TheRadicalReality

TheRadicalReality
Just happened on your blog. Interesting to say the least. A bit hard for me to read(if I could adjust backgrounds or colors it might help)maybe that's just age, too! I'm bookmarking this one. I pray you never hunger or thirst again. In Christ's Love, Preacher.
www.wintersunsets.blogspot.com

Happy Birthday Kyra!

What a beautiful young lady! She's learning so rapidly that there are times it's hard to contain her enthusiasm. Why would we want to do that? That's one of the really cool things that go with living out here on the Great American Desert, you've got a little more time to understand life than some places I've lived. Take any major city with a population in excess of the millions and life takes on a sinister perspective. I haven't heard of anyone getting thrown out of school for praying lately, nor have I heard parental complaints concerning our "Pledge of Allegiance" to the flag. A new law just passed making abortion illegal, and the worst drug problem in our high schools is alcohol. What a world! I suppose I've grown more naive with the years, but we don't seem to have the multitude of difficulties rearing children as other parts of the world. We live, more or less, at peace with creation. God wants that for our lives. He loves us so much and wishes only the best for us. Now if we could come to grips with the needs of folks that are lacking in Godly influence in their lives perhaps South Dakota would become a haven for all of the disillusioned people in our world. Nah, our population will probably never exceed a million, and we probably won't ever make the national news as often now that Tom Daschle is no longer in office, but we will maintain a really high level of moral fibre in our citizens. These truly are the "salt of the earth" types that you have heard or read about. Vehicles are quite often seen running with no one behind the wheel at shopping centers. If you look closely walking in to the big places about 1 in every 10 cars have the keys in the ignition and the doors aren't locked. Neither are the homes always locked. My wife insists that we should never leave our home unlocked, and I agree that is a good habit to get into. I guess it urks me sometimes to go around looking under mats to find the spare key. Then there is always the possibility that someone is watching me to see which mat we keep it under. There's that paranoid streak again! I think if I had never lived anywhere else I would be completely oblivious to the dangers of our world that seem to flood every television news program. Tonight I thank God we are where we are in His world. It's still cold, and there may be more snow for the weekend, but for the most part it's pretty much the same as everywhere else, only better! In Christ's Love, Preacher.

What A Weekend!

 
No, I didn't get like this picture might indicate! There is a great deal of understanding that comes with looking into the picture and imagining who came up with the thought. Have you ever felt like one more complaint or problem could just make you explode? I guess There were a few moments yesterday(The checkout girl at the gas station was not doing well)when I came across someone having a worse day than me. "Why didn't you say you didn't get gas?" That was her response to the purchase of a Coke on ice for my honey. When I got back to the house my wife said, "Where were you, we looked all over?" A few minutes later I answered the phone with my usual, "Hey! You got the Preacher." What came next was totally laughable, "Where have you been? I've been trying to reach you all day!" Those precious moments between the severity of our response and the attitude that we engender in others has got to be measurable in milliseconds. For myself it is somewhat likened to a coin toss(it has to do with a perpetually guilty conscience). Do I return fire with fire or try to put out the flames? God, I'm sure, would prefer that we really attempt to curb our own feelings in situations like this. I try to think about it from the other person's point of view, and fail miserably. The one thing that helps to keep me in line is considering the depth and number of apologies that will be necessary if I lose my temper. I suppose I don't always do a very good job, but I have noticed that the frequent need for apologies to others has lessened as I've gotten older. It doesn't mean that the temptation isn't there, but it does save a lot of time over the course of a week to not have to go back and make amends with folks that probably meant no harm themselves. What was it the man said about words being like bullets fired from a weapon? Something about just as hard to take back! God bless, Preacher. 

Highly Acclaimed(Self Mostly)Critic

Lately prayer seems to have taken an extraordinary amount of my time. I guess I shouldn't complain, after all, the time really isn't mine, anyway. It's the time with which God has blessed my life! I think about the truth you see in the picture. The whole essence of God having known each of us before we were "knit together in our mother's womb." I wrote about this a short time ago, but a new perspective has arisen. A young man, age 20, recently(last Sunday)baptised, has presented some astounding numbers. Out here on the Great American Desert, South Dakota, 4,000 babies were terminated this past year by abortion. It seems some of the newest adult generation are beginning to understand the influence of faith in a world that appears to have a misunderstanding of what life truly is! They are part of the Campus Crusade crowd that are headed for Florida for spring break, 34 of them at last count.
I'm going to begin including them in my prayers tonight, and will continue until their return(even after that for those that I know personally)because they are going to determine the direction of American thinking for the next 50 years. Here we are just starting(spiritually)to recover from the misnomers of the 50's, and life has come about 180 degrees. I celebrate with our youth their new found faith in our Creator. I think we had this same feeling in mind as we neared the eve of Vietnam. Unfortunately most of the young men like this one were called away to die instead of fighting to save lives. Is it not strange how events and circumstances have an impact on an entire generation of people. But then that should not come as a complete surprise to those who have read the Bible. Was it not Moses that took God's people on a 40 year walk to get to know their God? In Christ's Love, Preacher.

Traveling Tales!

Travis(son)and Shantel(girlfriend)just returned from Florida. Their combined tax refunds had a little to do with the journey I'm sure, although I haven't heard that from either of them as yet. They make a cute couple, both in their first years of the over thirty set. Their combined incomes probably just top the 100k mark which leaves many of us out here on the Great American Desert in the income bracket dust. I'm tickled they both have each other to share time with, and the perils of travel away from South Dakota. The best story of the sojourn thusfar has to do with turning in the rental car at the international airport in Orlando. It seems they got there two hours early for their flight, turned in the rental car, and then were informed that there was another international airport in Orlando and the one they were in was not the "right" one. Nearly $100 of cab fare later and just barely under the wire for departure they made their way back to our vicinity. I have yet to hear Shantel's rendition of the saga, but if it goes anything like the one I heard yesterday it will be a laugh fest. Isn't that just the way our world is? I never would have suspected that there was more than one airport anywhere of international stature. We get along down the road of life and we learn many things. Some of them are really important, some not so! Information has got to be part of the key to making our way through airports and life intact. One of my colleagues here puts it like this: "You can't get into heaven with money. Being famous won't get you there. Being politically powerful(or correct)won't do it. No amount of intellectual pursuit can achieve that goal, and strength will not force the heavenly doors open. Rich or poor, good looking or not so, there is only one road that leads to everlasting life with our Creator." I pray you have found the correct terminal and placed your faith in Christ as Savior. After the plane leaves it's too late to catch a cab to the right gate, and there are two! One of them is a place I would never choose for an "eternal" vacation. In Christ's Love, Preacher.

Bear in Peace

The task of being removed from our environment is not one to take lightly. We all seek a place of total peace. Out here on the frozen tundra of the Great American Desert our time found at peace is often in the very midst of a roaring blaze of fire. When feet are freezing and breath is gently seen amidst pearls of rising mist there is the essence of "us" that permeates the atmosphere. We are all one, you know, in the throes of our humanity, we are one with our Creator, God. Defined in inumerable ways there is but one path that leads to an eternal life. I believe that is found in my Savior, Christ. There are other ways that are inumerated in the writings of antiquity, but they, also, must lead to the same final conclusion......We were created! Beware of the bear that would cause an intrusion on your place of peace. He is magnificent, but deadly. Only in true peace and harmony with our Creator can we hope to successfully face the adversary. In Christ's Love, Preacher.

Let The Rumble And Roar Begin To Soar

Late February, streets are beginning to show signs of life out here on the Great American Desert. Two-wheeled life filled with anticipation of another season on that favorite ride. It's time to charge the batteries and drain old fluids. Along with that comes the necessary cleaning of the machines and shining them up for their days in the sun. The KJV that has been accompanying me in the car is about to be packed away in the saddlebag, along with brochures, invitations, publicity materials, and all of the rest of the important "stuff" that has to travel with us. I've been praying about a laptop to share space with us us this year. It would fit quite nicely in the trunk of the Ultra Classic Electra Glide(that's a Harley bagger), and that way I could stay in touch with everyone all of the time. Wireless communications, the wave of the future is here today! What will it mean for the spreading of the Gospel? People across the globe are getting the message out, but in my heart I believe that true evangelism is a one on one affair. Three cornered, to be sure, with one person who truly wants to see another saved from damnation, the other person who is uncertain of what Christ can do in their life, and God. It's a process, and one that we look forward to with even greater anticipation than the rides and roads that will unwind beneath our wheels. Have you had your perk for the day? If not, here's one of mine. God loves us all so much that He gave His only Son to die for us that we might live eternally. In Christ's Love, Preacher.