faith. I’ve been looking for a site that will introduce you to some of the history behind our Halloween customs, and I think I’ve found three that you’d do well t...

Lonely is a cultured man in a time without culture. He walks among the dazed and lives among the distracted. Constantly, he knows himself to be out of place. He thinks with either compassion or contempt on those around him. If he is a kind soul, not too deeply affected by the stain of pride so often associated with that attitude which so soon takes the place of true gentility, then he considers those among whom he spends his life with compassion. If, however, he is of the more common sort and has only an arrogant wisdom regarding the lack of sophistication and complexity of interaction that his peers lack, then he is most to be pitied. He, being so far above others in his own estimation, can never appreciate the beauty of those simple lives, which it is the duty of true dignification to esteem. He, the antihero, is lonely because his pride will not allow him to know the company of others. The other, the heroic wanderer, is lonely in a deeper, more meaningful way. For, he ...

This is one of the key topics of our generation. Even if you disagree with the video, I believe these are the days. If not we ourselves, then our children or grandchildren will have to deal with these End Times realities. In either case, this New Age teaching is dangerous and believers are falling away into it. A New Earth ( see a Christian Review ) is Wrong. Oprah's Theology is False. As Christians, we must proclaim the truth! Matthew 24:23-28 reads: "Then if anyone says to you, 'Behold, here is the Christ,' or 'There {He is,}' do not believe {him.} For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect. Behold, I have told you in advance. So if they say to you, 'Behold, He is in the wilderness,' do not go out, {or,} 'Behold, He is in the inner rooms,' do not believe {them.} For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes even to the west, so will...