A New Fence, New Life and Peace!

I have a crew out back closing in the open side of my backyard.  Due to my proximity to the golf course, that side of the yard has a four-foot iron rail fence.  It is nice if you want to sit out back and look across my neighbor’s yard to the beautiful golf course next door, but not so peaceful for me when the neighbor’s pit bulls and Fiver get into a barking match through the see-through fencing.  Plus, I just wanted a little more privacy and solitude in my backyard!

And wouldn’t you know it… they hit rock on the very first hole they dug and the very last!  So, I brought them a couple of cold Coke’s for their extra trouble… and sweat!  I am thankful that there is a slight cloud cover and a nice breeze today that is helping to keep the hot temperature at bay. 

With everything going on in my life over the last year and a half after losing Piper, I have really come to appreciate the reality of the verses of Scripture that talk about having God’s life and peace.  I could say that I had the mis-fortune of having first hand experience with those who just didn’t seem to be able to find any amounts of life and peace as they personally dealt with Piper’s sickness over the last eight years of her existence on the earth.  But you know?  I am actually thankful and, in many respects, fortunate for the experience because of all I learned through their negative involvement.

I believe that it has made me a better man and more able to help others who might find themselves facing similar situations in their lives.  God’s Word is pretty clear about the reasons behind those negative reactions during some of the most difficult seasons of life.  I wish that I had known what I now know, back when I confusingly found myself in the midst of those terrible times.  It definitely would have saved me some gut-wrenching heartache!

I once had a Pastor that I was working under tell me that I was one of the humblest men that he had ever known.  At the time I wasn’t too sure how to receive his comment because I didn’t necessarily see myself as being tremendously humble.  But through the ups and downs with Piper’s and my journey, I’ve come to see that for me… a big part of being humble is simply keeping your mouth shut in the midst of turmoil and then continually seeking the Lord for His answers… all while not relying on your own opinions! (See: Proverbs 3:5)

Romans 8:6 tells us that “the mind-set of the flesh is death, but the mind-set controlled by the Spirit finds life and peace.”  (The Passion Translation)  In some respects, that sounds rather blunt… but from my personal experience… it is right on target!  The one’s who seemed to let God’s life and peace escape from their grasp were focused on a path (in their eyes) that only could lead to death!  While Piper and I looked death in the face every single day… and only saw life… God’s life existing within her spirit, where the hope and expectation of God’s best for us came in and bolstered His peace as we walked through those most difficult of days.

I remember telling our Hospice Social Worker a few days before Piper passed through the veil, that I was getting the feeling that the worst for me was yet to come, when I’d wake up to an empty house without Piper’s sweet and powerful presence there anymore.  And, I was right!  

So, what do I do?  Well… I just keep doing what I was doing the whole 48 years that Piper walked at my side.  I continue to seek the Lord without reservation, listen closely for His direction and leadings and then follow them with unreserved boldness… no matter what anyone else around me suggests!  It worked for 48 years… so why change a good thing now!

I’ve been reading Psalm 91:16 multiple times a day for the last few months.  This is a Psalm of protection and promise, where the Lord says to those of us who stay dedicated to Him, no matter what the world dishes out, that: “You will be satisfied with a full life and with all that I do for you. For you will enjoy the fullness of my salvation!”  (The Passion Translation)  But every time I read it, I get a different twist on the words written before my eyes.  When I see this verse, I hear that small-still-voice on the inside of me saying, “Jim, know that you ARE being satisfied with a full life because of all that I am doing for you.  And that you will once again, Jimmy, behold and then enjoy the fullness of my salvation.”

Hearing that gives me great peace and a sense of comfort that I have been lacking ever since I woke up at 5:30 on that Sunday morning in September of 2018 and immediately noticed that the glow of life was absent from Piper’s eyes.  When I hear Him use the term, “Jimmy” I can’t help but think of His promise of beholding and then enjoying the fullness of His salvation, as being in direct comparison to my greatest honor of beholding and then enjoying Piper for those 48 most wonderful years of my life.  I mean WOW!  How good can it get!

So, what more can I say today?  I’ve got a new fence going up, I’m experiencing a new life and I am carrying within me… a new sense of peace.  And (maybe) minus the fence, you could probably say the same thing as you yield your life to the things of God, discover His life and peace and in doing so… walk in the beholding and enjoyment of the fullness of His salvation!

Have a great week and as you do, think about what it must be like to expect the fullness of His salvation operating in your life!

Make IT Personal!

Well, guess what?  Earlier this week, I finally went camping again.  It was the first time that I’ve been under the trees, and out in nature for a few nights since Piper and I took our trailer up to the Sierra’s to celebrate our 35^th Wedding Anniversary!  It’s not like I haven’t had other opportunities since I’ve been here in Broken Arrow, but it was the first time that I felt “ready” to go… if you know what I mean.  My youngest daughter, her hubby and our granddaughter have been very patient with me and continued to invite me, even though I kept declining their offers.  They have a beautiful 30 some foot trailer, so it’s not like I’d really be roughing it… although I have always loved simple tent camping!

I believe that the reason it was difficult for me to go camping is that I would have to acknowledge and face another huge part of my life that was always shared with my wife… this time without her… and accepting the fact that there will NEVER be another camping adventure with her at my side… except for “on the other side” - in heaven.  From what I have read… it’s pretty gorgeous up there, so I am SURE that camping is an extra-extraordinary experience on the other side of the veil!  But until then, I have to deal with the here and now and the myriad of feelings that still abound in me concerning her.

We went to Sequoyah State Park which is one of Oklahoma State Park's 32 parks.  It is a 2,200-acre peninsular recreation space on the eastern shore of Fort Gibson Lake in Cherokee County, Oklahoma about 50 minutes southeast of our home.  The weather was gorgeous, although we did have a thunderstorm blow through in the early morning hours on the first night we were there.  I probably would have slept through it… had it not been for Fiver!

I had been fast asleep in the air-conditioned trailer (I know… pretty rough… right!) when I suddenly woke up to a big black nose not two inches away from my face!  He kinda startled me, but I looked at my wrist watch to discover that it was around 5:30 AM and just assumed that he wanted to go out.  So, I swung my feet over the side of the bed and stood up when I caught sight of bright light flashing through the multiple skylights in the trailer!  Following the lightening came the familiar clap of thunder… so I shook my head and reached out to Fiver with a calming hand, sat back down on the bed and comforted him… for the next hour or so!

One of the easiest and most enjoyable personal camping traditions that I jumped right back into, was getting up early and retreating outside to the camp table in the quiet of the morning to enjoy a good hour or more in peaceful solitude with the Lord.  Once there, I studied my Bible, took copious notes, and let my imagination and thoughts run unbridled while soaking in the serenity of beautiful Fort Gibson Lake, with the sun reflecting low on the water on the eastern horizon, less than 100 feet from our camp site.  The one thing I missed though, was the sight, sound and smell of the coffee percolating on the open fire that I normally prepared when I got up.  But this time I had to wait for the rest of the crew to rise… but it was worth it as the French Press coffee that JoAnna prepared was 100% better than the scalding hot, bitter camp coffee I used to make. 

It seemed like the Lord wanted to talk with me during our morning interludes about the importance of personalizing one’s faith and the integration of it into our daily lives.  On that first morning, after Fiver finally calmed down, I laid back in bed but couldn’t sleep.  So, I pulled out my little Passion Translation New Testament that I had snuggled next to me between the bed and the side of the trailer and opened it up to Hebrews 11:1.  In this portion of scripture, the writer of Hebrews gives a vivid description of the God kind of faith for us Christians to follow.  It says, “Now faith brings our hopes into reality and becomes the foundation needed to acquire the things we long for. It is all the evidence required to prove what is still unseen.” 

If you know me, then you know that I like to personalize the scriptures so that they have the most impact on me.  And when it comes to verses that talk about our faith, or our believing in something, I always like to add the additional descriptive expression of having “active” faith or “actively” believing.  In my Christian walk, I have learned that one cannot expect yesterday’s actions of faith to carry you through today’s needs!  So, I see the necessity of having a daily faith that is fresh, newly charged and currently active!  Therefore, when I take notes and personalize Hebrews 11:1, my notebook declares that, “My active, now faith is that which brings my hopes and expectations into reality and has become the foundation that I need to acquire the things that I am actively believing for.  It is all the evidence that I require to prove what is still unseen.”

When I read that in the trailer, I saw something that got me so excited that I had to slip right back out of bed, grab my shoes, clip the leash on the dog and head outside!  By then the overcast was moving out and the early morning light and blue sky was crowding out the dark!  I quickly discovered that one of the nice things about camping in Oklahoma over California, is when you step outside around 7:00 in the morning in shorts and a thin t-shirt, that it is actually quite pleasant as the temperature is already in the mid 70’s!

After taking Fiver for a quick walk around the campsite, we headed to the table, opened my Bible, my notebook and my laptop with the Bible Study program and went right back to Hebrews 11:1.  What had caught my attention in the trailer were all the “My’s and I’s” that I saw when I read and personalized the verse!  It had startled me just as did Fiver’s big black nose in my face earlier!

What struck me was the realization that my active, now faith is not only the foundation that I have come to trust in when I am believing to acquire something that I am actively standing in faith for… but also the point that it is ALL the evidence that I require to prove what may still be unseen to me.  The reason that this shook me (in a good way) was that it answered all the questions I have had over the years when people would look at Piper and I like we were crazy because we were standing in faith for things.  Crazy like we were just plain stupid, naïve, living in “La, La Land” or irresponsible.  And then how, after the things we were actively believing for began to come into physical existence, they would seem to not see it, act as if nothing was happening, and/or refuse to acknowledge that our faith in God and His Word was working for us.

When I read Hebrews 11:1 early on that Tuesday morning, the answer to my questions was really quite simple.  According to my understanding of that verse, the evidence that Piper and I required to see the answer to our faith was different (and a lot less complicated) than the other people’s.  All we tended to need was our active belief in God and His Word.  For them, the answer had to come from tangible things like a steady good paying job, the medical course of action that they thought was right, and attending the various church services that they deemed as the ones that would help Piper the most… among other things!  And since we didn’t ascribe to their methodology, they refused to (or couldn’t) see the countless miracles that came all along the way for us!   

It was our simple, child-like faith, the plan God gave us and our current and active believing in Him and nothing else.  By the time we came home from Oklahoma in 2006, we had so personalized what we believed, that no amount of dis-belief was going to shake us.  That is the level of personalized faith that I believe that God wants each of us to have.  It is great to believe in some Biblical truths that someone else believes in… but unless you have personally studied it out and integrated it into your life, it just won’t stand up when you experience a rough patch along the way.  

When push comes to shove, the only thing that stands up in the midst of the devil’s fierce attacks, is what we believe deep inside of hearts… those truths that cannot be swayed by other’s fears and conflicting beliefs.  It’s your own faith, the things that you have personalized and integrated into your daily walk and talk that will get you through!  When you’re sitting in the dark, in the hallway, in the middle of the night… just like I did on many occasions, the only thing that is going to get you through the night is the truths of God’s Word that you have planted deep into your heart.  When there is no one else around… the answers, the strength and the miracles you need only come when it is just you and God!

And that was just my Tuesday early morning camp Bible study!  Wait until I tell you about Wednesday and Thursday… WHEW!  I hope that you all have a terrific weekend and a good time personalizing God’s truth into your daily lives!

Tulsa

Our community out here in the Tulsa area of Oklahoma is a buzz with activity and excitement with the arrival of President Trump and Vice President Pence later this afternoon.  People have been lining up and camping out in the parking lot of the BOK center in downtown Tulsa, where the President will be speaking, for many days now.  His upcoming rally has been the top story for the local TV and radio stations for weeks.  Most of their coverage and interviews that I have seen is very positive and shows a spirit of excitement, comradery and unity.  It has actually been rather refreshing compared to some of the national news coverage of the event.  It is pretty eye-opening to see how opposite people’s point of views can be.

I had to laugh and shake my head when I noticed some of the articles and pictures from the various national news agencies that I glanced at on my home page this morning, as they seemed to portray us Oklahoman’s as a bunch of country bumkins or illiterate yokum’s!  I have heard it said that “Ignorance is bliss” but in this case, I believe that it is not only hurtful and destructive to our nation’s unity at this critical point in time, but it most definitely demonstrates how totally out of touch and dangerous a majority of the mainstream media seems to be when it comes to their very visible lack of understanding of the people living in major sections of our great country… where the citizens just might not agree with their liberal ideas and policies.

I’ve been studying from Romans chapter eight lately, and have learned a lot of the reasons why some folks tend to not be able to see differing views.  The chapter starts out by bluntly declaring, “So now the case is closed. There remains no accusing voice of condemnation against those who are joined in life-union with Jesus, the Anointed One.” (Romans 8:1 The Passion Translation) 

That statement alone makes it clear what side people stand on when they make condemning judgements against those who do not agree with their way of thinking.  Then the Apostle Paul goes even further as he discusses the difference between those who keep a keen ear (or heart) to the spiritual side of things in comparison to those who tend to look only at what they see right before their eyes, or what their intellect is telling them.  

In verses five and six Paul states that, “Those who are motivated by the flesh only pursue what benefits themselves. But those who live by the impulses of the Holy Spirit are motivated to pursue spiritual realities.  For the mind-set of the flesh is death, but the mind-set controlled by the Spirit finds life and peace.” (The Passion Translation) 

When I first read that a few days ago, I literally jumped up in my seat with a couple of quick revelations that answered questions I’ve had for a number of years now.  The first thought was that those who are focused exclusively on what they see, think, feel or have been taught in the natural realm, tend to see any explanation of a life that is different from their personal understanding, as a course of action that will lead only to failure and/or death!  While those of us who have the mind-set that is focused on the Spirit of God and the truth of his Word, are much more optimistic because we tend to look for the things of God that bring life and peace.

It has always bothered my kids and I that we know some people that seemed to have had given up on Piper years before she actually moved to heaven.  And then when she was gone, they talked (the few times they’d even mention her name) as if she’d been gone for a long time and not just a few months.  But now, thanks to Paul’s explanation in Romans 8:6, I suddenly understand that they (using his terminology) had their eyes on the flesh and were thereby convinced that her only path was one that led to death… and not to sound harsh… but to me, it looked like they simply wrote her off way before her heavenly exit occurred.

While Piper and I, along with our kids, some old and new friends and certain family members were “motivated to (continually) pursue spiritual realities,” concerning Piper’s needs, and to seek out and “find life and peace” in the midst of all the pain of the situation, the other’s simply began to fade off into the distance.  I am not sure about how each of you may think, but even though its been a few years now, I get very excited and thankful when the Lord begins to give me understanding to things in life that have stunned or hurt me, about things I’ve questioned, or the things that seemed to have simply come out of nowhere… if you know what I mean!

I can’t help but say over and over again… “Isn’t God Good!”

So yeah… I’m excited this weekend!  I’m excited that the President of the United States is coming to my town, that the people in my community are united in their support of him, that God continues to answer my quest for knowledge of why things happen the way they do, and in the fact that Fiver and I are going camping tomorrow, at a beautiful Oklahoma State Park with our youngest daughter and her family!  Now come on… that’s exciting right?

What is also exciting, is the Biblical fact, that as you and I keep our focus on the things of the Spirit, through God’s Word, in prayer and through fellowship with other believers, that we will find His life and peace… right smack in the middle of all the craziness and unrest that seems to be going on all around us!

Isn’t God Good!

Lock Down!

Happy Monday everyone!  I hope that you all had a great weekend and are looking expectantly for good things to happen in this new week.  As I went out and about over this last weekend, I noticed that things seem to be quickly returning back to normal in the Tulsa metropolitan area.  On Saturday morning I took a quick trip to our local PetSmart to pick up another bag of Fiver’s Purina Pro Plan.  The store was a buzz with happy shoppers and dogs on leashes or carried in people’s arms!  I’m not sure, but I think one older lady was trying to pick me up!  While I was standing in line (still with 6 feet distancing), I noticed a lady holding a small (kind of scraggily… to be honest) dog a few feet away from me looking at some doggie treats when she suddenly looked up and caught my gaze.  

So, I smiled at her and said “Hello” and then looked aside.  But after a few seconds, I uncomfortably noticed that she was still staring at me.  When I looked back her way, she nodded to her pooch and said, “She’s my baby!”  So again, I smiled and retorted that “Mine is 70 lbs” and she just kept staring at me with a weird sort of smile…  Thank God that I was saved by the moving line of customers at the cashier and could give my undivided attention to the young gal at the register who almost immediately started asking me what kind of dog I had.

From there I made a beeline for the car and headed off to the nearby Neighborhood Walmart. At times like that, I truly miss having my savior Piper around.  Whenever that happened in the past, Piper had a way of snuggling up to me with a big smile that let everyone know that I was private property… Another of those privileges of marriage that one doesn’t often think about! 

Well, like I said earlier, Walmart was also fairly crowed as well as the gas station I stopped at before returning home.  On Sunday afternoon, I had a delicious lunch with JoAnna, Jeremiah and Sarah Piper.  I had bought their practically new Weber gas BBQ from them a month or so ago when they realized that they hardly use it anymore being as they smoke most of their meats now.  My older Weber was needing some replacement parts and I decided to forgo the sentimental value of the family BBQ that my folks bought us many years ago and buy theirs for less than it would cost me to fix mine!   

So, after lunch we packed it in their truck, dropped it off in my backyard and then headed to Bass Pro.  The big sportsman’s store was packed with a lot of happy, smiling folks who looked… and many said… were glad to be out after being in, as they termed it, “Lock Down” for so long!  I was finally able to get myself a new pair of hiking boots and a compact lantern/bug zapper light for the upcoming camping trip the kids invited us on next weekend.  The one interesting part was all the empty displays where canoes, kayaks and some fishing boats were normally displayed.  At first we thought that there was a boat show going on somewhere and then we realized that all the missing items are manufactured in China and not available right now! 

All in all, I had a very enjoyable weekend.  I also had an enjoyable spiritual time this weekend.  I recently picked up an old, well-worn paperback copy of Oral Roberts’ autobiography entitled “Expect A Miracle, my life and ministry.”  Piper and I followed the ministry of Oral Roberts from a distance for many years.  His calling and ministry is very similar to Rhema and Oral and the Hagin’s were personal friends.  

Oral Roberts University in nearby Tulsa works closely with graduates of Rhema Bible College who want to continue their education at the school which is considered to be one of the largest, most influential Christian liberal arts universities in the world.  I’ve toured the university and drive by it fairly regularly and am always impressed by its modern architecture & it’s over 300-acre beautiful and well-kept grounds.  It is a highly regarded and respected Christian establishment of higher education out here in the south.

We have numerous books written by Reverend Robert’s in our personal library, but I had not read his life’s story.  Once I opened the book, I found it hard to put down.  I was heartened to discover some of the close personal similarities, not only toward the types of things that he faced as he began to step out in following the calling on his life, but also in the ways and words in which he “heard” the Lord directing and explaining His path, the how-tos,  and many times, the best ways to stand strong in the midst of the persecution (as Oral put it, “from both bad and good people) that was sure to come from those who didn’t agree.*

Jesus touched upon this very subject in Matthew 5:11 when He taught the crowds during His Sermon on the Mount declaring: “How ecstatic you can be when people insult and persecute you and speak all kinds of cruel lies about you because of your love for me!” (The Passion Translation)  

Brother Roberts also explained one of his signature terms that had become very endearing and truthful to us, early on in Piper’s and my marriage and ministry.  It was the unmovable belief of “knowing that you know” when God speaks to you and having that surety in “knowing” Him and His Word as a force that kept him as well as Piper and I, going when it seemed like everything and everyone around us was coming against us. 

I have often told of my personal revelation of Paul’s words in Ephesians 3:19 where he prayed for the church that “you will know Christ's love, which goes far beyond any knowledge” (God’s Word ©)  And how many times, it was the single source that kept me going in the midst of my spinning world when Piper got sick.  It was the understanding that Paul was describing a most intimate and very personal and experiential “knowing” of Christ’s love for me that gave me the strength and unwavering dedication to follow and believe His Word… even when others around me strongly and angrily disagreed with me and were in effect (according to Matthew 5:11) arguing with God.

I guess that we all find ourselves facing things in life that we may feel are unique to us.  It is of great relief to me to discover that even those who have received significantly greater callings face the same things that we do!  It is comforting to me to find out, that I wasn’t and NEVER will be alone in the things I face in this life!  How about you?

Have a great week!  Get out and enjoy life and continue to put your trust totally, and unmovably in God and the truth of His Word!  (Get to the place where “you know that you know!)”

*I would be quick to notate here, that I am in no way, shape or form trying to equate the things that we felt the Lord had directed us to do as being anywhere near the scope and extent of Oral Roberts’ world-reaching ministry and the literally hundreds of thousands of people that his ministry touched.

14

It was with a heavy heart that I realized that today is exactly one month from what would have been Piper’s and my 45^th Wedding Anniversary.   But if we could have had our way back in 1975, today would have been two days before our 45^th Anniversary.  You see, Piper and I were both born on the 14^th day of the month of the same year.  I came into the world on the 14^th of March and Piper followed suite precisely five months later in August of 1953.  I used to joke with her about how much older (and therefore wiser) I was than her, and she’d laugh and say “Yes, it’s true, I married an older man!”

I guess that’s why the number 14 became somewhat special to us.  I have always had a difficult time remembering people’s birthday’s, but because ours both fell on the 14^th, I never forgot Piper’s special day… Thank God, right!  When it came time to set our wedding date, we both wanted to get married on Saturday June 14, 1975 in order to add another 14 to our collection of special times.  But low and behold, we couldn’t do it.  I don’t recall the specific reason now, but I’m thinking that it had to do with the availability of either the church or the reception hall we planned to use.  We were both disappointed and after prayer and research, felt like the 12^th of July was the perfect date!  But then 14 years later, our youngest daughter was born on the 14^th of May, 1989!  We thought that was pretty special as well!

In later years, we continued to make some major moves on the 14^th of the month.  Piper and I moved to North Carolina on July 14, 2014.  After her passing five years later, Fiver and I, with the assistance of our younger son Jeremy, moved to Oklahoma on June 14, 2019.  So, it looks like the number 14 continues to have a special significance to us!

Biblically speaking, “the number 14 represents deliverance or salvation and is used twenty-two times in the Bible. The term "14th" is found 24 times in scriptures. The fourteenth day of the first month is the Passover, when God delivered the firstborn of Israel from death...  Being a multiple of 7, 14 partakes of its importance and, being double that number, implies a double measure of spiritual perfection. The number two with which it is combined (2x7) may, however, bring its own significance into its meaning, as it does in Matthew 1, where the genealogy of Jesus Christ is divided up and given in sets of 14 (2x7) generations, two being associated with incarnation.”*

I like the idea that the number 14 implies a “double measure of spiritual perfection.”  In my eyes, Piper who was born on the 14^th, was the perfect women for me… and funny thing… with every day that she’s gone, she gets more and more perfect in my eyes!  But I guess that I can justify that because of the saying that “Absence makes the heart grow fonder!”  I can also justify it Biblically as Paul declared in Ephesians 1:4 that “Before the creation of the world, God chose us through Christ to be holy and perfect in his presence.”  And there is absolutely no shadow of a doubt that Piper walked into His presence when she stepped through the veil of heaven a year and a half ago! 

I was thinking yesterday, that my love for Piper is what empowered me to do everything that she needed for me to do for her when she got sick without every experiencing a second thought… whether those responsibilities and tasks would be deemed as good, bad or ugly.  

The other thing I realized, was that my increasingly “intimate, experiential and very personal ‘knowing’ of the great magnitude of the astonishing love of Christ that He has for me and me for Him, in all its dimensions which goes far beyond any natural knowledge” gave me the faith to believe His Word and believe for Piper's best throughout the many difficult years we walked in the final journey of her precious life on the earth. ranslation) 

And to this day… I can’t stop thinking about and thanking Him for that incomparable level of LOVE that Christ has for me… as well as for each one of you too!  Can you imagine that?  

I can tell you without having to go through and count each usage, that the LOVE of God toward you and me is mentioned a lot more than 14 times in the Bible!  The number 14 definitely had a special meaning to Piper and I, and has a strong significance in the Bible as well… But God’s Love is what the Bible is all about… and THAT LOVE and the purpose of that LOVE in the personage of JESUS CHRIST, is the underlying theme of the Old Testament and the star of the New!  Take a look at it today… it’s guaranteed to change, enrich, empower and fill your life… and then overflow onto others!  

*https://www.biblestudy.org/bibleref/meaning-of-numbers-in-bible/14.html

More "WOW" Moments!

I took the dog out around 5:30 this morning and stepped into a windy, cooler and overcast pre-dawn day.  By cooler I mean temperatures in the low 60’s instead of the mid-to high 70’s first thing in the morning temps that we’ve experienced over the last couple of weeks, that rise up into the high 90’s by the afternoon.  It's also been excessively windy.  This morning they were down a bit at only 16mph, whereas yesterday and last night they were up into the mid to high 20’s.  But to be honest, with the hot temperatures in the afternoons and similarly high humidity levels, the wind is actually a welcome addition to the mix as it helps to make the weather more tolerable!

When I returned to the comfort of my bed while Fiver munched on his doggie snack and  reclined on the same said bed… I opened up my Bible to Psalm 92:2.  The footnote in my Bible states that “Ancient Jewish tradition holds that Adam composed this psalm on the first Sabbath of creation, and it was to be sung by the Levites on the Sabbath in the temple.” 

I took that thought to note as the sun began to arise in the eastern sky and observed the brighter light beginning to shine through the slats on the window blinds.  I got to thinking as I pondered whether that tradition was actually true or not, about how wonderfully, awe-inspiring and breathe taking that first sunrise must have been to Adam as he stood within the perfection of God that surrounded him in the garden of Eden.  I mean… talk about a “WOW!” moment!

I had a couple of “WOW!” moments this week as I prayed over some re-awakening dreams and desires that have been arising in me as of late.  As I have mentioned a few times in recent blog posts, I have been thinking a lot about personal ministry callings and how much things around me have changed since Piper and I were actively involved in the ministry.  I’ve considered and re-considered over and over again how different things look now and how the particular dreams we had when we excitedly felt the strong leading to leave the comforts of home and the life we had established in California to move half way across the country to attend Bible College in Oklahoma.

To put it mildly, life has drastically changed since then.  For me, it has been turned inside out, knocked down, kicked around and submerged in a bottomless cavern where absolutely nothing is the same!  That may sound like a little bit of an exaggeration as Piper would sometimes accuse me of making… But for all intent and purposes… I would personally call it an under-exaggeration with the physical, emotional and mental feelings and pain that I have been through!

But lately, the Lord has repeatedly been drawing me back to the encouragement found in the book of 2^nd Timothy, chapter one, verses six and seven where Paul told his young protégé, “I’m writing to encourage you to fan into a flame and rekindle the fire of the spiritual gift(s) that God imparted to you when I laid my hands upon you.  For God will never give you the spirit of fear, but the Holy Spirit who gives you mighty power, love, and self-control.” (The Passion Translation) 

Those verses have been favorites of mine ever since Piper and I took our first Jr High Youth group to Snow Camp in the Sierra’s in California in the mid-seventies, where the group sessions were based on 2 Timothy 1:7.  Over the years, that particular scripture has had an immeasurable impact on my life.  With everything that we experienced with the attack on Piper’s health, I quickly learned to not allow the spirit of FEAR to have any voice in whatever we were doing and I depended HEAVILY on the promise that God had given me His Spirit of POWER, LOVE and a SOUND MIND (KJV)

Since her passing He has had to remind me many times about this verse, and has helped me to NOT be led by FEAR (as it is a direction that is NOT from God) but instead to “let the peace of God rule in my heart, to which also I was called in one body; and be thankful.” (Colossians 3:15 EMTV- personalized)  I can’t tell you how many times HIS PEACE has led me TO DO as well as NOT TO DO something since Piper went through the veil in September of 2018!

In the last few days, I have sensed Him stressing 2 Timothy 1:6 to me in order to encourage me “to fan into a flame and rekindle the fire of the spiritual gift(s) God imparted to me…”  Then when I began to inquire WHAT particular gift or gifts He was talking about, two thoughts fairly jumped into my mind!

The first being the hunger, thirsting, excitement and expectation that Piper and I had for the Word of God for as long as I can remember and secondly, my pretty much life-long desire to have a writing ministry.  The “WOW!” moments began to come pretty regularly after that revelation.  One was when I began to see that Piper and I have always strived to teach and share the Word of God to all of our groups of children, youth, college-career classes and adults as well, in a way that was creative, funny, simple, enjoyable and would make them easily grab on to the truth of the Word and quickly integrate it into their daily lives.  

If you ever sat in one of my regular teachers and/or parents’ meetings within the different churches we served in, you have would come out with a smile on your face and know our passion to make the Student Services ministry one that was FUN to be a part of.  We always sought to have our students and leadership teams know the importance of having them associate the Gospel of Jesus Christ with the most enjoyable times of their lives.

More “WOW!” moments came when I pondered my dream of writing and suddenly realized and began to laugh, when I saw that I have been writing for ministry purposes since Piper and I were enrolled at the Santa Rosa Junior College!  The Lord began to flash across the eyes of my mind remembrances of the Rock Opera I wrote when I was in my late teens, the literally thousands of original lessons plans I wrote over the 36+ years of ministry, all the plays, songs, Vacation Bible Schools, special church programs, Children’s outreaches, chapel services for some of the local Christian Schools and the various Children’s and Youth Curriculums I penned. 

Now, please understand that I am not saying any of this to pat myself on my back, because all of it was simply a labor of love!  What I am saying is that God was showing me that those giftings are still inside me and that it is up to me to get out of the funk I was in and to start fanning the smoldering flames within and get the fires re-kindled to blaze anew!

As I sit here plunking away on my laptop, I wonder how many of you who are reading this also need to begin “to fan into a flame and rekindle the fire of the spiritual gift(s) that God has imparted to you…?”  Hummm…. Am I hitting a little to close to home?  Well… I actually hope so!  When I see what I believe that God is trying to show me, I would think that I am not alone!  God has GOOD things that He wants YOU to do, that He has already put into you!  All we have to do is start praying and stir up the gifts!

More to come…

Have a wonderful rest of the week, and as you do, I encourage you to look and pray with joyful expectation in order to discover the gifts that God has placed inside of you!

Our Words... part 2

In my last full post, a week ago… sorry, life and nice weather just sort of got in the way… I spoke about some of the foundational truths of our faith that Piper and I learned over the years that just became a part of who we were.  In particular, I gave some examples of how the importance of our words seems to be solidly engrained into us.

I realized only recently that when Piper got sick, that I expected the same from those close to us within our circle of family and friends.  As we began to stand in faith for her, while delving into different courses of medical care, it literally shook, confused and frustrated me when some of them didn’t respond in like manner as us.  It turned out to be kind of funny when people of little to no faith or religious leanings agreed with us more than some of those with whom I expected to receive encouraging words and spiritual strength!

I concluded that last blog post talking about our sort of automatic response of speaking out words from our lips that line up and/or agree with the truth found in God’s Word.  But as I thought about that statement over the last few days, it dawned on me that some of you might not fully understand why that habit had become so important to us.  The answer came to me in the news when our President stood in front of a church in Washington DC in the midst of the recent demonstrations and riots and held up a Bible.  It was then confirmed when the House Speaker tried to imitate him by taking out another Bible and parading it in front of the news media.

In those two pictures I saw two completely different things.  To Piper and I, our Bible’s were/are more than just a good book filled with encouraging stories and sayings about God and His Son Jesus Christ.  To us, the Bible is a LIVING, BREATHING representation of Jesus Himself.  Hebrews 4:12 tells us that “God's word (ie; the Bible) is living and active. It is sharper than any two-edged sword and cuts as deep as the place where soul and spirit meet, the place where joints and marrow meet. God's word judges a person's thoughts and intentions.” (God’s Word ©)  The Passion Translations calls it “the living Word of God which is full of energy,” While the King James declares that the “The Word of God is quick and powerful.”

The word “quick” in the Greek is literally described as meaning “to live among the living and not be lifeless nor dead!”  “Powerful” is defined as “being active, operative, exerting force, power and influence and capable of having the desired result or effect.”  That doesn’t sound to me as if we are simply talking about a book filled with warm, fuzzy statements that make you feel good, but about a book with words that literally have the power and ability to change lives for the whole man or woman.  Words that have the tremendous power and anointing to initiate change in us not only spiritually, but also physically, mentally, emotionally and intellectually!

There is a small part in a Christian children’s movie, with a western theme, that we played for the kids years ago that has always stuck out in my mind.  In the scene, the bad guy throws a Bible that has been hidden in a treasure chest by his father down on the ground in disgust, only to be immediately retrieved by the Christian Marshal who was with him.  Upon picking up the book, the Marshal reverently wipes off the dust and says with deep conviction in his voice… “Don’t do that, that’s the Word of God!”

Now, like I said, it was a Christian kids movie and according to today’s standards… a little on the hokey side… but that instant response by the one character (who was then and still is a well-known Evangelist on the world scale) was sincere, honest and of the heart… and is exactly the same way that my wife and I have felt about our Bible’s for a LONG TIME!  When the character said that line in the movie, I could not contain myself from standing up in the darkened Children’s Activity Center where we were showing the movie on the big scene, and shout out “YES!”  But it really wasn’t as embarrassing as it sounds for the kids and parents there knew me enough to not be surprised by my reaction!

What I saw when the President of the USA lifted up a Bible in front of the church that day, was the leader of the free world holding up what should be the symbol of every Christian’s trust and belief in God and His LIVING and POWERFUL Word to overcome the anarchy that was breaking out in cities across our nation and in particular with the fire that was set in the church behind him.  What I saw with the House Speaker was a person making an empty attempt at showing how religious she was, and in doing so, was pointing all the attention onto her instead of onto the LIVING and ACTIVE, QUICK and POWERFUL Word of God.

My wife and I were always under the Bible based conviction that when a Christian speaks words that are in agreement with the Word of God, that they are in effect, releasing God’s LIVING, ACTIVE, QUICK and ENERGETIC words of POWER into the situation they are in the midst of, or are praying for in another’s life situation.  That’s pretty dynamic wouldn’t you say?  Kinda puts a whole new emphasis and meaning on the Word of God… On YOUR Bible…RIGHT?

What do you think about that?  Have a great week, and as you do, think about today’s post and then say with me… “I am expecting to have my spoken words line up in agreement with God’ Words that I study in my Bible!”

Am I Responsible for My Words?

I have to confess that on one level I am actually kind of thankful for the Stay at Home order during the Covid-19 pandemic.  During these last few months, I have actually used the seclusion to do a lot of introspection into my life… where it’s been, where it is now and where I would like it to go!  I have forced myself to open up the door to some subjects I had felt were too sensitive to explore since the passing of my wife about a year and a half ago.  But with the passing of time, I am personally finding that the raw pain is subsiding and a new confidence and hope has begun to rise up within me.

I discovered only recently, that there were certain subjects that I was actually scared to indulge in because I was concerned about losing some of memories of the intense closeness that Piper and I had between us. It felt like if I went there, that I would lose a part of her in me.  But through the hours and days of contemplation and prayer… and countless pages of notes, I feel like I’ve hit a point where I am ready to dive into the personal project of “re-activating” my life again!  It is also kind of funny in that my “re-activation” correlates to the exact timing of the Oklahoma Governor’s announcement that “Oklahoma will proceed to Phase 3 of the Open Up and Recover Safety plan beginning today, June 1^st.”*  

Within this new phase, most public restrictions are being lifted while still encouraging social distancing where applicable and the continued use of proper hygiene.  It does though, keep restrictions on the elderly, care homes and those with pre-existing conditions.  The Covid-19 numbers in the State have been steadily going down since the initiation of Phase One and Two over the past weeks and the health professionals in the area feel like the move into Phase 3 is justified.

I can sense many changes occurring in me, but I still struggle as the evening hours come upon us and things around the home begin to quiet down.  As I sat on the couch the other night watching TV, I suddenly found my thoughts drifting off into the memories of the physical closeness that Piper and I always enjoyed.  I’ve mentioned many times that Piper and I always tended to be “hands on” people when it came to our interactions with the churches we served in and with life in general.  Well… the same could be said for the way we interacted with each other!

We enjoyed holding hands pretty much everywhere we went together.  Piper had the (cool to me) habit of sliding her arm under mine and snuggling up to me when we walked into a restaurant, or a museum or any other similar establishment.  When we sat in the car our hands automatically met on the console between the seats, and whenever I left the house for work in the morning and came home at night, it would be very unusual to NOT find her immediately approaching me with a hug and a kiss... and many times with lipstick on my shirt! 

As I contemplated all of this, I thought about how much I missed touching her, and then it dawned on me that even more so than that… how much I missed her reaching out and touching me.  During the last years of her life when she couldn’t really move on her own, I still reached out to her like normal… but it struck that night, that I can’t even remember the last time that she actually initiated a touch to me.  That was a hard thought and I began to cry.  

I stood up about then and walked over to her piano in the living room and quietly looked at all the pictures of her and of us together that I put up over her Baldwin Acrosonic.  She literally spent hours at that piano and it just kind of radiates her aura.  Without too much thought I heard myself beginning to utter some words of self-pity when I suddenly caught myself and declared, “I can’t say that!” and immediately turned the beginnings of a negative confession into words of self-encouragement and faith.  Then I laughed and said aloud, “Boy!  That sure is engrained in me!

In Philippians 4:9 the Apostle Paul encouraged his readers to “Follow the example of all that we have imparted to you and the God of peace will be with you in all things.” (The Passion Translation)  Over the years of our marriage, since the mid-1970’s Piper and I have sat under a variety of men and women of God who have taught us, by precept and example, the Biblical truth of the importance of the words that we speak into the environment of our daily lives.  If you know me at all, then you know that I always strive to speak and then act upon words of faith and not fear and doubt.  In our Christian walk… I guess you could say that it was the way we were raised!  We were taught to be responsible for the words and the corresponding actions that we take in life.

The word translated “FOLLOW” in our verse above is also translated “PRACTICE” or simply “DO!” in other English translations.  In the original Greek, the word “DO” is defined as “to practice, to perform repeatedly or habitually, to be busy with, or to commit to do (in life).”  So, with that in mind, I guess that I could say that I have definitely formed a life-long habit and desire to always think, say and then do the right things... the things that are in line with the truth of God’s Word.

I have the habit of re-reading all of my texts, emails & letters before I hit the send button or drop the envelope in the mail box, as well as re-reading and editing my blog posts at least three times before I publish them.  I do my best to try and assure that people will receive my thoughts in the correct manner… although I do admit, that I am not always successful in that endeavor… but at least I’m trying!  

I’ll dig a little deeper into this subject in my next few blog posts, but for now, hopefully I’ve wet your whistle with the thought of taking personal responsibility for the words we speak… and beyond that, to put the positive truth of God’s Word, spoken in agreement through our lips, to work in the atmosphere and events of our daily lives!

Have a good week, be safe out there as restrictions are being lifted and take a moment to think about what you say each day!

*Fox23 News, Tulsa TV station headline report 6/1/20.