Deeper Furrow

  What I Don’t Have      Spiritual leprosy I don’t have.   Neither do I detect it in ones that are close to me.   Call it a blessing that the apple has fallen far from my mother’s tree.   In that, perversion in a running down a crooked gravel road has not bloodied our souls.      A mother has a special bond with her son.   I enjoy intimacy with my daughters and daughters-in-law.   Intimacy in such a way as they know me.   They detect my spirit and respect my movements about them.   In this mutual adherence to God’s law, we enjoy freedom to move.   Negating boundaries results in stickiness.   Inordinance with respect to gender expression confuses the little ones as they look up to truth.      Spiritual leprosy I don’t have.   I knew a man who died of AIDS.   Not a friendly disease.   God does say the ones who run that race will get their reward.   Dancin...

  The Clarification Of A Calling      It was a Sunday morning.   Not wanting to attend, just attend church.   The call of the house was sucking me back into depression.   My cozy living room chair with coffee and a pharm ok’d coke worked to quicken this mortal body.   Not doing.   Metal music to the headset drove in force but the straw was yet to fall to this load.      I saw him and I questioned.   Where was he this morning?   In the gathering of the saints, was he cold?   Punched around by chickens with gloves and blood on their beaks, was he finally left for dead?   In the corner, did his carcass lie?       Anger lifted me.   Got me off this cushioned indifference.   The kingdom was calling.   A fight I did not start but I was willing to carry on.   Blood on the sword and it didn’t look like today was any different.      We...

  When The Queen Rests   She looks upon her holdings Far her eye sees past a mountain Bending her ear to a cry or laugh Through the streets music winds its way   She is our advocate Taking our cares to the king Counselling with him in private places We are not allowed   Here she comes Her heart is upon us Shall we look up and understand She has already walked our streets?   Up she ascends to her throne A position of power she welds it strong A pendant of light gracious about her neck Stretching forth her hands, she alights   A kingdom I grant her Without her no fullness dwells Trust spreads across the land Illuminating every valley   > The queen is my wife, Anne.  Her counsel to me is indispensable.  She brings issues to me, and we conclude together. <

  The Effective Working Of His Holy Spirit John 16:7  “ Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. ” Galatians 5: 22  “ But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness , goodness, faith, 23  Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. ”      He knocked me out of reverse and into neutral.   Giving me a choice without blinders, I agreed drive was where I wanted to be.   God’s hyper-theological explanation can be described in this metaphor.   God slammed the gears.   I simply said, “ok.”       He sent down a power.   It charged me to overcome.   Sitting dead on the shelf, He bought me and brought me in.   Hooking me to the grid, I became a little runner or little Christ in the world’s eyes.   Without Him, I ha...

She Doesn’t Tell You That You Are Loser Grace:  The incredible pink cushion between your screwed up decisions and the ramifications wrought by them. Mercy:  withholds the rod.  Grace says, “Now what?  Given you’ve gotten yourself into a marijuana muddied bowl of slime, would you like a hand up?”  She gets her hands dirty. “That’s ok, its just something I have to work through.”  And she does.  Her incredible prayer power burns a hole through overhanging clouds of gloom. My ears pierce in my usual confronting atmosphere.  An auto E.Q. does its job to focus the vibrations to the rear-view mirror.  Anger aligns my head to look straight into traffic.  Twenty minutes of a sub-woofer gets my energy out of the windshield. “Hey, you’re messing with my woman!”  We have an understanding.  She is to be under my wing.  I have violated before, running in a tangent to the graph.  I’ve learned not to overreact.  I conc...

  What Do They Expect?\ Ephesians 6:14  “ Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; ” 1 Timothy 3:7  “ Moreover he must have a good report of them which are without; lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil. ” Exodus 3      A picture that comes to mind this morning is TTT, or Tires, Tires, Tires on our calendar wall.   Through the course of the day, they run into more characters.   Not always is it a pretty picture.   Quite often, oil and grease start oozing out from where they are not supposed to.   It is the job of the mechanic to let the owner know of discrepancies.   Hence, the bad news could be a leaking rear main oil seal.   And that would be bad.      Suppressing anger at the door’s entrance, do we fire off at the first available cashier?   Do we brandish tongues getting in the jabs of “overcharge” and “in...

  What Drugs Can’t Do John 14:26  “ But the Comforter , which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. ” John 20:8  “ Then went in also that other disciple, which came first to the sepulchre, and he saw, and believed. ”     I heard Led Zepplin had their encounter with the near to far east.   Something about their new funky chord arrangements like the Beatles a generation back.   Sitar and heroin go together when the British funded the addiction like the U.S. in its troops before Normandy.   “Luky Strikes!”   Struck again.      Marijuana was on a mid-Western docket this election day.   I like what Governor Christi Noem said, “I’ve never met anyone who got smarter by smoking dope.”   ‘Bout sums it up. Ephesians 5: 18  “ And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess ; but be f...

  Perhaps You Don’t Know      Those present sat in the first pew, on the left and on the right.   The ring bearer was my faithful dorm mate.   Nearly my age and goofier to catch my sister-in-law’s eye, his antics spiced the military wedding.   We, known as a couple since high-school, were definitely going ‘steady’.   Mother-in-law held up the Panasonic cassette player to march the bride.   Proud Papa did say, “Her mother and I.”      It was a humble wedding.   A few were invited.   Even fewer braved the September roads.   The medium-sized First Christian Church of Aurora, Colorado let in the light.   Lack of air flow brought sweat under my suited armpits.   Finally, drops found their place to my forehead and I dropped to one knee.   Grandma thought I had already proposed previously.   A bit of confusion hung in the air until I stripped off my outerwear and got comfortable in the ...

  When I Became A King      Awaiting knee surgery since April, my self-sufficiency has waned.   What was normal action became increasingly strained as movement induced pain.   What I fell into was the glove of God.      Kings are served.   Their wants are forecasted.   Their needs are met in abundance.   In my weakness, no one challenged my throne.   In contrast, others reaffirmed my rightful place by encouraging me.   I continued to fulfill my duty.   I have not suffered loss.      The queen procures.   Princesses wait upon.   They dance in the courtyard in entertainment.   Fellow kings stop by for conversation.   I am surrounded by nobility as all have expressed care.      Real alliances have been realized.   Grouping into council, mutual support has been expressed being four heads represented.      This Kin...

  The Great Election Romans 8: 29  For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30  Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.      God’s election or His choosing must have this backdrop.   Unless God had a plan for preparation, His election would make no sense.   In Romans, Paul is saying the gate is flung wide open.   God is turning the chapter of the book.   He has appointed a time to declare men righteous by faith in Christ.   Whether Jew or Gentile, it makes no difference.   His justification is to those who place their faith in the standard. Romans 8:33  “ Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. ”      God is basing His election upon our accepta...

The Object Of Our Faith Mark 4: 35 - 41 “Just sit right back and you’ll hear a tale, a tale of a fateful trip That started from this tropic port  aboard this tiny ship. The mate was a mighty sailing man, the skipper brave and sure. Five passengers set sail that day for a three hour tour, a three hour tour. The weather started getting rough, the tiny ship was tossed. If not for the courage of the fearless crew, The minnow would be lost, the minnow would be lost.”      We all know the story.  Jesus and the others set sail from the west side of the sea.  Jesus falls asleep, the weather gets rough, and He wakes up to calm the waves.  Then the disciples gasp with their jaws dropped.  Lah, dee, dah.  On to the next story, right?  Heard this one a million times.  Jesus is God so He can command the weather.  Big deal.      It is a big deal when we stop to examine what He has to teach us about ...

  What Are We To Do With Ourselves? Genesis 5:3  “ And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, and after his image ; and called his name Seth: ” Psalm 119: 13 “You are the one who put me together inside my mother's body, 1 4  and I praise you because of the wonderful way you created me.   Everything you do is marvelous!   Of this I have no doubt. ”   (ESV)      Mom and Dad, you have quite the work set out before you.   Your little one isn’t perfect.   Before leaving the hospital, it is mandatory your baby defecate.   Perhaps this should be the first clue.   This is the beginning of influences it will have.      Our we created in God’s image?   Not entirely.   Like begets like.   Adam’s kids took his resemblance.   Yes, we are not animals.   But thanks to Adam, we are not far from our furry friends.   Brutality in murde...

  Why We Need Him Ephesians 2:8  “ For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: ”      Saved from what?   More than graffiti on a bathroom wall.   “Jesus saves.”   Understanding gives way to great appreciation.   His blood an offering and our hands willing to carry a cup to the altar, what does it do?   Upon examination we walk away this day with a new praise.      First, Jesus saves us from His Father’s hand. Ephesians 2:3  “ Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath , even as others. ” Wrath – strong vengeful anger or indignation Indignation -   anger aroused by something unjust, unworthy, or mean      Second, Jesus saves us from ourselves. Galatians 5: 19  “ Now the works of the ...