GO INTO THE HIGHWAYS AND BYWAYS ....REALLY!! ? ....WHAT DOES THAT MEAN !!!

AH ....The Banquet Jesus tells us about  and invites us into in Luke 14:23... Many turned the invitation down and still do today simply because the ways of the world get in our way, they imprison us in a life of limits, a life refrained from The Heavenly Banquet which awaits each of us.
Not only are we invited into the banquet, we are commanded to do "As the Master told his servant, "Go out to the roads and country lanes and make them come in, so that my house will be full." This means to go to the Body of Christ, seek its brokenness, its isolation, its denial... and Cast HIS light into those who wander those highways and byways...Take God's Love and Invitation to them.      When Our Father arranges the radical, intentional beyond the walls of the church occurrences that He does, we stand in awe of what occurs...People SEE God and are drawn to Him when they see His & are apart of His  generosity, His Agape Love and His Passion to serve in us. Where do we go ? We don't have to go far ! We go into our communities, to our streets, to our people and we go armed with nothing but His Love. God has abundant work already in place in our midst, as we join Him in that work we SEE Him reveal His ways and open hearts. That occurred Sept 7th for a few brief hours on National Road in Wheeling, W.V. A group of people, just like you & I stood in the streets and GAVE...Gave His bounty which HE has made us stewards of, from that God reached the ends of the earth, peoples hearts, time and treasures were freely given to build God's Kingdom. It indeed was a miracle. Something very special also occurred in the doing of that call. As these servants tarried at their task of intentional service, a stranger appeared, we later learned that His name was Charles McIntyre. Charles walked up to us with a backpack on, an unshaven face and the smell of the road upon him, and He offered His Service. He joyfully served in gifted ways the entire time that we did..he became GOD'S Voice... With Megaphone in hand He announced the cause we were about and invited loudly all with ears to hear. That is Him with the Megaphone. When we completed our mission of  "Going into the Highways and Byways," I shared his story with the crowd, He was homeless, hitch-hiking to Texas, He walked up at a perfect time...or WAS SENT !! Many offered him a bed for the night, we fed him and gave him some of God's Treasure so that he could feed himself, he ever so humbly accepted and bid us farewell and disappeared down the Highway, taking along with Him a stout dose of God's Mighty Kingdom come to earth. No better day could have been planned. We were indeed both visited by an angel and became His messenger in the streets for His Purposes. What miraculous occurrence will YOU see or make happen in the days to come? You will ONLY know if you GO & GIVE...as He commands. It is really oh so simple and so underused and ignored..BUT it is YOURS to experience.. Your call, the one we put on hold.. May you go quickly armed with nothing but His Heart !  Praise God !
             
                                                 VISIT FROM AN ANGEL !

RADICAL SERVICE FROM THE BODY

YES, THEY WILL WAIT PATIENTLY IN LINE FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO GIVE !

JACK EXPERIENCING THE POWER OF THE INVITATION TO GIVE !

QUITE LITERALLY...TAKING IT TO THE STREETS...WITH HANDS HELD HIGH !

IT ALWAYS HAS A 'STARING LINE!'

HELP THE POOR..IF JESUS DID IT..ITS GOOD ENOUGH FOR US !

CHARLES MCINTYRE WILL ALWAYS STAY WITH US !

JACK SAYS, WE ALL HAVE A GIFT ! 

Being Led and Leadership

Leadership is an amazing thing, the multitudes seek it, yearn for it and act in the presence of it or lie dormant in its absence. Where does it come from, how are we 'led' to serve and disciple? Unfortunately so very many are not 'led' or 'spoken to,' thus they fail to serve or disciple in the powerful ways Our Father equips us to do. I had a friend comment lately that she hadn't felt 'led' recently... this saddened me...Some of the things that God had done through this person were powerful and life transforming for many, including me. She like ALL have the power to Love the world on God's behalf... how POWERFUL ! So when we are in a 'dry time' and are not 'led' to immerse ourselves in service and discipleship, I am convinced that we need to look in the mirror, look at our strengths...one of my favorite sayings is "lead, follow or get out of the way" That is a call to action, an enlightenment that we are all 'called' to be leaders... Mother Theresa said it best  " DO NOT WAIT FOR LEADERS; DO IT ALONE, PERSON TO PERSON."  I have found that to be profoundly true and powerful in mountain moving, life transforming ways. What is Leadership... It is a bold authentic, humble walk of being Jesus to others. IN ITS SIMPLICITY WE MISS THE MARK..we search to be led, we wait for opportunities. WHEN THEY STAND PLAINLY BEFORE US!  Reach out to those God gives you, We are A Body, A Family and thus must nurture one another... Hows that going for YOU? Most don't bother with it and live a life of isolation and minimization, Not the place to be !

 Words and Action have Power,....  You have all power and authority to give a hurting world what it craves and what will bring His Kingdom to earth... LEAD....In simple Agape ways... It is indeed the ONLY reason you were created, once you start in mustard seed ways, He adds the world to you, blessing it and blessing you in ways this temporary place never could!
Authority is exercised through our spoken word. The power of life and death are in the spoken word: Proverbs 18:21, "Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof."

THE FRUITS ARE YOURS, EAT OF THEM AND HAVE ETERNAL LIFE AND LET IT BEGIN TODAY IN THIS VERY PLACE AT THIS VERY HOUR. SAY GOODBYE TO THE WORLD AND HELLO TO A KINGDOM OF LAVISH RICHES.
God Bless Mama T....she understood what we must...We were Created for Sainthood and we do it with only love, and through that He makes us the Leader He Created us to be !

Like on Facebook  Love always Wins -small things GREAT Love
He is at task doing a mighty thing and its success depends on the unity of The Body 

The Awesomeness of God!

How do we explain and describe an awesomeness that is beyond human comprehension? We can't... We can only EXPERIENCE it, and we do that by joining God in His work in the world. That 'work' is an activity of Love and Compassion, giving it, watching it flow and receiving it. God is a Father of generosity, He gives abundantly, without limits in all circumstances to ALL His children... He gave His only son as a sacrificial lamb, so that we might experience a life of eternity. We will never be that giving, sin gets in our way, but I am convinced that He has the power to mightily reveal Himself through us when we humble ourselves to His service. Radically impacting the world with His Love bears fruits of abundance. This past Saturday, God became, once again that light of the world, that city  on a hill which cannot be hidden.  22 Wheeling Jesuit University incoming Freshmen students reported for community service to God's work in the world, The Free Wheelchair Mission. Five students went to Brooke High School and joined Kylie Greathouse for the 1st annual Brooke H.S. homecoming & prom fashion show to benefit FWM. Kylie called me in tears sharing how God had mightily rained down His blessings upon the event, opening the hearts of hundreds in service to those closest to God's heart; the forgotten poor without mobility or a knowledge of a loving, living God. He changed that through Kylies service, He sent His love oceans away. Although I was unable to be there, another group of 17 students reported to the FWM office and blessed the world and our community by taking His Love into the streets, quite literally ! We gathered in the office and God revealed His might to us, and for 3 hours we served others from the street, giving food, water and love away for free ! The response from the steady flow of traffic was beyond words, hundreds of people were handed free food and love and returned their hearts to us by donation an amazing amount of money to the FWM ... we were also able to go move a needy family from one residence to another because someone gave us a large truck to move their belongings. ALL of these things are simply small things with GREAT LOVE and they reveal THE AWESOMENESS OF GOD and they change the world one act of kindness at a time. I have ZERO doubt that, as we GO into the world, He reveals Love in a way that only He can do, and its a Love that He desires us all to have and to give and it will change your life and fill you with an AWESOMENESS that will never be hidden and raise higher and higher as that city on a hill surrounded by lush valleys of agape love. 'The Church' is our lives in constant action amoug the people, on  the streets, on His behalf....its not a building... It is YOU and it has ALL Power and Authority to Transform the world and your life in the process...... Small things Great Love.......Awesome indeed... ONWARD ...the Highways, byways and rooftops await ....

Answering His Call.... 'Rebuild My Church'

In 1205 Francis of Assisi received the call from God >>> "Francis, go rebuild my church,which you see is falling into ruins." This of course was a call of spiritual rebuilding of the temple of God's Spirit; our lives.
Francis's response was "This is what I want, this is what I long for with all my heart." What does this mean to our lives, what is He calling us to do? Of course He is calling us to do the same thing... to allow God to transform our hearts into His, to change the world in and through the mighty power, authority, signs & wonders which He promises us in scripture He shall reveal through our witness, for  His purposes.
     The Gospel of Mark emphasizes Christ's power as well as His servant hood. Jesus' life and teaching turn the world upside down. The world sees power as a way to gain control over others. But Jesus, with all authority and power in heaven and earth, chose to serve others. He held children in His arms, healed the sick, washed the feet of His Disciples, and died receiving this same power to serve. As believers, we are called to be servants of Christ. As Christ served,so are we to serve.
      Mark 16:15-20
               "He said to them, "GO into all the world and preach the good news to ALL creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. all these signs WILL accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all, they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well."

Authority does not beg; authority doesn't ask; authority commands! We are not told to ask God to cast out demons, we are told to do it ourselves! We are not told to beg demons to come out, we are told to CAST them out. How do we obtain  & exercise this authority?  Through faith we exercise His authority through our spoken word, Scripture tells us that the power of life and death are indeed in the spoken word........

   Proverbs 18:21
            The tongue has the, power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.

Fransis 'loved it, longed for it and claimed it,' as it was and is freely given to those who believe and have  unwavering faith. Do you? That is a question for all of us. Do we recognize the calling He has placed on our lives and the power He gives us to fulfill that calling?

Indeed again.... He has revealed.....He has spoken... He has said plainly; "Rebuild  my church, which you see is falling into ruins." I hear and joyfully respond to that call, long for it with all my heart. In the responding we encounter what He tells us we will...The trials, the tribulations, the obstruction of man... indeed the sufferings of His fellowship. Francis received the Holy Stigmata...his sharing in Christ's sufferings. We will receive ours as well, it is part of serving God and doing His work, it is revealed in the evil ways of this world, indeed of the enemy. Faith in His power ALWAYS puts that enemy behind us.... LOVE ALWAYS WINS ! and We are to proclaim that from the rooftops!

It has been a powerful week of witnessing God profoundly come to this place we so weakly & falsely hold on to as having meaning. Our place of residence is His Kingdom, and as He brings the fruits of His kingdom, founded in love, we stand in awe of the lives He transforms through our witness. We know that He has called and we have responded and we continue to walk humbly in His boldness, as He alone uses our lives to indeed "rebuild His church which has fallen into ruins."

God has given every believer the POWER to perform the same mighty deeds as Jesus himself did........IF we have Faith!   and .........We do it through doing small things with GREAT Love & "preaching the gospel at all times, using words when necessary."

I stand in awe of the servant hood and love of the people whom God has and continues to 'Raise Up' for His purposes >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
                                         2 A.M. ROOFTOP WORSHIP & PRAISE

                                              TAKING A STAND FOR HIM

                                                           HIS BOLDNESS

                                    YOU CAN'T DO IT ALONE..IT TAKES A BODY..

                                 PEOPLE RETURNING HIS GIFTS TO THE WORLD

                                            A VOICE IN THE WILDERNESS

                             THE DEEDS HE DOES THROUGH PEOPLE LIKE                                                                    KYLIE GREATHOUSE BRING LOVE TO OTHERS

                 THE HEART OF GOD ON DISPLAY IN DAMON HARVEY AND HIS XC                                                     TEAM HAVE NO LIMITS.

                                   MAKING TRAVELING STRANGERS FRIENDS

            ANSWERING HIS CALL TO REBUILD HIS CHURCH STARTS IN THE MIRROR....CHANGE YOUR HEART AND THE WORLD WILL BE TRANSFORMED.

Matthew 17:20
     "And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief; for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and NOTHING shall be impossible for you."
           
                                      FORWARD AND NO RETREAT................










           

"Church" 7 days a week!

"If I could worship in "Church" 7 days a week.... I would," and the reality is that I do. I cant explain it...it just happened. Sometimes its  a church building, at times its elsewhere, but it is ALWAYS in His temple of mobility.. our lives...where ever we go, whatever  & whomever we encounter, it is by His design and for His purposes, the more we surrender to that, the more He uses us. He will prove and reveal that to you in very profound ways and through very profound interactions with those He created. I have planned and 'worked' on a lot of things in my life, but a few years back I stopped doing that. Why? I have no idea, other than joining God at His work in a broken world. But one day I pulled up to my house and realized that the life I used to know was gone. I had a new focus, and it wasn't a focus on me or anything about me. It was a focus on something big, really BIG, something only He could do by consuming our lives for His purposes.We find the answers to ALL of these things in scripture.   Galatians 2:20  I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 
   That is a mouthful, but as I dwell on those God breathed words, I am overwhelmed by the truth contained there.What does it mean to be "Crucified with Christ and no longer live? To me, and I pray for you, it is what I described that He did to me.. He removed me from who I thought I was and He gave me life in The Body... That life is His life, His will, His work, His purposes.. and it is ALL rooted in His Love... When He loves the world through you, that is when you know that you are His .. You are Him... You are not a resident of this place, your home is with Him, and He has created you and planted you where you are  to do but one thing,God has sent YOU just as HE sent Jesus. He calls you to crucify your worldly ways and enter the holiest of holiest to transform a world, to bring it His Love!
John 17:15-18 I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.

Where will He send you ? One will ONLY discover that when we report to Him with but one thought.. That we are HIS and thus we must offer ourselves to Him,serve Him, praise Him,glorify Him in ALL we do. We "Look" on the other side of the fence...we seek long range, in pastures beyond our vision..but the truth is that where HE will use you is where you stand, its a crazy thing when it 'comes' to you. You have sought for a way to change the world, you have waited, you have tried to prepare yourself, you have served, you have gone to church...but when it hits you, and it will if we surrender to Him ... When it hits you, and you realize that you are His Church 7 days a week, where you are and you see Him working through you, then you will have a newness only He can provide and the life you live will no longer be yours, You will be submitting to the calling He created you for .... For indeed He has sent YOU to do His work and when you do, you will experience a fullness of life where no need will go unmet, no resource will be withheld from you and a light will emit from you that will over power ALL darkness. Life is interesting, the world will pull you, beacon you, try to conform you to a life of slavery. Surrendering to Your true destiny puts you in a place of  being "Church 7 days a week" 
   I have no idea what His plan is for my life, and really the details I dont need nor desire to know. Just knowing that He Loves me and He chooses to use me to be a Love not of this place to others is what makes me complete. Think about that.. He loves us, in our sinfulness ,and He uses us in His divinity. You will never be able to understand that , but He wants you to be it to others, He wants to Love a world through You and through me, The details He will take care of as we focus on our true, true calling and destiny. 
Revelation 19:7-9  Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure”— for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.”

The Family of God

Romans 12:5 

So we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.

The other day I was chatting with a friend who reminded me that "we will always be friends, because we are family."  This got me to thinking about the Body of Christ and what that term really means. All trough scripture we are reminded that we are the family of God, His complete body, apart from that we are lost, one cannot function without the other. The function that God is referring to of course is the Great Commission, to be His Light unto the world... the reason we were created. As Mother Theresa's Prayer so eloquently spells out:

Christ Has No Body

Christ has no body but yours,

No hands, no feet on earth but yours,

Yours are the eyes with which he looks

Compassion on this world,

Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good,

Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.

Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,

Yours are the eyes, you are his body.

Christ has no body now but yours,

No hands, no feet on earth but yours,

Yours are the eyes with which he looks

compassion on this world.

Christ has no body now on earth but yours.

So much of our lives are consumed with satisfying our own needs, forging our own paths,claiming our own place in the world...we get lost, misguided...Satan is the master of deception, he pulls us from our destiny, we are human and we bend,we give in, we conform. Through prayer and the unity of body and by God's Grace alone we can be lifted up above and out of ourselves...we can indeed tell both friends and strangers alike that "We are Family" and Nothing can separate us from that. Have you been as bold as my friend and told those you love..(who by the way should be everyone)  that you will always be there for them, that you have no other choice... you were created as His Body, as His Family for works of Love. That is a challenge.....one when met produces a heart like my friends who without a second thought includes others as "Family" who gives with the heart of Jesus and recognizes that apart from that we are lost. There are people all around you ..'parts of the family' who need to hear that. You  have that power to lift them out of themselves and into His Mighty Hand... and you do it with a compassionate, giving heart, knowing that strengehening other members ,strenghens The Body / The Family so that His Kingdom will come.

THANK GOD FOR THE FAMILY HE SENDS US.....

 Ephesians2:19-22

So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

Ephesians 3:14-19 

For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 

"Jesus is ________."

The things that define the life of Jesus amaze me, the righteousness, graciousness, compassion, humility & simplicity of  His 'being love to the world.' It doesn't amaze me that those were the traits that defined Him, after all God sent himself as Jesus in human form and God is all those things. He knows what we need , who we are to be. He is, after all, both omnipotent & omniscient.What amazes me is that all the things Jesus did in His Ministry here...all those traits He modeled for us to be, are,for us, by His Grace so attainable, so doable & so life transforming...Not only for us, but through us into the lives of others. God planned & intends to transform the world through YOU & through I, and we allow Him to do it by patterning ourselves after Jesus.
      I just finished reading a book my daughter sent me by Judah Smith ; "Jesus is _______. "My daughter heard Judah preach at Joel Olsteen's church recently, and mailed me his book for Fathers Day. I was behind on my reading & just recently finished it.  Profound 'messengers' God sends resonate what God has laid on my heart; He wants us now, as we are... And when we seek the heart of Jesus with ALL our being, the inevitable occurs... HE GIVES US HIS HEART. We find ourselves serving with compassion, humility & grace. We find ourselves giving  with His heart & with His Agape Love for ALL... We seek out those He sought, we no longer conform  to the ways of the world, we are transformed by His Love which flows from our lives. Everywhere Jesus went people were captivated by His compassion & riveted by His practical explanations of how to do life, He becomes that in us, He reveals that through us. God calls us as His Ambassadors.. We mimic Him, people 'see' Him in our actions,hear Him in our words and embrace Him in our outpouring of self.
     A lot of Judah's book is simplistic, it is real, it is about doing life with the traits & heart of Jesus in ALL encounters to ALL people. God loves us equally & relentlessly,  and we are to do the same to those we encounter. Not all will 'see' God's grace immediately... For some it is hard to embrace, some  people are so insulated  in the ways of the world that they find it hard to embrace grace. Judah compared God's Grace to hugs, Judah, like I am a hugger.. We embrace people, friend and stranger alike, some people 'see' it as God's Grace & openly embrace it, others give 'half hugs,' they stiffen up or turn from His hugs, from His Grace which is given. I have witnessed both, as God has poured Himself through me into the lives of others, I have seen people 'witness' a Living God, and I have seen others stiffen in a state of being 'uncomfortable,' either way, there is no harnessing or withholding His Grace, He sends it into our lives for it to flow from our lives... He hugs the unhuggable!  Recently I visited a place I go often to see a God created wonder which to me represents the unstoppable power of God's flowing Love; Niagara Falls. Each time I approach the Falls and see the Niagara River flowing over the top of the falls, cascading downward I get a glimpse of what He intends.... for His Love and Compassion to flow into this broken world, into the lives of His People. The force of the water is turbulent, but as the millions upon millions of gallons of water flow over the falls and  down stream, a calmness evolves, the waters calm and turbulence passes. To me this is His desire, that we love  lavishly those He created for His purposes....reveal the power of His Love and how it will calm ones life and bring peace and joy and carry us into His loving arms.
   We need to learn how to embrace the grace God sends to us through others, we need to recognize that the compassion & love & service & relentless giving which people see flowing from us to them is sent directly from God to them through us. As I finished up the book, I was reminded that Jesus was authentic, He was real, He did nothing but give self. When we live by grace, we are continually amazed by the love, goodness & holiness of God. We think about Him & that motivates us to act like Him. He wants our hearts, Do we seek His ? ...in the doing so, God is pleased and He again becomes flesh and He Lives and walks on this planet He created. Who is Jesus to you, and who are you being Jesus to?.... God knows that answer, and we should know it to!  He desires to flow a Love not of this place, yet into this place & He chooses to do it  through you....Let it flow baby, let it flow...Its unstoppable and its ALL Him.

150,000 gallons of water flow over Niagara Falls  per second....every second of every day and night...But a glimpse of God's Power He desires to be in  & through YOUR life.

                                                    Open the valve and let it flow......

Grace & Paying it Forward .....

I am sitting on the shore of an 'Awesome Creation of God; Lake Ontario" ... Committed to Alone time with God, I needed to get away..... Go and listen for His Voice... Contemplate His Presence... Absorb His Grace......That HE would send me here is truly by His Design... 4 years ago I loaded  my panniers, mounted my bicycle, and struck out alone headed to Niagara Falls... I even wrote a story about it .."Take it to the Falls"  ...it was an amazing trek, cycling alone for days... Encountering the Grace of strangers... It is where I feel most comfortable... A solo ambassador for HIM. It was indeed ... The other side of the fence.... You see... I have learned 2 things .... We were created to Give ... and to receive.... It's a pay it forward thing......NONE of this... NONE of us 'own' ourselves, our grace, the things we give... NONE of it is ours... IT.....as US are HIS... Our Creators.... And knowing that makes it so easy to "Give it Away... Pay it Forward"
    Encountering God through people .... That has become my calling.... He abundantly "Gives" to me ... Shows me His Grace alive in people....  A short time after I cycled to the Falls, a young couple cycled through my town, and I gave them my bed, my time, my resources... I did not neglect to entertain strangers.... I truly entertained Angels ... I do that every day .... To ALL I meet .... God sends them to me/us for one reason ... For us to Reveal His Grace.... That is HIS purpose for those He gives to you..  in your short short earthly life... If you ignore them, avoid them, He weeps.... He gives you human encounters so that YOU can reveal A GOD OF LOVE & COMPASSION.... are you doing that... or do you say... I cant expose  myself, risk myself... We all know the answer to that... we ALL yearn to give ... yet we really don't... we don't give as Jesus did... BUT we can.. and it costs us...The cost seems high... but its not... I would pay it a million times   over ... the dividends are that great... who we become is beyond comprehension... we become ALL He embodies.... The young couple of Angels that I entertained.... Were the vehicle through which God worked - Through giving His Love - giving myself, my stuff... I began to receive emails & calls from a lady who lived on the shores of Lake Ontario... She said... John... Come & stay in my lakeside cottage anytime you want.... I want to thank you for being so nice to my Grand-daughter & her boyfriend as they rode through your town.  And so here I sit in a humble cottage which to me  represents the humility of Jesus... The cottage is so plain, yet has the comfort of Heaven.... From the porch I see Heaven... I see perfection..... I see Lake Ontario.... Passing ships, the Canadian Skyline.... Just feet away from the bed  I sleep in is paradise ... HIS paradise.... Something ONLY He could create.... HIS GRACE .... And I received  it because we choose... Those of us Whom He blesses.... We choose ... To pay that Grace Forward... In ALL things & ALL ways....Bless others...Be Blessed...Pay it Forward...Reveal His Grace..... That ALONE is ALL one really need do.... He does the rest.....and He takes care of our every need as we serve and bless others in His name...... There is True Grace.... He desires it to define YOUR life.....as It defines HIS......

Funeral for a Friend

I have had the privilege of celebrating the lives of two friends who have entered into eternal rest recently, one of the funerals was today. A friend who I have only known for 3 years passed away the day after her 50th birthday. She, like so many recent 'gifts' God has given me has touched my life in profound ways. She was a "Giver," that is how I would describe her to others, nothing greater defined her....She simply gave.. And she started in a place of simplicity, with the gift of herself, she was one of those very rare people who upon meeting you,  had a genuine concern for your soul, she loved the God in You, she saw past this earthly shell of a temple...straight into who we really are; 'Jesus in Disguise.'  For some reason, God has presented those people to me in amazing ways, each of them giving me what I so desperately desire to be, The Image of Christ. I will never forget the times we were together and we would walk, or run, or just talk, and the gift we gave one another was simply "The Encounter." If you have not experienced "The Encounter" it is your own fault... What we want in our lives, who we yearn to be.. is ONLY attainable by giving God's Love (In whatever form that may be) to others; THAT'S IT, THATS'S THE SECRET FORMULA!! This friend did that, and she lives on in profound ways in hundreds, if not thousands of people whose lives she touched. I had the privilege of being with her and her family the day before she passed away, I held her hand and prayed into her ear and felt the presence of God, it was time for her to go, God was returning her to the place of her origin, a place I yearn to go.
     The church was literally packed with people, standing room only, a testament to God's Might, people streamed into the church to experience God, I am convinced of that. This was the second recent funeral of two people who went to be with God at a reasonably young age. The first was a 44 year old friend, as I walked into the funeral home for his viewing and service, I was struck by what my eyes first saw, the sidewalk and front entrance area was filled with people, who could not fit into the funeral chapel, as I entered the door and made my way past a very crowded room, I was struck by the large amount of friends and family. After the viewing, and the words from the Pastor, an announcement was made that the family would be blessed if anyone would like to share some words, no one stepped forward, except I... I had not prepared for this, but My Father had, and speaking to 200 plus people wearing only running shorts, a tee shirt and the FULL armour of God, I was blessed to witness God's Presence in profound ways, after I spoke and returned home God Gently reminded me in His continual, profound ways that it is ALL about Him and He chooses to use us as HIS mouth piece, and the old is passed away, and His newness of spirit absorbs our lives. Indeed He has work for each of us to do on this short "World Tour." My prayer is that when it is time for our funerals, that He may be glorified in the ways He has been at the two recent "Funerals for a Friend"

Psalm 34:1

 I will bless the Lord at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth.

"BETTER Now that YOU are HERE!"

I am bald. That's a fact....Mostly by choice...because I shave 'the' head every other day. I just do... I feel better, lighter with a smooth head....or maybe I know that my full head of blond hair may not be there any more :) either way... its me... and I'm OK with me! OK with you...OK with however God wants us to look on the outside. The inside is what HE  looks at, and  its what WE should "SEE" in others, past their bald heads,skin color,age, physical scars, missing legs and arms, faces and bodies of all shapes and sizes... Some of the 'prettiest people' I know are suffering inside, and some of the 'not so pretty' people I know are so incredibly beautiful inside that they radiate HIS presence in profound ways ! Well, today after an amazing worship service (at one of the  many Church's that I worship at) I stopped off at one of the members house which has not been in Church for a few Sundays. As I rang the doorbell, and called out her name, I could hear her usual voice saying, "I'm coming"...... and she did...she came...she SHOWED UP at the door. As the closed door changed to open, and 'The Voice" stood there before me....I didn't recognize her! But after she took my hand and led me to her couch... I knew it was her... ( I "Saw" the REAL her, past the physical!)...The person I came to visit...to "Call On"....Why I had went to call on her...only God knows.....This person has been one of hundreds who have taken me aside in church's, on the streets, in a variety of places and they have looked me in the eye and Thanked Me for being there for them and for others, God Speaks... and He does it through His Children.....I AM TOTALLY CONVINCED OF THAT. And so....I go...Go whenever & wherever the prompting is...... Some people tell me, why do you bother with this or that.....His actions through our lives are the answer to that question........ My Friends greeting words are the  answer that question. As I sat down with my friend, and looked into her eyes....(Past her newly shaven head !!) I could see that she needed Our Father's Love, and She confirmed that need,as she answered my very first question of "How are you?" My bald, female friend looked into my eyes and reached over and kissed my bald head and said.... "I AM BETTER NOW THAT YOU ARE HERE!"

   God has revealed something to me, and He keeps on revealing it...and it is simplistic in nature (that's why I qualify, and why YOU do also) He has revealed that HE desperately yearns to BOLDLY take His Love into hurting lives...and He wants us to "Show Up" and when we do...... His Children SEE HIM and they rejoice and they "Feel Better now that HE is  there"  My prayer is that you are compelled to go touch one life, just one.... and then 2 and then watch as God empowers you with all power and authority and all resources, as His Messenger.... Indeed you are no longer the old... You are anew in Him, and there will be NOTHING you are incapable of doing, for there are unlimited needs and sufferings in people....People who will tell you........ I am so much better now that you have come to call on me!!!! 

     As it turns out my Fiend has been recently diagnosed with Cancer and is receiving radiation, and chose to shave her head.....as we held each other and I prayed over her, and our bald heads touched, I thanked My Father for the choices we have and I pray that we make the ones which will bring God's Love into the lives of all we encounter. I for sure will be visiting her again soon, and I will recognize her this time and we will both feel better now that God is Here!  Remove the veil, expose His Face, Be His Image to others... You'll feel better.....way, way....Better... And God will transform lives through YOU.
    Gotta go....Someones at the door, cant wait to answer it !!!

2 Corinthians 3:16-18   But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.  Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate  the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

    

Raising the Dead to Life

I just finished reading a book a new friend loaned me, actually she loaned me several, and I loaned her several, one was very familiar, I think many of us have read it. As she handed me her very personal copy, full of her notations, I was struck by why someone would hand me this particular read at this time.The books which always have absorbed me have been personal growth, spiritual in nature, testimonies of people's lives, books which enrich me. As it turns out those I am brought into contact with share the same appetite for literature. Like minded / hearted people seem to be drawn together, at least they have profoundly been in my life. In this most recent read, Tuesdays with Morrie, one which I have read before, (albeit a long time ago)  Morrie, a man dying of ALS shared with one of his former students an earlier encounter in his life, when he was working at a mental hospital and everyday one of the patients would wake each morning, walk from her room & lay on the floor face down & remain there until evening. This saddened Morrie, as everyone would simply ignore her. Morrie began to sit by the woman on the floor & even lay alongside her, speaking gently to her, eventually the woman rose & sat with him, and then got up and walked with him, I thought how profound that only human contact and compassion would raise this person from her loneliness & isolation. Things are so much simpler than we make them. Mother Theresa said it best; “Never worry about numbers. Help one person at a time and always start with the person nearest you.” -- Trust me ,Mama T knew, the numbers would be endless, as there is no shortage of emptiness in peoples lives, and through doing as she did.... these "small things with great love" God uses you, in saintly fashion to fill that loneliness with His Love, and the world changes, I see it every day.
 In  Morrie's own words, he said "What she mostly wanted, he learned, was the same thing many people want--someone to notice she was there."  Of course the book is a 'life classroom' with Morrie's former student meeting a compassionate former, (yet not so former) teacher on Tuesdays as his body withered away due to his terminal illness. All of the life lessons which Morrie shared, as his worldly days clicked away are founded on  extending intentional love to others. One of the things Morrie did, is what we all should be doing with those who walk into our lives.... he had a "Living Funeral," he told people he loved them, he had 'relations' with them, and he allowed them to express their feelings to a living breathing person, and not wait until he was dead for people to say nice things to a corpse.One other thing struck me as I re-read the book, Morrie always was "Fully Present" when interacting with others, nothing on the planet entered his thoughts. People need our FULL attention, if even but for a moment or an hour, focus on others as if they were the only one alive & watch your relation s flourish!
  The 'lessons' Morrie shared are simplistic in nature, rooted in agape love, learning to give it away unconditionally & allow it to flow back in the abundant way that it will.This is what gives life meaning, satisfaction & purpose. For this young lady to put this book in my hands at this time is one of a multitude of pre-destined occurrences. Currently  a friend in her 40's is at an end of life facility that I frequent weekly. I have had  the privilege of  spending many hours with her & her family. Listening to scripture, holding her frail body & praying at length with her, all the while Jesus sat and layed down with us, I could speak to Him, literally feel Him.  Extending & receiving this compassion is a natural ingredient to the human experience which has its origin in a God of Love. We are all in varying stages of physical death, but someone powerful swallows that death up revealing eternal life. That someone is a God who sent you to this earth to intentionally " NOTICE THAT OTHERS ARE THERE"  laying on the floor waiting for A God of Love to raise them up through our witness. ALL of the people in your life are laying on the floor, waiting for you to give them what is rightfully God's. In us lies the ability to change the world, and we do it by sitting... and yes sometimes  lying next to our brothers & sisters. There is no shortage of people "wanting you to notice they are there"  God gives them to you daily, praise His Holy name for the power to heal nations, one unnoticed person at a time. I encourage you to think about those He has put in your life & compel you to go out of your way to share God's Love, it was entrusted to you for that purpose alone. All it takes is a phone call to an old friend, a note, extending common courtesy in our daily lives, getting  in the habit of showing and telling others that you love them, we all want to hear it... it raises the dead to life, and it has a power of healing which changes the world. People look for a calling and a purpose, some never find it, it is to obvious, to simple, so very overlooked. There is no greater 'skill' than opening your heart so that God's Love can penetrate the lives of His Children. That is the power that lies in each of us. I Love You, Rise up and know that 'You are Noticed'   Agape - john

Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”  

Matthew 22:37-40