19 June 2014 God’s Voiceover

God’s Voiceover

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Last night while lying in bed with the light on, I looked around my room. In the quiet comfort of home, I studied family photos on the wall. On my dresser stood a half-finished painting I started last summer—a landscape of a place I love. The feather comforter over my body felt light as a cloud. A fan gently droned in the corner. How easy it is to take it all for granted—to go to sleep in clean sheets, peace, and safety.

HandcuffedAcross the world from me in a Sudanese prison cell, a woman’s fate hangs in the balance. Though she has just given birth to a baby girl and has her toddler son with her, she is shackled like a criminal for being a Christian. She faces 100 lashes and death by hanging. But she will not renounce Christ. By the time this posts, I don’t know if she will be alive or dead.

Streetside Beggar PeopleI thought about that all day. It’s easy to pick up the concerns of the world. In my mind, it compounds very quickly. For instance, at this moment, thousands of children are crossing our southern border desperate to stay in America. Iraq is being overtaken with terror beyond belief. Many days it feels like I only have two choices: get overwhelmed or get numb. I’m not the ostrich type.

Yet as I laid in the stillness of my room last night, I wondered…God, where are You in all this? What on earth is happening? What kind of world will my children and grandchildren face?

I do feel we are living in a critical time of history with many unprecedented changes. The Lord is shaking the earth so that everything that remains is unshakable. Hebrews 12:27

But in times like this, what is our hope?

For years now, I can’t even count how frequently I see the number 722. On clocks, receipts, airplane tickets, confirmation numbers, license plates, you name it—722 comes up every other day. A pastor friend once said: when you see a number sequence more often than coincidence, search it out in Scripture. So I looked up every possible verse and read the context around it.

Though the study proved interesting, only one verse stood out:Continue reading

Filed Under: 2014, Biblical Foundations, Character of God, Experiencing God Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
12 June 2014 A Sunday Idea

A Sunday Idea

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“The rush and pressures of modern life are a form, perhaps the most common form, of contemporary violence. To allow oneself to be carried away by a multitude of conflicting concerns, to surrender to too many demands, to commit oneself to too many projects, to want to help everyone in everything is to succumb to violence.”                        —Thomas Merton

Pretty strong words.Young handsome man working

Have you ever thought of busyness in terms of violence? I have. Many violent things happen both silently and insidiously.

200px-Future_shock

Was Toffler right?

Back in 1970, Random House released Alvin Toffler’s book, Future Shock. I remember it well though I was only fifteen. Toffler maintained that the pace of life was increasing exponentially, bringing “too much change in too short a period of time.” The psychological results of stress and anxiety would be profound. The book sold over 6 million copies. A documentary film followed in 1972 with Orson Welles as the on-screen narrator.

Does your To Do List feel overwhelming?

Do you have information overload every time you tune in the news?

Do emails and social media feel like a constant barrage?

Is multi-tasking the new normal?

Do you lay awake at night thinking too much?

How have we handled the stress of “future shock” over the last 44 years?

I recently watched a science show on the NTGEO channel called, The Numbers Game. The episode was called “Could You Be A Better Boss.” One experiment referenced Navy SEAL training and examined the ability to focus under stress. Participants were shown two similar pictures that differed in small details. At first, it seemed easy to differentiate.

Then stressful distractions were added. Continue reading

Filed Under: 2014, God's design, Hearing God's Voice, Relationships Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
29 May 2014 Key Things

Key Things

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“She could die from suffocation.” My heart dropped.

My mother’s spine was slowly collapsing, disrupting the connection of brain to body. The parish nurse told me numerous scary results. I began to pray in earnest that she would not experience any of those frightening outcomes. “Please Lord, have mercy on her final days!” I pleaded. “Oh God, let her die peacefully in her sleep.”

You know…God listens.

He felt my troubled heart. While He cares deeply about the dying person, He also moves supernaturally to comfort those left behind.

Gold Key Necklace

The key was a looking glass into another world

So one day while praying, I had a brief vision: In my mind’s eye, I stood inside a planetarium with my mother. The space was dark, except for a spotlight, which shone down on her. She seemed radiant and serene. A golden key on a thin chain was draped around her neck. It gleamed in a mystical way.

Then I noticed something extraordinary. The circular loops at the top of the key had a sky-blue center. I lifted the key to take a closer look. The loops were actually tiny windows into different realm. And in that other place the sky stayed blue, though on earth it was dark. Just then, a panel in the domed ceiling opened, and through the slotted section I saw the starry night sky. The vision ended there.

A simple scene—a poignant message.

My mother had the key to heaven—her passage would be secure. The rounded ceiling of the planetarium symbolized her earthly life. The panel opened, signaling it was time for her to go. Perhaps she’d slip away at night. All was well. The dream laid a blanket of peace over me for the remaining months of her life.

But God didn’t stop there.Continue reading

Filed Under: 2014, Experiencing God, Prophetic Words, Visions Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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