"I can teach anybody how to get what they want out of life. The problem is that I can't find anybody who can tell me what they want." – Mark Twain

I found this quote today and thought, “How profound! The answer lies in the statement.”

If you wish to know the mind of a man, listen to his words.
- Chinese Proverb

I would venture to say also that if you want to know the mind of God, listen to His Word. Out of the abundance of a man's heart does he speak.

Oh, Lord, Your beautiful
Your face is all I seek
For when Your eyes are on this child
Your grace abounds to me

Oh, Lord, please light the fire
That once burned bright and clear
Replace the lamp of my first love
That burns with Holy fear

I want to take Your Word and shine it all around
But first help me just to live it, Lord
And when I'm doing well help me to never seek a crown
For my reward is giving glory to You

Keith Green 1980

His songs have been resonating with me lately. He had a passion for Jesus. He reminds me of John the Baptist.

Father grant me eyes to see and ears to hear and a heart to listen. May I have Your mind and speak Your words in every situation I encounter today.

Crazy

IRAQ
Kidnappers Murder Church Elder - Compass DirectYesterday, grieving Christians in Iraq's northern city of Mosul completed three days of mourning for a murdered Presbyterian Church elder, only hours before another Iraqi clergyman was grabbed off the streets of Baghdad. (He has since been released.) Identified only as 69-year-old Elder Munthir, the murdered Christian had been kidnapped after leading worship services at the National Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Mosul on November 26. His body was found four days later. According to one Mosul source who described the kidnappers' conversations, "They said, 'We will cut his throat. We will take revenge for the Pope's words ... We will kill all the Christians, and we will start with him.'" In Baghdad, the Chaldean Catholic Patriarchate confirmed that another clergyman - Father Samy Abdulahad - was kidnapped from his car as he left his church in the Al-Sinaa district of the capital, near the University of Technology. Pray God will comfort the friends and families of those who are mourning, assuring them their loved ones have received crowns that no one can take away. Revelation 3:5,11

We are dealing with crazies! How can you negotiate with such people?

Breakfast

I’ve been mostly raw for the last two months or so. My wife had researched raw diets and started eating raw for about month prior to me getting on board. We have been mostly organic for two years or so but my pants were still a little tight around the waist. In two months this has completely put me were I want to be without any cravings. I’m probably eating more protein now than before and feel great. I eat more proportionately and rarely late at night after work anymore.

3 cups water
½ cup of raw almonds that have been soaked over night
2 medjool dates
1 banana
1 cup of berries
1 tablespoon of nutritional yeast
maple syrup, honey, or stevia to taste
vanilla (optional)
1 tablespoon of flax oil
2 raw eggs

grind almonds and dates with one cup of water until smooth
add remaining ingredients (including another 2 cups water) except the eggs and blend until smooth
add 2 eggs and blend gently

All ingredients are optional.

Epiphany

Last night as I was standing in the food line at the Bass Pro Rewards Members Christmas party it dawned on me that I was completely at home in this setting. About 75% of the men in the room were wearing some sort of ball cap: camo, hunter orange, favorite ball team – I had on the St. Louis Cardinals hat that a buddy got for me for my birthday. Several men (and some women) were wearing their hunting camo. Others were dressed generally casual. These were just the common working class at heart no matter their annual income. In this setting I had not one ounce of self-consciousness. I remember years back when I went to visit a buddy in the Chicago area and it was very cold, of course. I wore the warmest coat I had which was my camo hunting coat. I felt very self-conscious and one person asked if I was in the military. I felt very out of place. But last night was comfortable. There is an old Far Side that has cows in a field eating grass with one standing up saying, “We’re eating grass! We’re eating grass!” I was standing in line thinking, “We’re hicks! We’re a bunch of hicks!”

Now I have to get ready for the Bank’s stock holders party next week. Maybe I'll wear my camo tie.

United Heart

Teach me Your way, O Lord;
I will walk in Your truth;
Unite my heart to fear Your name.
Psalm 86:11

This Psalm has been resonating with me over the last few days. Several things have come together to expose my un-united heart. I’ve been reading about Jonathan Edwards who had an incredibly united heart for Father. Then I’ve been thinking about Keith Green who would rival Edwards for an equally united heart. It’s funny how Holy Spirit works in my life. He brings together seemingly unconnected issues and ties them together with a single verse to provoke me to go deeper in my intimacy with Jesus. So He unites Edwards, Green, and David to give me a picture of how I have let a sliver of my heart stray. My heart has been democratic in that the vast majority votes for God but the sliver is in rebellion. We focus on works but the real issue is the heart. I can do all the right things but if there is a sliver of rebellion in my heart it taints the whole. Rebellion by the way is me being in control, wanting my own thing. I can want good things but again if Jesus doesn’t reign over all my heart, He isn’t really reigning at all. I think there is a chorus like that. Not until Christ sits on the throne in the kingdom of the soul can there be peace and prosperity there. W. Graham Scroggie writing about this verse, p.214.

The verse itself is powerful – teach me, I will walk, unite my heart. I would logically start with requesting a united heart which would lead to being taught the way of God which would result in walking in truth. Scripture seems to turn this around a lot. Maybe we have to be taught and walk in the truth before we can see that our heart is divided? This would fit in to Puritan doctrine of Edwards’ generation. Another interesting point is that this verse begins and ends with Father. My responsibility is sandwiched between Father teaching me His way and Father uniting my divided heart. I can only walk in truth when He teaches me and unites my heart. It kind of makes us dependant on Him, doesn’t it? My responsibility is to receive what He is doing in my life and be obedient.

Your Love Broke Through

Like a foolish dreamer trying to build a highway to the sky
All my hopes would come tumbling down and I never knew just why

Until today when You pulled away the clouds that hung like curtains on my eyes
I have been blind, all these wasted years, I thought I was so wise
But then You took me by surprise

Like waking up from the longest dream
How real it seemed until Your love broke through
I’ve been lost in a fantasy that blinded me
Until Your love broke through

All my life I’ve been searching for that crazy missing part
With one touch You just rolled away the stone that held my heart

Now I see that the answer was as easy as just asking You in
And I’m so sure I could never doubt Your gentle touch again
It’s like the power of the wind

Your love broke through
Your love broke through
Your love broke through
To me

Keith Green (1954-1982)

This was the first Christian song that I remembered after giving my life to the Lord. I identified with its message.

I heard it recently and it brought back a host of memories. The song remembers when.

Memories such as the hippie youth pastor who introduced me to the real Jesus. When I met Jesus there was an inexpressible love. The clouds rolled back and I knew Jesus was real and He loved me.

Psalm 84

How blessed is the man whose strength is in You,
In whose heart are the highways to Zion!
Passing through the valley of Baca he makes it a spring;
The early rain also covers it with blessings.
He goes from strength to strength,
He appears before the God of gods in Zion.

Psalm 84:5-7

Father, instill in my heart Your ways so that I may rely on Your strength. May this dependence on You provide comfort and refreshing in times of hardship for me and those in my realm of influence. My I grow from these experiences until it culminates with a deeper, more distinct awareness of Your presence.


This son of Korah was seeking God with all his heart, soul, mind, and strength. He was longing for the presence of God. And his heart’s desire was fulfilled. It requires that I ask myself what is my heart’s desire? Are the ways of God so entrenched in my heart that it propels me, drives me, like the instincts of migratory animals toward their destination? Is the Psalmist prayer my sincere desire?

Several points in this Psalm have leaped out at me:

1. It is not my strength but Father’s strength that contains blessing.
2. My strength in Him is a result of my heart condition, that is, my yearning for Father.
3. It is this attitude that provides emotional support during times of hardship.
4. I’m not on this journey alone. Father provides the “early rain” to give me hope and comfort. Father is personally involved in this process. To be poetic, the rain is a form of weeping. When I was young and it rained we would say that God is crying. So maybe it wouldn’t be a stretch to say that Father experiences our hardship with us and cries too.
5. I go from strength to strength not weakness to weakness. Outlook and attitude are everything!
6. I will ultimately reach my destination, which is experiencing the fullness of His presence.
7. The process starts with internal change that is culminated in personal experience.