FOT 2011

So here it is a little more than a week since the Feast of Tabernacles has ended. I knew pretty early on during the 8 days I was in the middle of something special. And as the week progressed it became obvious that this was a different, more profound, better experience than any of my previous 30 plus celebrations of this festival.

A lot of things made it better, great worship music, insightful teaching, good food. None of those things alone or together put it over the top for me. But two things made a powerful difference.

First, from the very beginning an attitude of service was stressed. There was a willingness from everyone there to serve in any way they needed to without organization or coercion. I have never seen an event like this run so smoothly with nothing more than letting everyone know that if you see something that needs to be done, you have the freedom to do it.

The second thing that made a difference was the emphasis on Yahshua. Every teaching, lunchtime discussions, and talks around the campfire all revolved around figuring out how to live our lives in ways that let His light and love shine through us. No arguments about our particular brand of Torah keeping, or which traditions we hang on to.

This was a special group of people we kept FOT with this year that have heard all of that kind of rhetoric before and have come to the realization that any faith without our Savior as it’s center and focus is vain and worthless.

And I saw people healed as we prayed for and anointed them…no, really! Not just some vague testimony of “my cold seems to be getting better”, but real tangible physical and spiritual healing. I thank my Heavenly Father for allowing my family to be part of this. It is certainly something we will never forget and hope to continue to move forward in our spiritual journey. I think and hope revival is on the horizon.

What's New On My I-POD

I like finding new music . Here is some stuff I'm enjoying right now. Take a listen. :-)

Jill Andrews

Praises For Yahweh

Switchfoot - Where I Belong

My Son's New Book

My son's new book he just had published after a lot of hard work and blessings. Broken Cisterns

The End Is Near

The end of summer anyway…

As long, warm days are being slowly being beaten back by the cooler days and nights of the approaching autumn I realize it’s been a couple of months since I wrote anything here. As with most every summer I had great expectations of what I might accomplish. And as with every season in life there were disappointments and successes and that sort of has a melancholy feel to it.

But one thing I do know for sure is that no matter what happens in life I am blessed beyond what I deserve. And with that in mind I decided to post a short list of the good things that have happened to me and my family in the last few months.

-We traveled out of state a couple of times this summer and got to meet a lot of really great people and renew some old friendships.

-We went to a family reunion and I saw cousins I hadn’t seen in over 30 years. It was really nice to reconnect with many of them.

-I saw Switchfoot in concert. I appreciate their music more than anything else out there right now.

-We finally got a good crop of tomatoes from our garden this summer after three less than successful attempts.

-My wonderful daughter had the opportunity to stand firm for her belief in observance of the 7th day Sabbath in a work situation. Yahweh blessed her employer with the wisdom to see the value of making the issue go away. And our daughter blessed us with her easy decision to do the right thing in spite of staring down the potential loss of her job.

-My son starts his final semester of college tomorrow. Those four years seemed both long and yet in retrospect have flown by. Chalk one up for the homeschoolers.

-My grandson starts his “formal” schooling in about a week. Looks like it will be a family effort to home school him. I’m looking forward to my part.

That’s all I’ve got for now. I hope to post more regularly, but will see what my Heavenly Father has in store.

A Summer Stroll Around The Neighborhood

Six months ago I took winter pics shown here


So now here is the same walk this morning

And He Knew He Had Found Life

He looked down at the brightly glowing eyes
Filled with magnificent wonder
New life in the small gentle hand reaching
Reaching up for comfort and hope
And he knew he had found love

He marveled at the intricate complexity
Felt the elaborate texture pressing his fingertips
Heard the whispered secrets of swaying branches
Tasted the aroma of the gentle blooms
And he understood the magnificent perfection

His awe inspired gaze of the great expanse
Lungs filling with the touch of the eternal
Exulting in his own smallness
Wonderment at so great a treasure
And he knew he had found life

Deuteronomy 6:6-9 A Translation

These words, matters, and causes I charge you with this day shall be the center of your life, a part of all your thoughts and feelings. By constant repetition and persistence you shall sharpen your children’s and grandchildren’s minds with my words. When you are sitting as a judge among your family you shall arrange these words to build up your family. You shall declare these words when you walk through the course of your life, when you rest, when you commune with your wife, and when you rise up and strengthen yourself to succeed. These words shall clothe you as a sign of your power. You should wear them like a guard wrapped around your mind. And you shall record and inscribe them in a prominent and conspicuous place on your household(family). These words shall act as a gatekeeper making you think about and judging everything that comes to your family.

The Penetrating Darkness

Moments ago an answer to prayer
Joy in heaven’s ordained purpose
Now an inconvenient tangible pain without voice
Only softly flowing tears for another victory lost

The enemy gloats at another victory
Beating down the best and the brightest among us
Convincing there is some intangible connection
Something more than simple unity in Spirit

Divide and conquer his perverse battle cry
Magnify the differences in the obscuring gray
Letting us know we’ll never be enough
Crushing out hope with the penetrating darkness

Love Descended

Love descended from on high embracing a new reality
More than those like us can ever deserve
It’s all quite inexplicable really
Leaving reality behind for this mess
Appears we aren’t meant to deserve it though
Just something he wanted to do for us

It is a grand and glorious gift that love brought us
Beyond fathoming that the undeserving would complain
It’s all quite inexplicable really
A complaining mess we are though
Even as the gift was offered
Our mistrust stabbed him in the back

Descending from on high love will have the last laugh
Love will have his way in spite of us
It’s really quite easy to explain
Love is meant to be shared, to grow
Love will have his revenge on this mess
Saving us in spite of ourselves

Passover Snow

Visions of Paradise

The next breath you take
Is your first
And your last
Feel it
The flow of eternity
Filling your lungs
Embrace the renewal
Send it back to Him

Drink it in
Spirit to overflowing,
Overwhelming all else
Give it away
It’s not yours to keep
No, it’s your gift
To give
To His own

With watchful eyes you see
What is behind
Things yet to be
Know it
Love’s yearning
Drawing you
Holding you fast
Visions of Paradise

Born Again

“I was lost when you found me here and I was broken beyond repair. Then you came along and you sang your song over me. It feels like I’m born again. It feels like I’m living, for the very first time, for the very first time in my life.”-Third Day

“It may be a fire, but you gotta get it into your heart”-Moody Blues

Passover is in a week. Here I am, once again wondering about and reflecting on the past year. This last year has brought some difficult times for me and my family. It has also given us times of great joy. It has given us the opportunity to understand what friendship looks like. We’ve learned to appreciate old friends and are joyful at the prospect of getting to know some new friends in a more significant way.

Looking at my life and examining my heart I realize how short I’ve fallen once again. The life of a child of Yahweh is one of continual striving, reaching, grasping for the perfection He requires of us.

It is also a life of thankfulness and overwhelming gratitude for the mercy and love our Abba shows to us when we fall short of the goal, when we let sin be the victor, knowing He has made a way for us even when we fail Him.

We truly are broken beyond repair when He finds us. We have nothing to offer Yahweh, and yet He extends a hand to us, to pick us up, to lift us to a place unimaginable. A place where we are born again. A place where there is true life beyond anything conceived on this earth.

And in our gratitude for His love and mercy we should have a passionate fire burning in our hearts- a fire that compels us to do anything to serve His eternal Kingdom. I’m looking forward to a year of renewal, revival, and restoration. A year free from the bondage of sin that hangs heavily on this creation. A year filled with joy, shalom, and satisfaction as we find contentment and rest in our Father’s loving arms.

Be Careful What You Type

I recently came across a book on an internet site that, much to my surprise, contained a quote from me. It was a reproduction of an entire e-mail I had sent to somebody about eight or nine years ago. Now I had absolutely no idea the e-mail was going to appear in this book, nor do I any longer have a record of that e-mail. Now the quote portrayed me in a positive light and I do remember corresponding with the author at some point. Nevertheless I couldn’t vouch for the exact words that were quoted. In addition I probably have modified my position on what I was being quoted on in these intervening years. I also recently came across an article I had written several years ago, posted in its entirety on a blog owned by a person I don’t know nor have ever had any correspondence with. Anyway, there it was. I have mostly been careful at what I have transmitted over the internet in the last decade, but I realize I have also said things, that taken in a context different than what was intended, may not be how I would state things if I knew everything I was writing would be made public. A few months ago I deactivated my Facebook account. Besides being something that consumed a lot of time, it seemed very intrusive to me. But in doing some research since then I’ve found that Facebook is actually one of the more benign social networks out there when it comes to information you have sent out over the internet over the course of time. Once you deactivate your FB account it is nearly impossible for someone to find information about that account. On the other hand, networks like Yahoo, MSN, and similar ones tend to leave a trail of information, oftentimes even after you have deactivated your account. If you’ve posted on one of their forums, or on a friend’s (or former friends) account, there is information that sometimes hangs around for years. I've noticed young people especially are not often careful about what they have left hanging out there. So take the time to go through your on-line activities. See what might be out there that you’ve forgotten about, that might not be so flattering if the people who are important in your life now came across the information. I also read an article the other day that says more and more employers and college administrators are making judgments about prospective employees or students based on what they find on line. So be careful what you type. It can affect the rest of your life.

Consumers

We’re born to consume so the story goes
Eat it, buy it, take it, it’s yours

No holding back from your grandest desires
It yours, its mine, whatever we want

Whatever's in reach of your clutching grasp
You deserve it, you’ve earned it, don’t be shy now

Is this the way the plot was really written?
The story line seems to have gone astray

In the end we’re all editors, rewriting the book
Consumers consumed by the things that we took

Babylon's Demise

Babylon got the best of me today
Never starts out that way
Always the best of intentions
Next thing you know
You’re paving the road to Hell

Give in once, twice, three times
The fourth time is really easy
You want to do what’s right
Next thing you know
Light is a scarce memory behind you

I was my own best enemy today
Usually starts out that way
Not usually my intention
Next thing you know
More deserved foes laugh in my face

Only one chance to conquer
Always starts and ends that way
Giving in to strength not mine
Next thing you know
Stepping into the light of Babylon’s demise

Tell Somebody

This is it. Today is the day.

I often write about how vital it is to express our love to others through our actions, but I don’t talk much about telling somebody in our words that we love them. Interestingly I think it is often easier for us to show somebody we love them then to tell them that.

Sometimes we’re held back by fear, or pretence, or social boundaries, but it is important for others to hear the words “I love you”, especially if we are already expressing it through our actions. Maybe it’s someone in your family or a good friend, whomever it is let this be the day that you let them know, “I love you”. Those words just might make the difference.

Hammer and Nails

Took a walk around the block
Strains of Fogerty, Foreman, and Powell
Bending my ears, cold harsh wind hurting my ears
Looking for light at the end of the tunnel
Asking for His presence to come down
Trying to make sense of the space around me
Running with the crowd, running against the crowd
Rising above the crowd, not much liking the crowd
The silliness of what makes sense to some
The magnificence of what make sense to some
The despair of what makes sense to some
Violence and terror in dogged pursuit of souls
We buy into the pleasure of it all
The guilt, the guilt and shame we don’t much like
But the pleasure, we enjoy the pleasure for a season
All sin is violent I’ve heard it said
Never a truer statement I think
We drive the nails in hard
With the hammer we possess
We didn’t have to accept the hammer
But we like the hammer, the violence gives us peace
Wonder why my brother has to talk
About me in such a manner
You know he talks about you that way too
Better to keep silent and not defend such thoughts
There is light at the end of the tunnel
But it’s greatly diminished through the dark glass
Wisdom says to choose your friends wisely
Attitude, character, and vision count
Happiness is overrated
But joy, now that’s something to value
Visions of paradise keep the hammer out of my hands
Eyes on the heavens manifest true friends
More than a walk around the block
Reaching beside, reaching above
Walking hand in hand on the narrow path
Filled with life, filled with love
Filled with joy for the life ahead

What To Do With My Time

Have you ever thought about volunteering your time to help someone who needs help? Just because…no strings attached…expecting nothing in return? You have? Ok, good. Now have you ever gotten past the thinking part and actually acted on the idea?

In every community in this country there are multitudes of opportunities to offer your talents, your time, or just your friendship in ways that will bring a little bit of light to those who need something, someone, or maybe just a helping hand. It doesn’t matter what age you are, but I’m mostly hoping young people take this to heart.

When I was a young adult the idea of volunteering my precious time to help others was mostly a foreign concept to me. Sure, I was nice to people and respectful to my parents and had a strong sense of right and wrong, but really didn’t have the kind of faith that stepped out and put myself out for others.

And then I met a wonderful young lady that showed me what it was like to give a part of yourself to make other’s lives more meaningful and joyful. When I first met her she was the hands, feet, and eyes of an elderly couple who were pretty much homebound. She would spend time with them every day, sometimes for hours, attending to their needs and just giving them someone to talk to. She was also the kind of person that would drop everything she was doing at a moments notice to help whoever dialed her phone.

Reluctantly at first, but eventually getting more comfortable with the idea I followed her example and realized this is what a believer should look like. Thankfully I married that young lady. To this day her life is filled with volunteering at senior centers, counseling those in need, mentoring young people, and a whole host of other things she prefers people don’t know about. :)

But that’s really the heart of helping others isn’t it? Giving of yourself in a way that benefits others without drawing attention to yourself-expecting nothing in return except “well done good and faithful servant”. Quietly volunteering ourselves in the service of others is an expression of the faith within us, an expression of love for our Heavenly Father and fellow man.

If you’re a teenager or young adult and you find you are sometimes bored with life, or wish you had a way to spread the good news of the Kingdom of Heaven, think about volunteering. Hook up with a program that gives you the opportunity to offer companionship to an elderly person in your community. Find a way to mentor a child that is having a difficult life. Volunteer your time at a local public school or library to help a kid become a better reader. Help out at a local food bank, or serve meals at a local homeless or women’s shelter.

Who you are, including your age and situation in life, will help you decide what might work for you. Just do something to let your light shine. Do something to make at least one person’s life better, because you are there when there is nobody else. Make a difference. And it’s ok if others know what you are doing, just don’t do it to be known.

So anyway as you know by now, I’m a huge proponent of having this kind of living faith that we live with actions, not just words. It doesn’t do much to say be warm and fed and send someone away without the necessities of life. It doesn’t do much good to say you have a faith in a Savior and yet not visit the sick, the shut in, and the lonely. Live what you believe. Live it, live it, live it.

Sound of Creation

A song I wrote several years ago. It needs some work. Formatting isn't quite right yet. :)

Intro: G A Em Em A D Em

Em A G Em
Listen to the sound of this creation
Em A G A
Screaming for a way to find salvation

Em G D Em Em G A Em Em

Em A G Em
Do you care enough to light the pathway
Em A G D Dsus
Living waters flowing to a new day

D G A D G
If you care enough to show them the way
G D G D G A
Then let your light shine forth for all to see

G A Em Em A D Em Em

Em A G Em
Now this earth still waits in expectation
Em A G A
Yearning for the day of liberation

Em A D G Em A D Em Em

Em A G Em
When the sons of Yah shall be revealed
Em A G DDsus
In His Son our names will all be sealed

D G A D G
And if you love enough to show the true way
G D G D G A
Then let your love shine forth for all to see

G D A Cmaj7 a G D

D G A D G
Yahshua cared enough to show us the way
G D G D A G D Dsus D
He let his love flow forth for all to know

A Radical Life

“I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will vomit you out of My mouth. Because you say, "I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing," and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked.” Rev. 3:15-17.

I’ve been giving a lot of thought lately to the condition of the Body of believers, those of us who claim to have some kind of relationship with our Heavenly Father and our Savior. I don’t see much zeal or fire for living the kind of radical, life changing existence that we are called to. Especially here in the United States most of us live a life of ease and comfort. The poorest among us still have access to computers and cell phones, IPODS and flat screen televisions, two cars in every garage and retirement accounts.

We’re concerned about how we dress, what we look like, our Facebook accounts, and who is going to win the Super Bowl. The scriptural idea of, “give us this day our daily bread”, rings hollow for most of us who can hop in one of our vehicles and drive a few minutes to the nearest grocery store to pick from tens of thousands of variety of items. Most of us have never known hunger in any significant way. The paupers among us live better than royalty of a couple centuries ago.

And yet when our Savior walked this earth he lived a far different existence. An existence it seems we are far removed from 2000 years later. He told His followers they had to leave everything to follow Him-families, houses, cars, computers, IPODS, a warm place to sleep, any food above and beyond our daily manna. He told us we had to be willing to give up everything in this physical realm for the buried treasure of the Kingdom of Heaven.

And yet we think we have acquired a divine right to live the American Dream. So we accumulate our possessions, forgetting that we are wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked. The things that have become important to us mean nothing to the One that has the power of our life in His hands. So we live in our own lukewarm world, just waiting for Him to spew us out of His mouth in disgust.

I want to be clear that we should never regret, forget, or turn away from the great blessings we have been given, but those blessings are given to us for one purpose-to bring glory and honor to the Almighty Creator that has showered those blessings upon us. There is no desperation in our lifestyle or the message we share with others. We rarely have a thought that, “the earth is Yahweh’s, and all it contains, the world, and those who dwell in it.” We think we have a right to what is ours, but we are just deluding ourselves. None of it is ours. He loans it to us for a time to be caretakers, to be profitable servants with what He gives us. But mostly we squander it for our own satisfaction.

For 3 ½ years our Savior walked this earth, without a home to live in, with only His daily bread, with a few close companions, but mostly hated and disdained for the light He brought to the world. Ultimately willing to die for us after giving up a Heavenly Kingdom.

So here we are, a Body where the tares too often overtake the wheat; a Body where friendship with the world is more important to us then helping the orphan and widow. A place where appearance has become more important to us than the substance of our hearts. I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of the emptiness of what we have become. It’s time to search out and join with others who have a desire to go all out in service of the Kingdom. No more lip service, no more looking like the world around us, but having a fire inside of us that compels us to share this glorious Kingdom of Heaven with this sick, dying world. Maybe I’m just crazy to think this can really happen, but I’m willing to give it a try and see what road it takes me down. It’s time for us to follow the radical, life saving path we have been chosen to walk.

Winter Walk Around The Neighborhood (and other recent pics)