So here's my question. Are you ready for eternity? Are you in right relationship with Him, so that you could willingly step across that threshold of Eternity with no notice-- Are you naked before God, and unashamed?

"Why am I here?" It's a loaded question. We want to know our purpose, but we are really asking why we are in this situation.

My wife and I have been together for twenty-six years, but this is our first Thanksgiving...

So my question for you is, what's your status? 'Going it alone with your anchor dragging, or are you in safe harbor with other believers?

Sometimes, children are a symbol of God's grace and mercy... David and Bathsheba's first child together, conceived in adultery, died-- in spite of much fasting, praying and repentance. But then God did an incredibly beautiful thing as a gift for this couple. 2 Samuel 12:24-25 (MSG) tells us: "...they conceived a son. When he was born they named him Solomon. God had a special love for him, and sent word by Nathan the prophet that God wanted him named Jedidiah (God's Beloved.)"

I have been making major changes to my blog today, changing the name, buying a domain, and optimizing (hopefully) Google search. This should result in it being easier to find, and the elimination of Wix advertisements. The name has been changed from "Wait! I'm thinking!" to "God Thoughts." (I liked the original, but it made the URL too complicated.) My first choice was Quiet Thoughts, but it was too heavily used by others, so Google wasn't finding it easily. So, "God thou

That's where I am at this week. I Am TWO! Absolutely anything will cause a complete breakdown, with a professional hired-mourner level of wailing. Usually it is caused by a sudden onslaught of fatigue, but anything will do, really. I don't actually need a reason. On Wednesday, it was fear of falling in the morning at work, and fatigue in the afternoon at the bank lobby. There I was, bent at the waist, hanging on the teller's desk for dear life and crying my heart out...

As I think about the Dagon passage in I Samuel, I notice that Dagon's head and hands were broken off. The ability to reason, and the ability to work. Yesterday at my jobsite, I had two important tasks. Critical tasks. I had to calculate some quantity of materials to order, and I had to finish building a catwalk over the water so my customer could get to his boat lift and play with his boat. These two things absolutely had to get done yesterday, and I was the only one who co

I shared a new song yesterday. I also sent the video to my sister in law on the Slack phone app, since she doesn't use Facebook. She was shocked by the automated transcript of the song. For your amusement, here are some excerpts from the automated transcript of my vocal, along with the original lyrics in parenthesis: "Because close and different war (Jesus, I am your servant, You hold me close.) "I stand your deer and the car right here beside me and the duck..."

The oncologist called yesterday, right before my PET scan, and said that the bone marrow results indicated Mantle Cell Lymphoma, a somewhat rare and aggressive form of Non-Hodgkin's B-Cell Lymphoma. He is referring me to a specialist at MUSC, the Medical University of South Carolina, in Charleston. Together they will work out a treatment plan. He expects treatment to include Chemotherapy, and perhaps (probably?) a stem-cell transplants and some other things I couldn't remembe

I didn't enjoy it because of the memories it called up. There is a scene where the hippies showed in church and some of the church members left. I think that had I been there, my church people in the churches I grew up in would have been the ones walking out. And I probably would have joined them. I still have an aversion to those who are... different. If I am being totally honest, I barely understand myself. And those recognizably different? Deep inside, they frighten me...

Anyone else here (constantly?) thinking about food? No? Well yesterday morning, God showed me food; a half eaten chimichanga, specifically. Goop (sauce) was oozing out, and there were unidentifiable chunks on the plate. As I watched, I saw myself taking the fork to carefully eat every last bite. "God, what does this mean?" My thoughts wandered to my time in the hospital with Covid when I was ravenous from the steroids. I felt like the Marvel character Venom, prowling around

Today has been interesting. I use a Cloud service called OneDrive. Today it showed me a bracelet that quoted Psalm 46:10-- "Be still, and know that I am God." God used that bracelet years ago with me, when I was begging Him to do something in a certain area. He didn't answer. Finally, in frustration, I opened Instagram to a post by www.mintandlily.com and I was staring at this same cuff bracelet. God was telling me to Stop Striving, and to Trust Him. And here we are again

It was one week into my admission into the hospital with Covid... I hadn't shaved in over a week and decided my Christmas gift to myself was to look presentable. I was kneeling at the sink with oxygen tube, trying to shave in their lukewarm water when a nurse came in. She started to fuss at me to get into bed, but took pity on me and helped me shave my head. I was utterly out of strength to lift my arms at that point, and don't think I could have finished on my own... I will

I grabbed an unknown book off my shelf on my way to the hospital with Covid. Someone had given it to me at least a decade ago, and it had sat on my shelf for years, unread. The title caught my eye, and so I stuffed it in my bag. It was With God in the Crucible: Preaching Costly Descipleship, by South African Pastor Peter Storey. I started reading that first day, and immediately burst into tears...

I lay down this afternoon to try to nap. And just like usually happens here in this hospital bed, it gets hard to breathe. It feels like my nasal passages just got restricted. It requires muscle to breathe only through my nose. Just like in the scary asthma attacks of my past. My heart rate jumps. My anxiety kicks in. I will myself to take slow steady breaths through my nose, when my mind is screaming to open my mouth and breathe! Breathe fast! Hurry! But God...