After this preacher departed another was invited to take his place in our pulpit, We saw a man who came with a message, but then stood by quietly and just waited. God was moving, and there was weeping around the auditorium, as was often the case in revivals back through history. Broken people, weeping in God's presence. He preached eventually, and God used him. But I think the biggest work of God in the service was before he even spoke. In the waiting. I suck at waiting, but

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

Last night I watched the new movie Champions at our local theater. Woody Harrelson plays an assistant basketball coach who gets fired for scuffling physically with his boss on TV, gets a DUI, and then is court ordered to do community service by coaching a local team of players with intellectual difficulties. He deals his new situation better than I probably would have, jumping right in the middle of relationship building with his players and their families.

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...

What I think God was telling me was that He was going to provide for me. There would be More Than Enough. Yes, I was going to feel burned out. But he had ample stores, and would supply what I needed. He is more than enough. And I don't need to worry.

Things were In Motion, I was not in control, and I didn't like it one bit, No Sir! But sometimes God puts us in these situations. Where we are not ready. Where we are not in control. I was stressing to God last week about the future, emotionally hyperventilating about things. "But God, what about THIS??? AND what about THAT???" In response, God spoke to my heart and said simply, "You're just going to have to trust Me."

Friends, we usually think of the desert as a place of pain. As a kind of punishment. A lonely place. But... that's not what the Desert is for. It's for intimacy. Hosea 2:14-15 (NIV) reads: "Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her. There I will give her back her vineyards, and will make the Valley of Achor [trouble] a door of Hope." Has God led you into the desert? Embrace it. It's a privilege, not a punishment...

Many times, Christians seem to think that we should have a pain-free life. Like perhaps suffering or pain must be God punishing us for our sin. And maybe if we were spiritual enough, maybe we wouldn't be hurting so much. But Scripture doesn't teach that. In Isaiah 53, the Message tells us about God's son, the Messiah Jesus, "Still, it's what GOD had in mind all along, to crush him with pain." Over and over again, Jesus told his followers that he was going to Jerusalem where

This morning I was turning some things over in my mind that God has been showing me-- things I didn't understand (and still don't.) I was asking God about timing, and he showed me a scene from The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (the C.S. Lewis book, not the terrible movie.) He showed me the lion Aslan and the girl Lucy having an intimate conversation off in the distance. "Please Aslan," asked Lucy, "What do you call soon?" "I call all times soon..."

A few days ago, I noticed that God had stopped talking to me about a long-term concern, and I was asking Him "Why was that?" In response, God showed me two workmen, stage hands, carrying a curtain across the stage, blocking my view... God was telling me that, for His purposes, I was not allowed to watch while the stage was being set for the next Act. My job was to sit my butt in the chair and wait. I also noticed that the curtain wasn't lowered from the ceiling, indicating th

Years ago, I was part of a church where God was moving powerfully for a season. We were having church six nights a week, and would often go to 11 pm. The worship leader would come with two sets of songs, and then we would have to just wing it. By the end of the service, 1/3 of the congregation was being prayed for, 1/3 was praying, and 1/3 was passed out on the floor. God's presence was palpable. A sense of His Holiness was overwhelming...

They were having an actual PHYSICAL "mountain top experience" with the risen Christ, and STILL, "some held back, not sure about worship...

I will be feeling good, great even! And then, it's like someone DARTS me, and suddenly I'm down. Suddenly, as in 15-20 SECONDS...

I was stressing over something unimportant, and God showed me an infant perched on his father's mighty arm. His father was making a muscle, and supporting the baby behind its back with his huge hand... The infant was doing a "startle" reflex, CLINGING to his father's mighty arm for dear life, as though it was the baby's job to hang on tight enough not to fall! When really, he could have spread his hands wide, and let go. Because his father was holding him against his chest, f

This morning, I was having Quiet Time, and God brought to mind the Amy Grant Christmas song Breath of Heaven. This song never really moved me in the past, but I Googled the lyrics anyway. I mean, God brought it up, right? I got to the chorus, and blinked hard. Breath of Heaven, Hold me together... I was not holding it together. I am still not. But I am improving physically. I want to be home with my wife. But I have to get better first. And that is not going to happen if