The Moment!

 
I've been wandering around through my pictures tonight. I guess I never really caught up after the Christmas season and the church programs and the other things that just went on and on. Amazing how much stuff can happen in a matter of a few weeks! Babies are born, people pass away, parties come and go rapidly and someone is always in need of your attenion. I think the babies are the most fascinating for me. Having spent a whole lot of years baptizing them and then coming to full knowledge and understanding that it is not enough to simply be "baptized" as a baby to receive the fullness of God's offering for our lives, I get sort of locked in to this mental rut that has me trying to remember every baby and get back to them about their salvation. I've managed to do that with a lot of them, now. The list, though, seems endless at times, and there are those that have moved away, and worse yet, the ones that have passed away without ever having been informed of the truth of God's plan for their lives. There are things in life that we must not leave "undone" simply because we never may get another chance at that moment. In ecumenical circles we often refer to "sins of ommission, and sins of commission" as different breeds of the same animal. We all walk a path toward the(for the most part)unknown. Even when I am certain of what lies ahead I still don't know the particulars. If you ever want to get together and pray about this or other matters, let me know. I'm in God's service, today, and tomorrow, and until I get a release notice or "fair-thee-well" I will continue. In Christ's Love, Preacher. 

How Much Do Things Really Change?

 
This photograph was taken a week or so ago and then worked on to make it appear very old. As I reconstructed the focus of the picture I reconstructed my thoughts concerning spiritual focus as it impacts my life day to day. Reading about the manner in which God's people have been in the process of persevering throughout history has helped me to place recent happenings in perspective. Quite often in our lives we get caught up in the brilliance of events that surround us, so much so that all else fades into the background. I've been in some wrecks on two wheels and four during which everything did the "slow-mo" for a moment. It's strange how our minds work when something is occurring beyond our control. Some folks are immobilized completely, and yet others in the same circumstances are in total motion to do something. What this helps me to understand is the nature of me and how I interact with my world. During the entire history of God's people(the rest of the world, too for that matter)there have always been two different types of individuals, those who take action and those who don't. We are called to actively take part in our world at a level that is commensurate with our individual abilities. When we offer ourselves to God there is a desire born within us to share with others our revelation. I do not think that is an accidental thing. I believe that God placed that desire within us as sure as He placed within us the curiosity to seek answers to questions that only faith can answer. The world has been in a constant process of falling away from God and then fervently seeking God, forever. We happen to be living during one of the times when God seekers had dwindled in number to the near point of being an endangered species. All that is left in terms of true believers is the very strongest and most agile. Those who have managed to survive by means of their faith and hiding away in caves and forgotten backwashes of humanity. Now the time has come when we are resurfacing because the world needs God to perform a miracle. A rescue mission is needed! The true goals of humanity have been blurred to the point that people lave lost the ability to focus their faith in truth. As law after law has been established in our country to diminish the importance of God in our society, calamity after calamity has befallen us. Mere coincidence? I think not! While even the leaders have been drawn away to foolishly follow after idols and false gods the faithful have been in the process of being "honed" to a razor sharp edge in preparation for the battles to be fought with Satan's emmissaries. If my language sounds strong that is the result of knowledge gleaned from history that there is nothing new under the sun and this is how things have always been. Yup, everything was blurred for a long time, and the lines were all crossed as people followed after their own desires. Now is the acceptable time of the Lord, and He has prepared His faithful to once again call this nation and the world to Holiness. It will be only slightly different than last time. This time we will be united under a single flag and the color of one's skin will not play a part in determining who stands for God. It's the same song, and the same dance, but now there will be only one drummer, my Lord and Savior. Truth comes around, ya know! In Christ's Love, Preacher.