OumaB's Xanga

It is one thing to talk about love

Sun, 13 Jul 2008 06:43:15 GMT

To everything there is a time and season. . .

But with God, Love is always.

The question is this: Are we able to love at all times?

THE SPLENDOR OF JESUS!

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 08:12:53 GMT

Sweetness grandiflora by Jackson and Perkins

This ultra-fragrant Sweetness grandiflora Rose is the 2009 Rose of the Year Winner released by Jackson and Perkins online garden store. The splendor of a rose is one of God's creative acts which grips my innermost being and fills me with such wonder and satisfaction! God created us with this intense longing for beauty. We react in many ways to His splendors in creation, flowers being simply one of the many ways which God designed the earth to bring gratification of our senses. He built it all with our fulfillment in mind. Our appreciative response delights His heart.

"In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths" is the most common statement from my father in my life. He quoted Proverbs 3:5, 6 to us as an ordinary comment about life -- an admonition for us not to think anything in life should be taken for granted. All came from God and we were to simply acknowledge that to God at every turn of the road of life.

So, Dad would simply say (out loud) "Praise You, Jesus!" quietly in unobtrusive tones as He encountered God's handiwork in a day. Everything was from God and for Him and we were to simply acknowledge God in the process of our living and passing through His creation in a day. Everything was from God and we were to simply see life in this way as children of C.T. Beem.

The rain became a gift from God for the growing season which would bring the vegetable seeds to full growth.

The sun beating down on the cold spring ground would soon produce tiny green stalks of plants which would one day be heavy with the vegetables planted.

Everyday Dad would walk around the garden plot and thank God for the sunshine which gave life-giving energy to the plants as they grew. It was all God's doing -- a harvest promised to those who loved Him.

Amazing what such a simple thing can do in a child's heart. God becomes as much a part of life as the refrigerator where His provision is stored. His Word becomes as essential as the food we ate. The Bible was first in our day. . . with thanksgiving to Him a part of every early devotional time and every meal when thanksgiving or "grace" was said.

The fragrance of a rose seems to capture my desire for beauty and for the gratification of the ability to smell -- a desire for pleasure which God built into the human body. He delights our hearts with His creation -- a splendor which cannot be captured by camera as skillfully as the human experience does. Every sense is able to be gratified by the experience of scenic beauty -- colors and textures perfectly blended into a scene that "takes your breath away."

We tried to capture one scene which did just that on our 50th Anniversary: We bought a painting of Halstaat, Austria. We vacationed there on our big day. The satisfaction of that incredible beauty brought restoration to our weary souls. We were tired when we arrived. After a few days of absorbing the beauty and splendor of that ancient Mountainside village by the deep blue lake, we were ready to get back to work. Restoration of our being came from the beauty which God created. Man's additions did not mar the beauty, but simply added the interest of their unobtrusive houses clinging to the side of the mountain. Amazing how being there rejuvenates one.

Yet, beauty of God's creation alone does not satisfy the longing heart. Our hearts long for an intimacy in life which cannot come in relationship with humans or things. It is gratified only in relationship with God.

We perhaps have no clue that it is a spirit-to-Spirit relationship which we long for. That deepest of inner longing is created by God and only is fulfilled completely by an ongoing growing relationship of implicit trust in God Who has come to be another Live Person, God Himself, inside our bodies at our invitation.

One thing about God, He longs to show us His love, yet will not intrude if we withhold ourselves from Him. He will not intrude upon us to impose His will on ours. He positions Himself at the door of our lives and waits to be invited in. He knocks on the door of our hearts -- as a gentleman would do -- without simply opening the door to enter at His will. He chooses to allow us to give Him the right to come into our life -- at our invitation. Of what value would He be to us if He were not welcome inside our lives? He does not stay where a willing heart has turned from Him. He will not enter your life without His permission.

You know what the biggest hindrance is for His grand entrance into our lives? If we are interested in a relationship with God, we insist on getting our personal house in order before it is fit to receive Him. Knowing how awesome and perfect God is (we hear about Jesus and know we have to clean house in our heart and mind) we are busy most of our life trying to get our inner chamber of the heart, mind and spirit in suitable condition for God to be comfortable inside our body. We have to make some changes in our living in order to comfortable to have God come in to visit.

Anna helps with my house cleaning. Without Anna I would have to curtail most writing and much of my involvement with people. She makes it possible for me to be able to be 'ready' for guests into our home. She knows just what to do to give everything the needed once-over before guests come. That frees me to do other preparation-- menu planning and arrangements for the meal, including cooking and baking which I love to do.

With God, He waits for an invitation to come into the 'house' of our body. He created us with a location which is suited just for Him. It is empty until He comes inside our body to make His home at our invitation.

But, we get it all wrong. We think we need the house of our inner being to smell like a fragrant hybrid rose and have all the corners cleaned out -- all the closets organized -- all the garbage taken out -- all the trash cans emptied -- and everything spotless before we can invite Jesus into our lives as guest.

Well, Jesus does not want to come in as a guest in our perfectly spotless house of our lives.

Jesus waits for our invitation to come into our lives just like we are. It is His entrance into our inner being that enables a thorough house cleaning of our sinful hearts. It is the statement which we sing: Just as I am, which He loves.

Jesus simply wants us to open the door of our heart to Him and say something like this:

Jesus, I welcome you into my entire being. I am so sorry that I have all kinds of things in my heart which are sinful and evil. My thoughts are unclean and selfish and prideful and not fit for you to hear. My behavior is filled with sin, especially when jealousy takes over and I don't want to see that person I hate. But, Jesus, I see in you what I desperately need. I know you are the One who I have heard died for my sins against God. . . and because you died in my place, maybe you can do something about this mess of my life. Would you please come in and give me a complete makeover, Jesus? If you can do it, I have nothing to offer to help you. I have tried everything. I can't sustain a change for more than a few moments. Then I just revert to being a dreadful sinner. I don't want to have sin rule over me, but I can't break that hold over me. I just seem to do things spontaneously and can't break that habit of sinning. Could you please come in and take over this way of living and do something about my horrible house-keeping! I have become known by the habits of my sin before you, I am so sorry and am so tired of living in sin. I would really like you to clean up this whole house of my life. I surrender to You as Lord and Master of my Life and will allow You to come in this moment. Will you please come in and find a place to make yourself comfortable? Welcome, Jesus. Thank you for saving me from myself and from sin. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you!

Oh, the sweetness of the Rose of Sharon, Jesus Christ. There is such a splendor of His Presence which fills the inner chambers of our lives when we allow Him to fill our lives with the beauty of His Holiness, the fragrance of His lavish love outpoured into our hearts and lives. His Presence changes everything. He brings into our innermost being a quality of Life we cannot create or manufacture or emulate. Only Jesus has this Life in Himself. It is His Presence which is the Life God promises us -- eternal life. Eternal Life is Jesus present within our innermost being. He is Life.

When we receive Jesus into our lives He receives us into His Life. In Him we live and move and have our being. There is in Christ a sweetness beyond the rose which Jackson and Perkins offers. Jesus is the perfection of all beauty and loveliness wrapped up in One Being.

He satisfies the longing of our hearts for beauty and pleasure. . . and we can revel in Him with extatic joy and it is fulfilling -- the very gratification which our longing hearts pursue.

Enjoy Him today. He loves you perfectly and longs for a deeply satisfying interaction with you on every level. His design for your life is incredible. Fully yielded to Him, you will find perfection of gratification. He is suited to your need in every way. You are designed to fit into His Life with complete harmony and perfection. He had you in mind when He designed all things -- as part of His redeemed people who worship Him with their yielded lives.

Welcome to Jesus Life. . . ! It is His saving Life which people are lacking. If only we can speak of Him with enticing words which draw others to Him. If only we can live in ways that demonstrate His perfect love. . .

If only. . . Ah -- that's the problem, isn't it!

Saturday, June 28, 2008

Sat, 28 Jun 2008 10:33:42 GMT

Or "GETTING IT RIGHT" WITH GOD -- HIS WAY!

A double-minded man [or woman] is unstable in all his [or her] ways -- so the Bible says.

Take a good look. Do I look like someone who would have a duplicit thought process as a habit? None of us believes that about ourselves! But, we are good at judging others from a distance! So, God decides to look at our own motives in life. Are we double-minded in life -- serving God and serving self -- or perhaps even allowing actions which serve the devil and his desire to destroy our lives?

How clearly we see others.

Yet the Great Deception is this: Believing God's accepts us because of our "getting it right!"

The ultimate reality of full blown deception is believing we are acceptable to God because of our own righteousness -- our own goodness, somehow attaining to that place of full acceptance by our merits and performance!

Man looks on the performance. God looks on the heart!

The opposite of this deception about getting good enough for God's acceptance is this: Knowing it is only by our acceptance into Jesus Christ’s own death on the Cross, His burial and resurrection and His own Life-giving Presence inside our innermost being that we are made acceptable to God.

All our own righteousnesses, our attempts to produce “good-enough-for-God” living are totally unacceptable as sufficient to fix our status as "rejects" by God because of our sin. God calls our righteousness "filthy rags" ( the meaning in the original text is that of putrid, bloody menstrual cloths)! (The Bible does speak in such images!) That is what our attempts to satisfy God's requirement for purging sin by offering our good works -- abstaining from badness!

Sadly, we waste much of our productive energy in fear and frustration due to misunderstanding the grace of God and how His favor and blessing work toward us. We cannot earn anything from God. We may maintain His favor once we are In Christ Jesus by our loving response to follow Him and serve Him, but favor cannot come any other way than by a gift from God Himself to us as His fallen Creation in simple acknowledgement of that very fact that we cannot 'get it right' with God on our own. . . EVER!!!

Why do we put other people on trial in our minds for their sins when we have the same tendencies in our own living? We would not recognize sin so easily in another if we were not guilty of such sin in our own minds and actions.

It is shocking how easy it is to identify the traits of sin which lead to a fall in another . . . the matters of deception and lies. But it is not at all possible for most of us to see similar sins in our own actions or even merely our thoughts.

For example, God speaks of adulterous thoughts being sufficient to bring guilt before Him. His Word says that if you commit adultery in your heart, you are guilty before God as if you committed the act.

Another example, God says that if you hate your brother, you are guilty of murder. Even if you haven’t touched a gun or pulled a trigger! The motions of sin in man’s heart make us guilty before God Himself.

It is to God we are accountable first of all in life.

So, the Holy Spirit comes along to give us a good dose of holiness and purity by displaying before our eyes a panorama of the purity of Christ and the holiness of God Himself, without which no man can see God.

Back to square one – starting all over again with the basics.

Let’s examine the process of God’s work to rescue us all. All have sinned, God says, and come short of His glory. The glory of God is Jesus Christ. . .so we have to measure up to the sinless perfection of Jesus or we don’t measure up as acceptable to God.

In Christ alone do we have hope for acceptance by God. How does a sinner get INTO CHRIST?

The soul that sins, it shall die. Who said? God said!

What to do about it?

While we were still (yet) sinners, Christ died for us.

Amazing gift, that!

A sinless man (God’s Perfect Lamb) hung on the altar of that hewn wooden cross in Jerusalem as the atonement for the sin of the whole world.

He took away mankind’s sins. He took sin to the Cross. He took sinners with him through death, burial and resurrection and ascension.

Now we stand before a holy God --looking from afar at the big gulf, that impasse which man cannot bridge in any way on his own. We are not fit to enter God’s presence because we are born in sin . . . children of the Fall of our forefather, the first man, Adam. In Adam, all died.

We are born into this life with natural human life, but are left with a spirit which is dead to God.

We learn to walk and talk in the natural scheme of things . . . for us in America, it is English, mostly. In our home, English only. That is a natural progression in life.

But the language of the spirit is dead. There is only life in the spirit of man when God quickens the human spirit and imparts a quality of life which cannot be inherited from your parents. It must come from God as a direct impartation. The gift of spirit-life comes at the hand of God, the Holy Spirit, who raised Jesus from the dead by the power of God Himself.

There is no big secret about things. . . but maybe you don’t know this: Jesus took upon Himself the sin of all mankind because of the Fall of Man. Man was created with perfect capacity to walk with God in harmony and fellowship.

In the Garden of Eden the sin of disobedience to God caused the loss of spirit-to-Spirit capability inside man. The spirit of man died when sin entered his life. Disobedience to God is a huge calamity which has to be atoned for by the blood of a perfect, sinless sacrifice.

It is God’s order of things. He is God. He made the entirety of all that is. This is how it is. We make or break our lives on knowing and observing the pattern of God’s design for all things.

When we understand the love which prompted God’s plan for man, we are not put off by the requirements of a blood sacrifice for sin.

Jesus paid the blood sacrifice for our sin. We are each one personal sinners against God. We cannot keep from sinning against God due to the Fall of Man in the Garden of Eden. All Adam’s and Eve’s children in the human race inherited the nature of their broken humanness. . . the sinful nature which they chose.

We are offered an escape from the penalty of sin. . . death, hell and the grave. We are offered eternal life – a quality of life which comes only from God and has its source and sustenance in God alone.

The gift of eternal life, God-life, is offered to everyone everywhere. Incarnate in Jesus Christ is the fullness of God – all the attributes and life-giving qualities for mankind to experience reside in Jesus. His earthly life was to us a non-stop display of God’s intention for man’s behavior and living.

The quality of God as Savior is unique to Jesus Himself. No other human –ever—take on any of those qualities of being a Sin-Atoner! Only God Himself could qualify for that position in God’s order of things. No other created being or creature or thing could satisfy God’s justice. He alone could pay for the offense against Himself by giving His own life as payment for sin against Himself. So God left heaven and took on the form of humanity through the incarnation just so He could save mankind from the effects of the Fall.

Restored through Jesus Christ, the hope of man is glory through Christ.

It is the work of all Christ-followers to spread the good news of the fact of Christ’s saving Life, the how of receiving Jesus, the way God works His Life into human beings, the requirement of believing God in what He has done and said is truth and acting out the reality of God’s verbalized reality in observable living. When one does this, there is a new person in residency inside the body of the ‘believer’ who has been newly created internally by the Holy Spirit of God. Jesus Christ has taken up residency inside the spirit of a repentant sinner who has turned to God. This Resident Life-Giver, Jesus Christ, comes as the Christ of the Spirit to bring hope and healing where sin has done its deadly, destructive work in lives.

Jesus becomes the Life to Live From inside the new creation believer. Rather than having to give in to the habits of a sinner’s past, there is a new way of living which is operative now. That New Life is Christ in you, the hope of glory. God’s glory will begin to be revealed in the life-choices as a Christ-follower begins to respond to the Holy Spirit as Creater Teacher who has birthed Jesus Christ inside. The Spirit of Life in Jesus Christ will begin to take over the reins of life in order to redirect the life-habits of the former sinner, now saint.

It is no goodness on the part of the new believer which makes that person acceptable to God. It is the favor that has come from believing on Jesus and receiving the greatest love which God has to offer mankind – salvation redemption through reconciliation and restoration through Jesus Christ. God is thrilled with the rescuing from sin’s grip of another of His creation. He commits to a life-long faithfulness to all who will simply trust and believe and obey Him.

The law of Life in Jesus Christ works from God’s end initially. He draws us to Himself. We respond. He gives Life in Jesus. We receive Him. He details His plan for living in fullness and abundance of life. We learn to hear His voice and obey His directives. He infuses us with His Spirit-power to enable what He designed us to do – good works. We continue to trust in His Life and Love and Power and Might and do not lean on our own understanding of things. We walk and live in the realm of our spirit-to-Spirit union with Christ rather than our natural inclinations. We are now tuned to another quality of Life rather than just being limited by our natural abilities. All true living in this life comes through union with Christ, by being IN Christ Jesus. From this union, this oneness, comes the new kind of person we were ultimately created to be.

All the old things, the limits of sinful human nature and all destructive tendencies which cripple life’s fullness and abundance, are put off as obedience to God brings freedom and liberty from sin’s devastation.

The amazing Life of Jesus Christ, lived out of the body of believers world-wide, is the agency of hope for the world. Although there are many ‘versions’ of those who claim to be ‘Christian’, it is only those in whom Christ Himself actually lives and breathes and moves about doing the very things we know Jesus did through his earthly body. Now His Body is the true believers everywhere who demonstrate His saving Life, the attributes which come only from God.

Humanity once had the perfection of God’s design in operation in the Garden of Eden. What God designed was without flaw. Sin destroyed the perfection. God’s way of restoring that design and function of His original intention was ultimately revealed in Jesus, God’s Son.

Since we know that in Christ was all the fullness of God in bodily form, we are assured that when we receive the Spirit of Life in Jesus Christ, we are transformed into His image. It is a New Birth, one which grows through the fellowship with God and our responsive obedience to His voice.

Today, He is bringing me back to square one . . . to the place where I once again see the glory of His intention for living by everyone. Compared to Jesus, I have no hope. But, when I see that God acknowledges Christ in me and counts me as righteous in His sight while I am fully trusting Christ to be Life in me, then I have hope. Christ in me the hope of glory. . . now and forever.

Always it is my part to acknowledge that He is God and I am not! In that moment, I am in awe of the grace, mercy and love of God which is the hope of eternal life. . . a hope for a change in my mind about temptation that lurks, a change of direction in my plans which pull me away from focus on His Life and work in and through His Body and me. It is time to return to the Lord and to all His workings to reconcile the world to Himself through Jesus Christ.

I am offering this to you as a promise of hope . . . for yourself, or for others who may need to hear this hope we share in Christ.

One day, it may be soon, Jesus will appear in the air to take to Himself those who are His own. It could be any moment. . .

In case I don’t see you again at this site. . .I pray it will be in the air with our Lord. . .

Maranatha, even so, Come Lord Jesus!

I would rather know You, Jesus, and know You as Life than to have everything else in this life and end up forever separated from Your Presence -- for all eternity. Keep me in Your love and care while I walk in simple trust in You and Your Word. Amen.

AFTER ALL IS SAID AND DONE, IT IS EVER AND ALWAYS ONLY GOD'S PERFECT WORK OF OFFERING US HIMSELF AS HIS GIFT OF LIFE WE ARE TO LIVE FROM -- WHEN WE ACCEPT HIM AND RESPOND IN LOVING GRATITUDE, WE GET IT RIGHT EVERY TIME!! AND THE PLAN NEVER CHANGES. WE ALWAYS RETURN TO HIM FOR OUR MID-COURSE CORRECTIONS!

TRUST GOD AND GET BACK IN BED

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 04:10:26 GMT

The sleepless night overtook me . . .so I turned to His Word . . . stopping at Proverbs 3:5,6. Since childhood, this passage has been in my heart and mind (KJV).

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not to your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths.

With eager anticipation I read from The Message (MSG) the same passage:

5-12 Trust God from the bottom of your heart;
don't try to figure out everything on your own.
Listen for God's voice in everything you do, everywhere you go;
he's the one who will keep you on track.
Don't assume that you know it all.
Run to God! Run from evil!
Your body will glow with health,
your very bones will vibrate with life!
Honor God with everything you own;
give him the first and the best.
Your barns will burst,
your wine vats will brim over.
But don't, dear friend, resent God's discipline;
don't sulk under his loving correction.
It's the child he loves that God corrects;
a father's delight is behind all this.

Off to the sleeping station. . . having unloaded on Him . . .casting all my care upon Him. . .that list of items to be figured out, those things confronting me in the next day of work, thoughts of unresolved situations -- I just deposited them in His care as I devoured His Word and allowed His promises to replace the thoughts of my concerns.

Amazing how that works. . . being transformed by the renewing of my mind! In a few short minutes of redirected focus, I am ready to sleep -- knowing He will bring to pass that which concerns my life. What He has begun, He will finish. His promise is that He will bring plans to pass which are laid before Him as His to accomplish.

The price of oil could not possibly shake the confidence that what He desires He will work together to bring to pass. Nothing that concerns my life and His will can be thwarted by circumstances. . . for He has promised to care for me and make my path straight (no detours or bends which make the journey longer than necessary.)

Time to trust is now. Stop the piling up of worry by hitting the delete button in your computer brain and let God clean out the trash bin of your discarded worries!

Get a new page going for today. . .leaving all the bits and pieces of saved paragraphs of thought in the discard bin. Don't go back and refresh the trashed stuff. Let it go into the land of 'casting on Him' for He cares for you. Let Him write on the page of today. . .leaving His will and purposes to unfold as He orders the day.

A bit more sleep and I can't wait to see what He is going to do. I left so many things with Him just now. . .

Getting from point A to points B and C and D. . .

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 15:27:12 GMT

Planning a family trip online. . . what options! You can choose any possible combination of routes and transportation systems over any period of time you choose. If you can finance it you can leave immediately! With a GPS (Global positioning system), you can even see the sites before you leave home. Using Google's sky view you can spy on the sites and addresses anywhere in the world.

Trying to plan a multi-stop trip has given me a headache. After three days of various amounts of time spent in a huddle with the online travel opportunities, I am back at square one. That means, start all over.

We are having a family reunion in the beautiful Northwest part of the country. August was chosen as the best time since school starts so early everywhere.

This has been in the works for two years -- since our last reunion in Bend, OR. A great spot which sits in the middle of gorgeous country with the mountain still hanging on to the snow today. My brother has a ranch which is perfect for our gathering in a rural setting.

Also, there is a 90th Birthday celebration for my mother in Missouri. We are trying to be there on her day.

Being at the opposite end of the country from the reunion, we could see the whole nation on our way coming or going -- if you had time. Because I am in the opposite end of the country and need to do a multi-city stop trip with people coming from more than one destination the cost is top dollar!

The price of gas precludes cheap airline tickets or fuel for the duration of a family auto trip. Also, recent difficulties in long-time sitting makes such a long auto trip impossible.

I thought it was all worked out. The flights are on hold! But, we just couldn't cover the necessary mileage for us all for such a long multi-stop flight. The absence of sufficient frequent flier miles for the whole group of us has been the culprit of my weariness in doing any more flight schedules.

I have tried every path to get to both destinations in August. They are planned for consecutive weekends so two trips is a waste of funds. Keeping in budget is a challenge. . .because travel is not a budget item these days.

Suddenly, the impossibility of making it happen has settled down on me. . .and I realize that I had to stop and ask the Lord about it.

My journal said this earlier today: "The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord." I take that to mean 'person' when it says 'man'. So I know the Lord is clearly wanting to order my steps all the time. But this trip is not a 'step' occasion.

REALITY CHECK: But, am I doing the 'ordering'. . .or is God?

This trip has a time limit and "stepping" there won't get it done. I have to have wheels or air under me to make this happen. So. . . I put aside the stack of trip possibilities and the reservations waiting for sufficient frequent flier miles to ticket the whole thing -- with a 'hold' on my spirit. Surely the Lord is not at all confused about the exact way to make this happen.

It is not only a desire to be with family that calls our hearts. . .it is the care of our loved ones as family who also need the lavish love of Christ expressed by their ministry family who have not always been available for family events in years past. Now that we are all committed to being together for this event, we discover that some of our family we have never met and others we have only seen one time in all our lives have committed to be there because of our commitment to come.

So, does anyone know how to lower the price of gas by about $50 a barrell this week? Perhaps it might make a difference in this trip.

There are hundreds of options for this trip. I could choose thousands of ways to get to these events. I now know what people mean when they say "all roads lead to God!"

Have you tried to make a trip plan on all the available internet sites? You really can get to anywhere from all the roads. . . and if you don't know how to do it they will give you every detail of the whole plan in either text without maps or with maps -- you choose. You can alter your route in the middle of your journey and change your mind and still end up at your destination. Amazing. . . and all mapped out for you.

If you don't have an internet connection, you can have AAA do it for you in a book form . . plan your trip by any route you choose to your destination -- they will send you a Trip-Tik!

Speaking of destinations. . . have you heard it is said that "all roads lead to God?"

The trouble is, that is not what God's map, the Bible says.

Isn't it a bit arbitrary that God's Word, His "Trip-Tik" is clearly not a compilation of our preferred routes and paths. Getting to God does not work this way!!!

Jesus said: "No man can come to the Father except by Me!"

That is arbitrary!

There is one path and only one . . one way and none other -- it is not a road, but a Person, Jesus Christ. Only through Jesus can you get to God.

AMAZING how Jesus gets us right to the FATHER!!! And there is no headache in the process!!! ~~

Father's Day Surprise

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 03:10:47 GMT

The door burst open and a cry of "SURPRISE!" followed by hilarious laughter filled the room. Our three daughters had planned to give their Daddy the best gift possible -- their presence~!

It was Friday night and our youngest daughter had planned a Saturday breakfast -- definitely not a common event for any of us. But earlier in the evening, she called to say she had forgotten her book at the house (a couple days earlier). Could she stop in and get it?

Her Dad said to come on in since we were already relaxing and about to get into bed. We just were watching the news and were about to finish up our day. We were lounging on the sofa when they 'hit' the door in their surprise 'explosion' into our room.

Talk about happy!!! What perfect timing. . .and what a great Father's Day weekend we all had together.

Love has many ways of expression, but one of the obvious ways is to simply recognize opportunity to bless another person and then do it. At all costs, love 'just does it'! I am sure their travel (the two from out of town, across the country) was a personal sacrifice of time and money -- and absence from their husbands for Father's Day. . . but, they chose a perfect way to give their Father just what he needed the most -- their love with skin on it!

The hugging and laughing lasted all weekend. . .and our lives have been enlarged and enriched by these three precious daughters bringing us such joy.

Surprise is a great factor in gift giving! Expectations are often surpassed when love needs to go above and beyond! This was just such an event. . . far beyond our expectations. That is what made it such fun! We had no clue.

It is very late - a sleepless night in our town -- and it could be that my heavenly Father would love a surprise visit from His daughter tonight.

Sorry, it has been nice to chat. . . but I want to give Him something to ponder on. . .the love I feel for all He has done for me, for every blessing in my life which all come from His hand, for the incredible husband and father of our children who loves and cares for me, for the blessing of serving Him and His Church, for the heritage which gave me my start in life from godly parents . . . all blessings from Him. But more than that, is that He is Who He is and I know Him. It is not everybody who has this privilege, you know.

Father, I adore you . . . lay my life before you. . . Amen. I need to talk for a bit. . . I know you aren't sleeping. . . so could you listen for just a few minutes. . . I have some things you need to know. . .

Let's see . . .where do I begin? Oh, just a moment, I need to dismiss my friends. . .

(Good night, and thanks for stopping by. . .)

I Walked Today Where Jesus Walked

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 10:05:32 GMT

View from my Jerusalem balcony continued:

Going to the Holy Land, the Land of the Bible, to walk where Jesus walked . . . well. . . you really have to look for anyplace where Jesus' feet actually touched the ground you walk on.

All the beauty of Jerusalem which you see from the hotel balcony of our room lays above the layers and layers of civilization where Jesus walked over 2,000 years ago. Yet we trek by foot through the Old City to get underground. We want to see the excavated places which are the actual paving stones of the street where it is believed the soldiers played games, bartering for Jesus' robe and filling time with gaming while dragging him through the streets in open humiliation.

For years, the site deep in the city layers was hosted by a wonderful nun, Sister Agnes. She used to give us a passionately moving description of that fateful day when God's Son gave His sinless life for the redemption of the fallen race of mankind. We would sit and weep as she expressed her devotion and love for her Lord. She was full of the Holy Spirit and His Presence filled the place. Her devotion was poured out to her Lord Jesus Christ. We can never forget her passionate love for Jesus and her out-poured adoration. Sister Agnes is with her Lord Jesus today. Pastor Dan is the one who brings the message in that place . . .and we still weep and quietly sit and ponder the grace and mercy of God for our personal salvation. We are moved with the wonder of His love for humanity in giving His life on the streets of this city we now visit.

That site and its eternal significance is hidden from the hotel balcony view. From the balcony you see only the daily routine of Jerusalem residents who are living as ordinary citizens in a hurry to get to the next place. Although they live under the constant threat of world domination by enemies you do not see that as the focus of their living. They are aware of those who are convinced that Israel has no right to exist and the residents of that land -- a promised land to the Children of Israel -- should all be driven into the sea or eradicated by sudden terror from invaders -- but Israelis are survivors with a survivor mentality. They just live life like we do. . . only so very much more seriously.

The reality is this: An American tourist has no feeling of being in danger or of being accosted by anyone on the streets at any time of the day or night. Common caution brings a feeling that you can simply move about at your will and you are free to do so. The common security check is not unlike the check for weapons at the airport . . . and certainly not as restrictive! The Jerusalem mall security officers take a look in your bag . . . if you are in a group with a guide, there is no check of your bag. . . and you simply move about as if you were at the Bell Tower mall or any other US mall.

The places Jesus would have walked are buried under the levels of civilization which have built upon the ruins of previous generations. Yet, the main sites are marked by churches and archeological landmarks which preserve the very history which shows the Biblical significance of the region. Thank God for the churches which guard the traditional sites. They would be paved over and lost to this generation if they had not been guarded as holy sites through the years since Bible days.

Gordon's Calvary -- a site which was outside the city walls and could be the site of Jesus burial, gives a garden setting which is next to the bus station where the topography of a hill represents a skull. Some regard that as proof of a place where Jesus was crucified -- the place of the skull. It is likely that Jesus was not on the top of the hill but on the side of the road where the passers by could pluck his beard and slap his face and spit on him and give him scorn and shame. Their mocking words could have been heard while He was praying, "Father, forgive them, they know not what they do."

It is not the site, the place of crucifixion which brings me to the place of great spiritual response, for we are not sure the exact location. But, seeing the open grave does bring an emotional response. . . for His resurrection is what brought new life to me once I had experienced the work of the Cross in my life. It is rather easy to picture Jesus on a Cross and know my sins were partly responsible for the cruel punishment.

Even greater is the fact that it was the fall of man which required God's death on the Cross. Innocent blood (of a sinless human) had to be shed. That innocent blood had to be of a perfect man to meet God's requirement for a Perfect Adam to die for the fallen race of Adam, the first human to sin against His Creator Maker. To atone for the First Adam, the Last Adam, Jesus, gave His sinless body for the race condemned to death by the Fall in the Garden of Eden.

I have not walked today where Jesus walked -- through the centuries of man's inhumanity to man. I have not felt the agony of the ages when in the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus drank the bitter cup, "The Cup the Father has given me, shall I not drink it?" Only Jesus, Son of God, could participate in redemption demonstration for mankind. He alone was the Lamb of God which takes away the sin of the world.

Walking in Jesus' footsteps no more makes me a redemptor than putting a car in a garage makes it a garage. They are and we are two separate entities. I am always simply a fallen human who needs a Savior -- someone to pay my penalty for sin. No animal can do that -- regardless of how perfect the blood of that animal is. It took a sinless human being to be the sacrifice for man's sin. Jesus lived His perfect life in Israel on the streets of the villages and across the Galilee terrain by the lake and through the regions where demons were charged by Him to come out of those possessed. Jesus lived His perfect life as Son of God, Son of Man. Our trip to Israel is simply another remembrance of the greatest story ever told!

All history culminates in the life of Jesus Christ and will continue on the prophesied path of redemption of all who place their faith in God's Word and promised redemption through His sacrificial death and risen life, the sacrifice of Jesus and His resurrection. Centuries later, we are dealing with Jesus. exalted to the right hand of the Father. His picture, clearly described in the Book of the Revelation, is that of One with eyes blazing like fire. . . His authority clearly unlimited over all things.

When the fullness of time comes once again, the places where Jesus walked will seem insignificant for Jesus will appear in the air to catch away His Bride, the Church of Jesus Christ. This first phase of His second coming will ultimately culminate with a touching down of His feet one day in Jerusalem . . . and the saga of the ages will clearly unfold as the Bible prophecies.

Today is the day of grace and mercy and salvation. One day, when Jesus returns to bring in the season of God's wrath against evil and sin, there will be an unfolding of Christ's countenance which will be like we have yet to see. For He will sweep down with the saints from heaven to bring about the triumph of that moment as the Bible speaks of. You want to be with Him when He comes to earth . . . not left on earth after He catches away His Church, His Bride.

You can walk today where Jesus walks -- allowing Him to 'recreate' your entire being, bringing His holiness and purity and cleansing work of His Blood, that Blood given for the cleansing of all mankind from sin. Today is the day of God's grace and mercy. Only in this season of grace -- the "now" of salvation's great love -- the offer of the gift of eternal "God-life" through receiving into your innermost being the Spirit of Life in Jesus Christ -- can you know escape from the wrath of God to come.

Today, things in Israel are cautiously peaceful - comparatively. But one day very soon, God will bring redemption to earth through Israel (Jesus was the divine Son of God born to a Jewish virgin, remember) and that land of promise. Israel is not simply another part of the planet. It is the land God chose to deal with His chosen people, giving promised hope and His promised future. Through Israel, the Messiah has come. To Israel, Messiah will come again. When He returns to earth (not the Rapture in the air, but the actual Second Coming to earth) He will come to demonstrate that He truly did walk in the land as the Son of God, crucified and resurrected and exalted to God's right hand. Jesus, the Messiah come again, will be the King of Kings and Lord of Lords and will sweep into that moment of earth's daily news with a purpose clearly revealed in the Word.

Salvation comes only through Christ Jesus. . . not through any other name. Only one name brings grace and mercy and forgiveness of sin. Only one blood, the Blood of Christ Jesus, crucified Son of God, can purge man's sin before God. Only through this means of repentance can a relationship with God be entered into. The blessed Holy Spirit broods over the nations today, thrusting thousands daily into the harvest of the nations in order to spare mankind from the wrath of God to come. His wrath has been reserved for the devil and all his fallen angel hosts cast out of heaven -- all demonic activity, all the hellish influence on earth and all the heavenlies which have been host to the most heinous evil ever hatched in the haunts of hell. All who will not receive God's great salvation and the escape from God's wrath to come -- as many times as it has been offered -- will have to face the wrath of God. For God has given every person a will and will not violate that will. He has offered His great escape, His great salvation . . .and will not impose it upon those who do not desire to be reconciled to Him and enjoy fellowship with Him.

What a great horror will come. The place where Jesus walked . . . just a few blocks from the hotel balcony . . . will be a place of great horror and death. Those who are Christ's will be spared. But God will no longer wink at the evil and terror and horrors which have been perpetrated on earth at Satan's instigation. The devil has a payday coming and when it comes it will be God's wrath outpoured. To be caught in the wrath is not God's plan for anyone.

God is not willing that any perish but that all come to repentance! He has stated it over and over and gives to us all that hope of escape from perishing! Eternal life, God's quality of life with no end, is the substance of which God's spirit is made. When we receive Jesus as Savior and repent of our sin and turn from being a sinner to become a true Christ-follower, we re infused with the Spirit of God, a quality of spirit-life which can totally alter our living. We grow in the knowledge of how to live from the saving Life of Jesus Christ, His Spirit-life within. Then we become so much like Jesus in our living that people see the contrast of our living and are drawn to the One who is our very Life. It is not pride to speak this way. . . but simply the way things work.

Today I will walk where Jesus walked -- in my home town, in my home and out and about or simply here in this office -- for He now walks and talks in this body I have -- and I am taking Him to the places of His choosing today . . . speaking what He desires and doing what He plans for this day.

That is not to say that you can't tell the difference . . . ! I am the container, the body, the personality he is housed in. He is God and is definitely not me! Yet, there is a change in my life since I am living Christ-life . . . and if you ask my family they will tell you there is a difference between us. At times, I take over and get out of sorts and fail to yield to His saving life. But, when I do that, I quickly repent and turn once again to my Savior to release His life through this mortal body.

Like the Apostle Paul who told his disciples, I am supposed to say to those who are Christ-followers around me: Follow me as I follow Christ. In other words: If you don't know how to be a Christ-follower, watch me and you will learn.

I walk today where Jesus walks . . . that is my intention and prayer for this day. Not in Jerusalem or Galilee, but right here where I live. . .

When He appears in the air, He will be all glorious and we will know Him as we are known! Amazing this moment of glory we share with Him -- Christ in you, the hope of glory (Col. 1:27).

P.S. You don’t have to go to Israel to walk where Jesus walks!!! He will walk in you today!

Our Israeli Heritage -- Get Wet to Walk on Dry Ground

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 11:56:44 GMT

Continuing in the View from the Balcony series: our most recent trip to Israel and the Greek Islands, I must insert this which came to me today. via insightful leadership in the world.

You see, this journey we make to the Land of the Bible year after year is not just a vacation for people with nothing to do. Each time we are more and more aware of the deep roots we have in the faith of our fathers who actually suffered many things in order to be the Children of Israel, living in the land of God's Promise.

This insight today comes from the beloved author and professor, Dr. Leonard Sweet, just recently in Jakarta at a conference. His "Napkin Scribbles" are amazing insights into his ordinary days here and there. This time it was a news release via insightful leadership in the world: (Quote until end quote.)

"On Monday, Dr. Leonard Sweet began the Summit with a powerful thought, which I pass on to you. Leaders came from every. . . and elsewhere.

Dr. Sweet quoted the Tannaim, the Rabbinic sages whose views were recorded in the Michnah. He said that the children of Israel passe through the Red Sea in two groups. The first group "walked through the water on dry ground" while the second group "walked on dry ground through the water." The first group had to endure water up to their necks before it parted. the second group enjoyed dry ground while walking "through" the water. The first group had to step out in faith into the deep. The second group simply walked on dry ground. The first group knew the price of faith. The second knew the privilege of faith.

Dr. Sweet summarized, "This conference is filled with leaders who are willing to step out into the unfamiliar and believe God to keep His Word."

Further challenge info: In the next ten to fifteen years, the global Church will double in size, going from one billion Christians to two billion Christians. While some leaders today see only how tall the waves are, others are already walking through the deep to the other side. While some talk about an angry Pharaoh trying to kill us, others keep our eyes on the Master of the sea.

In some areas of the world, we enjoy the dry ground that was pioneered years ago by people wading into the deep. In other areas, Christian leaders still endure high rising waters for the sake of the Gospel.

The first disciples saw no evidence that we would have a billion Christians in the world today. The "deep water" for them was to be crucified, thrown to lions, sawed in two, burned at the stake. Today we can still step out in faith and believe God to win a billion souls to Christ. When we do, we make it possible for others to walk on dry ground and see what faith has provided.

The final paragraph: Let's be the group who gets wet without seeing evidence so that our children may experience the blessing without the burden. Let's get up to our necks to believe for a billioin to be saved. End of quote.

Most of us have not paid the PRICE of faith. Yet we enjoy the PRIVILEGE of faith.

Frequent trips into the Middle East give only limited insight into the possibility of the PRICE of faith. Yet, all around were believers who know someone who HAS paid the price of faith.

Can we take the privilege of faith for granted today?

I think not!!!

The view from the TOP says that we must be willing to give our lives in order that others may know the message of God's redemptive gift in Jesus Christ.

A balcony in Jerusalem only skims the skyline and misses the battle behind those beautiful walls of the stone buildings which created such a glorious sight for we who come to see the Biblical sights. All around the stage is being set for history's final conflict -- where the heavenlies reveal the Messiah who has come once and who will appear in the air soon to catch away His Church and will one day set his feet on the top of the Mount of Olives in an earth-splitting moment.

In the meantime, I am looking to see where the Sea awaits my feet. Surely there is an escape for those who come behind as I wade into the water at His command!!

View from the Balcony -- Security Risk

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 11:08:35 GMT

Arriving in Israel three days ahead of the touring group gave us a couple days of rest before the beginning of our tour as hosts. Last minute responsibilities at the church had kept us busy until we actually sat for coffee at the airport in FL. We finally made way thru Atlanta and on to Tel Aviv in the very tight and close seats of our huge jetliner crossing the Atlantic. By the time we landed, I was ready to stand for days!

The balcony view at night is spectacular. With binoculars you can clearly see to Bethlehem and pick out the familiar skyline of that once sleepy village now a bursting community under the control of the Palestinians. As a result, the high wall which cordons off the residents gives an ominous atmosphere in my view. In a few days our group will be there to see the birthplace of Jesus and look for the place where the shepherds heard the angels announce the birth -- angelic sounds of startling proportions! Had it been in 2007, I could have seen the angelic hosts from the hotel balcony. Not sure about back then in Bible Days . . . the terrain may have precluded anyone in Jerusalem seeing the heavenly hosts. But certainly the startled shepherds knew they had a heavenly visitation.

Speaking of 'heavenly visitations' -- nowadays the arrival of special guests in Jerusalem often comes via the airways as well. Those moments of visitation which brought the President of the USA to Jerusalem were visible by means of 'heavenly miracles' -- Television and actual sighting of Presidential helicopters flying very close to our area of Jerusalem -- the hotel balcony providing a view that was spectacular (coupled with live TV filling in the gaps.)

You would have thought the whole city was under security orders from the Israeli government -- that is, if you had tried to leave the hotel to get anywhere that afternoon in Jerusalem.

From the balcony I had watched Dan take off to the old wall for a visit inside the Jaffa Gate and on into the area of the Western Wall. He could not wait to take off to see the familiar sites and feel the 'welcome home' which always greets him wherever he goes in Israel. Being comfortable everywhere is one of the feelings of a true 'Sabra' at heart! Not only is his background filled with links to Israel via spiritual heritage -- being a Christ-follower -- but there are indications that there once was a river (now a dry bed) after his surname - Betzer River. Amazing. So this native son, by virtue of redemption and adoption into the family line of Jesus, the Christ of God, son of David, etc., etc, suddenly thrusts him into the realm of ancestral heritage which has bathed his life through all his 71 years of life. From early infancy he was in church and training classes (Sunday School) every week of his life -- several times a week.) Dan and I share the same spiritual training in our upbringing. . .and we are immediately comfortable in Israel as a result of learning the stories of the Bible as children and on through our adult lives as ministers of the Gospel. Both our parents made sure that we were solidly planted in the Word of God and our lives have the rich inheritance of having been immersed into the Old Testament Scriptures by a series of Daily Vacation Bible Schools, Children's Meetings, Children’s Camps, Youth Camps, Bible Studies, Prayer meetings, Revival Meetings year after year with many Jewish evangelistic meetings bringing us into harmony with our Judeo-Christian roots. . . both Biblical and church related.

Seeing Dan leave for a walk into the Old City of Jerusalem behind the walls gave me a wonderful feeling of release . . . letting him enjoy what I could not, at the moment -- the wonders which are hidden behind every door and window and shop front -- the enticement of the old world aromas and fragrances -- and the cultural contrasts which seem oblivious to the security which captures an American interest immediately. Unaccustomed as we are to armed military in our city streets, you soon become aware of the fact that every Israeli soldier, male and female, carries their rifle in readiness everywhere they go. It is so common to us now that we don't even notice it. But first time visitors are often startled at that reality as they saunter through the gates of the Old City and see so much security everywhere.

After some time, Dan returned, all smiles and filled with new experiences which would come out of him in every message he preaches and every conversation about our Israel trip. These moments of touring become a part of you and you can't extract the impact. You absorb into your inner being the reality of the moment of visitation to a different culture. Your view of things is different from that moment on.

Having missed the walk, I had been captivated by the Israeli military preparations -- actually the police infiltration of the area around our hotel and the hotel where the President of the USA would be staying just a few short blocks away. The Presidential Convoy would have to come down the street in front of the hotel in order to get to his hotel. Binoculars gave a close-up view of the activity everywhere. Just below two blue tent facilities were being set up for the police’s operational security in the area.

We heard that sixteen thousand extra police had some into Jerusalem from all over the country for this event. Apparently the main intersection was one of grave concern . . . for the operational tactics of the security force were amazing to watch.

TV news programmers were asking people to stay home and out of downtown if at all possible. We had heard that during our president's last visit, the entire city simply stayed home for the day. Shops and offices closed in order to get all the cars off the streets and out of the way for the main event. Security was like nothing we had ever seen.

Dan and I chatted about his walk to the Old Walls and inside to the Western Wall. He had no difficulty getting thru security anywhere because of his obvious interest in things, he said. His camera might have been the thing that gave him entrance everywhere -- or maybe his walking shoes and hat -- a typical US tourist. Or was this just another Israeli? He could pass for whatever. At least he was back in time to see the Presidential caravan in motion.

Everywhere there were barriers. The street to the cafe was only one way now. . .and soon was barricaded. It was only a few blocks from one of the residential houses where Israeli security had closed off the street from before our arrival.

Soon I saw the police post a huge map -- a tri-fold of the city -- in a corner of an area partitioned off from the street walkers below. They were one level above the street on a balcony. The security police were looking at the map and inserting pins in something on the route they were tracking. I could have seen what they were doing had I chosen to do so. My binoculars were not quite powerful enough to pull in the actual words on the map -- but I was shocked to realize I could have been stealing info -- or actually could have targeted one of them from my hotel balcony -- and who was to be there to stop such an attack on the security police. Perhaps the hotel was considered a safe zone.

Suddenly, down the street came a long line of vehicles -- all the same and with nothing but police cars accompanying them. No private cars were parked on any of the streets for blocks around. The streets had been cleared a couple hours before -- totally. No passage onto that street had been allowed for quite some time. The angry diplomats waved their credentials to pass into that secure area. . . and regardless of how long and hard they yelled, no Israeli police was going to let anyone into the secure area.

A long line of police on motorcycles came down the same street. Nothing but a parade of the bikes.

Then came a long line of dark cars -- all the same, but SUV's. . . and they disappeared onto the street where the hotel headquarters were for our president. After a few silent moments -- no traffice and no moving about except down below where the map was being used, I saw a flurry of activity with the phones or walk-talkies.

Suddenly three long dark limos appeared . . . one right after another. . . and they could not be anything but the Presidential caravan. . . for they were escorted in such fashion as to know that one of these vehicles held the President of the USA. Before and behind were other vehicles loaded full with secret police. On the streets were vehicles full of officers ready to pull their vehicles into the street if necessary. One bus had sat on the corner for several minutes full of officers and perhaps military personnel . . . everywhere there was a readiness alert that in one of these limos was the most powerful leader in the world . . . and Israel was intent on seeing that he was safe and secure in the land of many conflicts which could produce great consequences should there be any attempt upon our president's life.

Talk about Security Priorities. . . I later learned that our hotel was full of police and security personnel. . . Plain clothes, of course. . . moving about as if things were ordinary. . .

Yet, on the 19th floor of the hotel were two American citizens watching another nation regard their President with such esteem and honor -- like a world leader of the free world should be honored! Not for the person, but for the office and the nation's regard for who that leader represented -- Israel's greatest friend, the USA.

Some day we will need Israel in our camp . . . and we will realize that no nation goes it alone. Neither does any person come into and survive in life alone.

When Jesus was born in Bethlehem, the legions of angelic hosts protected the coming of the Son of God to earth. . . God incarnate – God taking on human flesh. The operations of that security risk were handled by heaven’s greatest hosts -- God’s angels.

Demonic beings, the fallen angels and all the legions of hell’s terrorists could not lay a hand on Mary, the birth mother of Jesus. The birth of God’s Son was this world’s greatest security risk in all human history.

The Almighty Creator of the Universe determined that in the fullness of time, Christ would be born in Bethlehem to a virgin called Mary. Joseph would attend her in that manger where she lay her first-born son. And they called him, Jesus!

Unseen hosts attended that event! It would have made President Bush’s arrival in Jerusalem look like child’s play – if only the heavens could have displayed the events of heaven’s war that Star-studded night in Bethlehem.

No “wall” could keep out the angelic protectors against hell’s demons! No military army in the physical realm could have protected Jesus should Satan have decided to destroy Mary before Jesus was born. But, all heaven did protect Jesus that night from all the fallen angels hating the coming of Messiah to earth. Jesus WAS born and lived his life in the midst of every possible trick of Satan to destroy Jesus’ life while in human form. Even crucifixion did not kill Jesus – a final death. Jesus merely demonstrated for us all that death is not final for the one in whom God-life has been imparted as a gift of eternal life.

Being joined to the Lord Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit, there is nothing that can take your life from you when you are a born-again child of God. God Himself has assured us that should we die in this life, we are entering into eternal life – not eternal death and damnation – because of our union with Christ by the Holy Spirit. We are not mere mortals with no life after our physical death. We are eternal souls who have been given an eternal forever through our union with Jesus Christ – who conquered death, hell and the grave – and now lives forever in heaven where we are actually seated in heavenly places in Him.

Amazing how the view from the top is not the 19^th floor balcony – but the higher place in Christ Jesus – the view from where we are IN CHRIST JESUS. My how the perspective changes our view of the news of today.

Amazing how God protects a nation who honors Israel and brings God’s desire for the nations into harmony with His end-time plan and purpose for all things to culminate and be fulfilled in that little land of Israel.

Have you read the Book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ in the Bible? If not, the coming universe as God sees it is clearly revealed. It is amazing how much we know about the future by simply reading the Book of Books – the Bible. It all had its beginning in the Middle East. . . and will all culminate in that land of Israel – just as God has said.

More later from the 19^th floor balcony in Jerusalem. . . and elsewhere in that land.

Worldview makes a difference

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 18:34:58 GMT

Perspective changes things!

Sitting in the hotel in Jerusalem while watching CNN, you may think you are at home in your living room. Step out onto the balcony overlooking the stone facades of that gorgeous city and you will realize the world looks different from that balcony!

Maintain Christian worldview from any door in our Florida home and you are part of a culture of acceptance.

Move a few thousand miles to the Middle East and you are suddenly thrust into the world of conflict which is part of daily living. Cultural clashes are everywhere -- at least when you are watching for them.

Walk to the cafe around the corner and down the way just about two blocks to have lunch at the outdoors cafe and you are aware that the armed guard at the gate is not there for something to do. . . he is actually there because you can't walk through the gate into the courtyard seats without his permission. Look or act suspicious and you don't get into the area to eat. An ordinary matter on an ordinary day for those living there. For us, a very inconvenient moment of truth. This is not Fort Myers!