Smatterings

I'm back. Been a while, I know. Let me tell you..with 4 chitlins, a cluttered garage, a dying lawn, a tired wife...my blog doesn't make it too high on the priority list. But, tonight, I'm in the blogging mood. Time to catch you up on what's been going down. The following is going to be a complete smattering with no cohesive nature to any of it. Hope you can make sense of these snapshots.


1. Recently, I have been doing a Bible Study related to the tabernacle from the Old Testament. It's been a very rich study as it draws out the types of Jesus in the applications of this ancient facility. For example, the oil used to light the lampstand in the Most Holy Place, was taken from crushed olives. As Jesus prayed in the garden of Gesthemane, He was so distraught, he sweated drops of blood. Gesthamane, which was found, geographically on the Mt. of Olives, actually means "crushed olive." Little nuggets like that in addition to the personal application make it worth studying such a rich subject.

2. A few weeks ago, I was shocked when one of my good friends that I've known for almost 10 years confessed to me that he was gay.

I was not ready for it.

I have sinced realized that I need to be ready. My friend needed me to be ready. We live in a culture where the family unit is deteriorating and as a result we will have more people completely confused with their sexual identity. We..I need to be ready to minister to these people that struggle with this issue.

3. We have prayed and saved and last week God provided us with a mini van. I know this is a blessing but, since our old one was on life support, it really "feels" like a blessing as well.

4. My 2 boys had their training wheels taken off of their bikes yesterday. They needed no help after that. They just took off down the street feeling like Batman and Superman with the wind at their backs and smiles on their faces.

5. Last summer, a good friend who is a pastor asked me 3 questions about God in dealing with fear.

1. Is God Soveriegn? If 'yes' then....
2. Is God good? If 'yes' then....
3. Is God good to you (me)?

Usually the first 2 are definite yes's but that last one..that's the clincher, isn't it. I do believe that, yes, He is good to me..all the time. It made this post because I have found myself asking these questions to others lately.

6. I have become more convicted recently that I need to not only embrace LOVE as a virtue but also TRUTH. And, as I have mentioned before in recent blogs, you really cannot have one without the other. I find that this world truly embraces LOVE...in all it's forms. I believe in tolerance of people but not in tolerance of all ideas and philosophies. I have no tolerance for lies. The church needs to consistenlty be bringing these 2 words together.

7. I had a couple of concerts Easter week in Allentown, PA. The pastor at the church there, Howard Lawler, is a friend and a brother-in-law to a fellow co-worker at the Camp I work at. I really enjoyed my time there with him and his family. He, his son and myself, took a day and went to visit the battlefields at Gettysburg. My two tour guides are so entrenched with the subject of the Civil War that the place practically felt like home to them. The education was so rich, I should of gotten credit. What a sobering journey to walk the fields and the hills where so many died 140 years ago. It brought reality to the Civil War and made it ascend to being more than a story in a history book.

Well, there you have it. My last month and half in a nutshell. Hope you can digest it.