Homeless for the Holidays

Cora and I went grocery shopping for the holidays and I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to chat with Mr. and Mrs. Anderson. They are homeless. They have a camp up the hill a couple of miles from the grocery store. Lee was sitting at a bench outside the grocery store while his wife was shopping at the party store.

Lee and his wife were very friendly and were eager to share their stories. Lee found Jesus a couple years, ago. Since that time, he has totally kicked his drug habits and does not manufacture meth any more. His wife is also clean, but alcohol is still a part of their daily existence.

Although life had been hard on the two of them, they were incredibly positive. They were eager for company and offered to take me to their camp to show me around. I declined but got their phone number in case I changed my mind. I wish I could remember his wife’s name, but sadly can’t. I asked if she had ever seen God do anything for her. She
very excitedly asked me how many times would I like to hear about?

She then sang me a pretty song. It was her best “Valley Girl” rendition of a song she had written about Adam and Eve in the garden. She had previously sung this song to a prostitute and drug addict  while locked up at the county jail. She saw God in the song and believed it a strong witness to her friends. It probably was. Lee loved to hear her sing.

You likely will find this statement odd, but I don’t know if I have ever met any couple as excited about God and His place in their life.  They were really pumped and it was hard for me to get away. They just wanted to keep talking about God in their life as they shared a bottle.

The experience does make me wonder. Why did I expect less out of a homeless person, then I’d expect in talking to any other stranger.  Why was I surprised they had a relationship with God? No matter how I slice it, I was blessed in the opportunity to meet the Andersons.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING from 37stories!

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AHHH God’s love. A topic that is fresh on my heart.

Guest post by Elisha.

There was this woman in my life that was someone I just couldn’t seem to get away from. She drove me crazy. She was one of those people that when she was around my true colors rose up. Sure on the outside I kept a pretty face, but on the inside I was the biggest hypocrite as I wished with all my might she would just go away. Everytime she was around she would say things to cut me, to make me feel bad, or just to be mean. It was irritating.

All the while I knew all the right answers…I knew I was to forgive her, I knew I was to love her and I knew that there was probably some underlying hurt in her life that caused her to say these things. And as much as I prayed and vowed that I had forgiven her and that I would kill her with kindness, everytime I saw her I still wanted to ring her neck.

One day when the topic of the home group that we hold in my home came up she stated that she was going to start coming. GREAAAAT!! Just what I needed.(Please note the sarcasm). So she had been coming for a few weeks and the ministry always seemed to be directed at her and that drove me more crazy as she would sit there with a blank stare and say she was fine and she was already doing everything she needed to.

The pharisee in me sat there despising her. The unforgiveness and bitterness in my heart was rampant and I knew then that I could not ever love this person. I could pretend and even say all the right things, but in my heart there was no love. So, yesterday came and we decided to meet and get on our faces to seek the Lord. As I lay there on my living room floor I heard the Lord asking why I cared so much what others thought of me when I know the King of Kings. Why I longed for others approval when I was the bride of Christ.

Then He showed me this woman I despise who was next to me at the time and asked if I was willing to love her. I confessed that I couldn’t.  He said to humble myself and consider her better than me. Immediately I knew I had to drop my pride and be obedient. As I submitted to the idea that I was the least and the worst, God cleansed my heart from
the unforgiveness and bitterness. No formula, just a change of heart.

Then, my spiritual authority said out of the blue…”I think we should pray over (Sally).” I knew I could lay my hands on her to pray because of what God had just done in my heart. As we prayed I just asked for Him to show me His love for her. I knew if I could see it, then I would be able to love her.

As she sat there she began weeping and crying out to God for all the times she fealt alone. She said, “For the time I was alone in my closet, for the time they beat me, for the time the called me worthless, and for the time my parents killed themselves.”

Immediately a flood of sorrow rushed through my body. So much I could barely stand it. I kept my hand on her and wept with her. God showed me this was just a taste of the sorrow He fealt through all these things that she went through and that He never left her. We wept and wept and wept.

Then she turned to me and we embraced and on top of all the sorrow a new emotion came…..LOVE. An overwhelming love for her that physically  my body could not contain. I began shaking and could barely speak to tell her how much God loved her. We sat embraced for awhile as this love took over my entire being. Love so great I couldn’t even look her in the eyes becuase it was so overwhelming.

Again, God revealed that this was just a taste of how much He loved her. When the emotion died down enough to be able to come together again as a group there was something new in me. God had given me love for her.

I looked at her with new eyes. She honestly looked different and I swear her voice was different. We were new women. Released from the grasp of the enemy who loves division and strife. I could not love her with any ounce of the religiousity that is in me, but God’s love is more than enough and so much better.

Elisha

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There is hope and it is NOT in the church.

What impact does the church have on the way you experience life?  I mean really.  Does it change the way you act at work or how you treat your wife and family?  Does it encourage you to personally help the poor and less fortunate than you?  Does it care you suffer from depression?  Does it help you when you have lost your job?  Is the church even revelant to your life?  I think likely not.  The church is irrelevant to most.

Does that offend you?  I hope so.  If you are a believer you should be offended.  If you are a nonbeliever you should be offended.  I mean really. If you have the faith to be a NONbeliever then there should be distinguishing characteristics about you that the world can easily identify what group you belong to.  The same can be said for the believer.  If you have the faith to be a believer then the world should be able to easily identify you as such. 

Yet, six days and maybe even seven days a week we are no different.   We talk the same.  We eat the same foods.  We drink the same beverages.  We watch the same sports.  We take the same vacations.  We do it all, THE SAME!

Or at least that is the way it has been for generations, but there is change in the wind.  There appears to be a deep social and spiritual dissatisfaction with the way things are.  There appears to be an awakening from deep within our human consciousness to a driving desire for something more.  Do you feel it?  If you are honest with yourself, you know the feeling.  You may choose to keep it buried most of the time, but it is there. 

You feel it when you give change to the beggar on the corner.  You feel it when you hear of your friend’s child struggling with cancer.  You feel it when your spouse rejects you for someone else.  You feel it when your child is picked up with drugs.  There is within you a deep desire for something better. 

I want to encourage you with hope.  For you, it may not be in the local traditional church.  You may have already been let down or burnt by the church, but there is still hope.  The hope was never in the church to begin with.  The hope is in Jesus.  This is the change that is in the wind…

There are home churches springing up all over the state, country and world.  Members of these churches are unwilling to continue play acting the role of “good christian”.  The people of these home churches have taken seriously their social and spiritual conscious to do something positive in the world they live.  It is their total desire to be honest with themselves and friends while looking through the eyes of Jesus. 

The enlightened believe God is alive and well and desiring to do great things through each of them.  They are no longer passive participants in their faith.  They are actively, aggressively, sincerely and maybe even recklessly doing as God directs.  They are allowing God to shape their future, not letting others tell them what box they should live in.  They are part of the revolution. 

If you feel a similar dissatisfaction with your local traditional church, temple, mosque or cathedral experience, surf to: Fresh Connections and begin your journey, living a life with meaning and power!  God willing, Fresh Connections will have its first gathering in the new year.  God bless.

“…Since you are eager for manifestations of the Spirit, strive to excel in building up the church” ~Paul

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God Spot Verified

From my friend Faith.  What a great name!

My Thoughts:
Jeremiah 10:6
No one is like you, O Lord; you are great, and your name is mighty in power.

So…most of you know that this last week was pretty intense for my family. I received the call Friday evening from my parents telling me that my mom had been having chest pains, had been to a cardiologist, and that she would have a heart catheterization (with stints or bypass) on Monday. My entire family rushed to Missouri to be with my mom and dad. My mom was having all the symptoms of a heart attack on Sunday and was taking nitroglycerin. On Monday, the doctor told us that my mom had some anomalies (defects) and 2 clogged and calcified coronary arteries. He told us that he was pretty sure that she was going to have a triple bypass. We rallied, prayed, and hoped for the best.

An hour passed and the doctor came out with a perplexed expression on his face. He said, “She’s fine. Actually she is better than fine. Her arteries have zero plague and no calcification. Being 65, she should have some but she doesn’t. Not only is she plague free, but the abnormalities on the CAT scan just aren’t there anymore. I cannot explain it, and I called 3 other doctors in to look…God must have performed a miracle.”

My mom went home that evening and has had no chest pain or any symptoms. My mom says that all her symptoms went away shortly before they wheeled her into the procedure room and that it was fascinating to watch the doctors freaking out because they didn’t see what they thought they would. They even checked to make sure they had the right CAT scan.

I am praising God because I truly believe He healed my mom…a mighty demonstration of His power. As you pray and listen to God this week, what is God demonstrating to you?

James Harrison T-Shirt – What will you pay?

How much will you pay for an authentic James Harrison Superbowl record breaker T-Shirt?  I think this shirt may have been worn during the Super Bowl game and James made his record breaking touch down.  I think the guy that has this shirt stole it off his back while he was in the shower.

 Or possibly you’d like to bid on Aretha’s hat she recently wore at the Oh’Bama inaugeration.  She says she’s not sure if she is going to let the Smithsonian Institute have it.

 

And if nothing else you could always bid on Michael Swim Phelps’s hooka pipe.  He says he used bad judgement.  Probably thought the pipe was a bad fit for his teeth.

Or possibly my dirty socks. 

I don’t know.  I guess the Super Bowl brings out the best or worst in me.  Sigh…

 

Which item will bring the best price on ebay?

Genocide or abortion – What shall I choose?

I have to admit, I know very little about genocide.  I hear the word all the time, but it really doesn’t impact me.  I’m doing ok and haven’t killed anyone.

But, there are those that are passionate about the plight of babies around the world who are starving to death.  That’s a good thing.  There are no boundaries in the family of God.  We are to have compassion for the suffering of others.

There are also babies that are being killed by the millions right here in America, the land of the free and home of the brave.  We are guilty of participating because of our complacency.  That can’t be a blessing for God.

Here’s where it gets sticky and I appreciate that this is only one voice, but it is the voice God gave me. 

We recently voted for a man to lead our country.  I don’t know how the actual oath goes, but it says he is responsible for the well being of America.  He was not elected to lead the world or solve the world’s problems.

Admittedly, the worlds problems are significant.  Even including genocide.  But the newly elected president is responsible first to God, then to America and finally to the world.  He mustn’t step over the bodies of aborted babies in America to solve the plight of genocide around the world.

Obama and “ONE”ness

I was inspired to write this as a comment on Bret Lamb’s blog:  My God Space.  Check out his blog.  Always insightful, thoughtful and challenging.  I said with a little editing…

“I hope this is not too bizarre, but I’m thinking about your comment, “your little bubble”.  Funny, you write a page of great content and the reader soaks in 3 rather insignificant words, creating a thought.

I’m thinking about the concept of reaching critical mass and maximizing my impact on others.  We all live each in a unique “little bubble” defined by ourselves and influenced by others. 

Periodically, our bubble bumps into another bubble and intersects.  A resulting small piece of each of us is joined and becomes part of the other.

Sometimes, our bubbles bump and become a union of the two creating a bubble of twice the size and impact. Each sharing the other’s attributes (much like in marriage).

Reaching critical mass is when a significant number of bubbles bump, intersect and union, creating explosive mass, energy and volume  which changes the world as we know it forever.  The world becomes “ONE” or possibly the world becomes “NONE”.

Mr. Obama will shortly bump our bubble.  I wonder what the world of “ONE” or “NONE” will look like?”

It’s Christmas. Come on. Keep up!

Following this blog,you know it is all about Christmas, giving and making friends.  Right?  Ok.  Keep up with me now.  Cora and I were driving to HEB after an all day shopping spree. It is a miracle how God stretched a couple hundred bucks into an all day shop!

Anyway, we came up on a lady on 1604 blocking a lane of traffic because she was stranded without gas.  For 10 minutes people were honking and swerving around, but not helping.  I spotted the opportunity to make another friend. 

I pushed her off the road which was easy.  It was downhill.  Went to Autozone and “bah humbug” what a ripoff charging $12 for an empty emergency gas can.  Bought it anyway and counted it as the cost of blessing someone. 

It turns out that I gassed the car up and it still didn’t start, but I did my part.  By the time I got the gas in, she had made contact with her mom and figured out how to call the car dealership for a tow.   No body got hurt and I scored another point on the “Merry Christmas” poll.

Obama to be a great president

I appreciate Joel Osteen for his ability to seemingly always look on the positive side of things.  On Larry King Live he said…

“I think he’s going to be a great president. He seems brilliant to me and just, I believe God puts the right people in office, so we’re praying for him and just believing that God will give him wisdom and strength,” Osteen said on CNN’s “Larry King Live.”

Now I am really impressed.  That is positive thinking to the max.  What’s next?  Hillary Clinton is going to be a great Secretary of State?  I can’t wait to read his next book.  All sarcasm intended and I like Joel.