Belfast tribute

someone’s someone

A friend wrote me a question tonight…

“Those that don’t follow what God calls them to do and those that don’t reach the people that God wants them to reach… it’s almost as though they have those “unreached” people’s blood on their hands. What do you think?”

and so I thought…

As much as the fire and brimstone preaching of old is frowned upon today, especially in the reform circles, I think they had/have it right in so many ways! No, not to promote fear for fear’s sake…but to promote an appropriate and necessary fear of God (1Pet. 2:17, Isa. 66:2, Prov. 1:7). They have a sense of urgency and affection that is

a Forgotten holy war

The Troubles in Gaelic are called, “Adj ‘ar Sainmhini’u“ 

With all the clamor and chaos riddling the Middle East, and all the unfortunate promise it shows to continue as such, I think it’s very important to remember that not only has that area been warring for far longer than the last few Presidential elections, but other areas respectively have been engaged in the similar kinds of tragedy. Northern Ireland is such a place…it is a forgotten holy war.

A “ceasefire” played the political spokesman to the listening world only 10 years ago…and overnight daily bombings and a routinely rising death-toll that filled sooty Belfast afternoons were traded for a quieter time, and a trickier hate.

Read-through

So, call it simple, call it difficult, call it cliche, call it productive, call it uncreative, call it a good thing, call it better than nothing, call it a watered down pace from our first century Christian brothers and sisters…no matter how you’d deem bible read-through, it simply is a term that is meant to reflect the opportunity and attempt to be in God’s Word, so in turn, God’s Word would be in us.

I’ve had people fire back at me when I suggest read-through as a means of being with God…everything from, “I don’t have time for that,” to, “I should be reading this thing so much more than just a book a week.” My take on that is, regardless of where you stand on the issue…just read the dang thing! Yes, ideally you would hopefully and prayerfully come to find them as actual love letters penned by His followers in the Spirit’s leading…love letters written to help you, discipline you, and ultimately strengthen you to spill out your new affections in God to the rest of the gone-astray world.

I stand as a living testimony as someone who can, even right beneath the watchful eyes of Seminary of all places, go without reading His Word very much…sometimes not at all. Now, you might think, ‘Yeah, but surely you would have felt the affects of not being in His Word, and surely you would have felt as though you then needed to get back into His Word.’ I wish that were the case. All I allowed into my heart was a sense of guilt, albeit very real and very endeared, about how I knew if I was truly in Love with someone such as Christ, then why would I not want to read more about Him. That said, on I went through my first year here at Seminary…occasionally binging on Bible…I mean, I would read 10-15 books sometimes almost straight through…but other times…most times…I would be surrounded by people that assumed that I was just doing what I should be.

I was able to hold true, deep conversations about God, with God’s people, about content that was steeped in what ought to have been a reflections of a daily routine with God… all that was spoken of by me, without  having read His Word in weeks. It was tragic and testimonial to just how

Sandstory part 2

Sandstory

So, a newly befriended Youth Leader out here in Cadiz, Kentucky, introduced me to this. It is unquestionably riddled with talent and God-given ability…but I love how it’s not something we can figure out…you know, spoil the process or even cut it short by simply coming to the conclusion…the whole, “Oh, I know what it is.” It captures and holds your attention like a wide-eyed kid, absorbing every second of the story.

Thank you to the man and/or women who held an open enough heart to not only discover this natural talent, but then to develop it so incredibly…and then, most importantly, share their God-given gift with the rest of us. Enjoy the Sandstory.

God in Northern Ireland

I came across this very endearing ministry about a month ago while researching how God is at work in Northern Ireland. This place and these people, as I’ve talked with a few of them now, are bringing God’s healing touch of reconciliation to an area that has sort of been forgotten by the world.

Not more than 10 years ago this area was waging its own holy war, killing one another in the defense of denomination. The bullets have ceased but the bitterness and hatred has infected the generations to come. God bless the Murlough House and His many other brave outposts throughout the UK.

Baseball prophet

So, while only some of you may have watched the annual MLB homerun derby contest on ESPN a couple of days ago, while others would never think to sit down and watch baseball period, I think many people can appreciate and respect what took place on that night of mystery and majesty.

The spotlight was cast upon a young man named Josh Hamilton, a young Irish lookin’ dude who plays for the Texas Rangers. With tatoos running up and down his arms and a very athletic look, Josh looks the part for the typical cliche…the curly haired kid who grew up to call baseball his job and dream come true. But there’s far more than meets the eye, and what lies beneath the surface of this young man, culminated in a night of absolute wonder and rather hushed critics.

clumbsy affections

Scottish flowers

They called to me long before I ever knew their voice.

They bade me in trust and welcome…

and I found them.

Just as sure as they had called to me…

The boy and the Lake

A young boy named Reese came to stay with us this past week. He was/is your typical boy, at least nowadays. He came armed to the hilt with stuff. He brought his X-Box Live, his I-Pod, his Rockstar gaming equipment (two guitars, drum set and microphone), he had golf clubs with him, his trumpet (which he didn’t play) and a slue of other things that for all intensive purposes have become what he and many of us have come to call our passtime. Reese is 11 and full of imagination…all the depths and nooks a young boy created in the image of God is made with…

Reese is interesting in that he spoke of fishing, and hiking, and tennis and biking…many things that by default act counter to spending hours on end in front of a tv watching dvd’s, or gaming away the day while the sky outside goes from light to dark without him even noticing. I heard in his very young voice a tension between his wild and what has become his domesticated self…an all too familiar yarn that defines young boys today (and older ones for that matter too).