Homesickness

Living is for Dad and dying is even better.I’m torn between longing to be with Dad,which would be far better for ME.But for the world's sake,perhaps its better that I continue to live.Knowing this,I am convinced I will remain alive to continue to help advance Dad's kingdom so that it may grow and the world can experience His joy!.....Philippians 1:21-25

Music for meditation on homesickness

My heart is not always perfect, but it is always in Heaven.  When Dad’s children were feeling homesick in the Bible, they often lamented it through psalms that started off expressing what was really going on in their heart and then through that genuine expression, Dad would do what He does best by listening and understanding and through that love, inevitably drawing them back around to Him.  That is how this blog post, psalm if you will, is going to serve. 

The world is a liar like its current father Satan that it serves.  It told me I could do anything I wanted and as long as I worked hard I’d be rewarded.  The truth is I can do anything I want so long as it is something worth doing through its eyes and although it will stop just short of completely dictating  my decision if I choose otherwise, it will still make it harder than “hell” if I do. 

Much of the “Christian” world has quoted Dad at me for years in telling me to live my life for Him with all my heart, body, mind, and soul.  However, I can’t do it on “their” turf unless I have the right background, theology, and attended the right school.  As one of my brothers recently put it quite well, as long as I’m willing to drink their Kool-Aid, then I’m acceptable. 

The irony here is if I conformed to acting as the world wants me to, I would hate it for it continuously pisses on those genuinely seeking Dad and even lacks the courtesy to call it rain, and so in being its child, his child, Satan’s child, I would simply return the favor. 

But I am Dad’s child!  And because He loves the world, I too, by His grace, will continue to persevere and do the same.  He revealed through big brother Jesus that we will suffer at the hands of this world, but to stay strong, for Jesus overcame and, in the end, will completely overcome the world!

In being Dad’s child, I have a role to play in this eventual redemption and it is through His strength, fueled by an every growing deep-seeded love for both Him and my other brothers and sisters who are simply caught up in the chaos of this world as I am, that I will never say die until Dad does, and push on!

Being able to have the freedom to express myself as such doesn’t make me proud to be an American or any other nationality for that matter, but rather a child of Dad’s who has shown mercy on me by freeing me from the shackles of this world.  There is still more freeing to be done both in my life and the lives of my other brothers and sisters, but I firmly believe Dad will see through to completion, the good work He has started in us all.

With that, if I am crucified by the world for writing this, then so be it, for big brother Jesus was also (John 7:7).  However, if you are reading this and it resonates with you, know that you are who Dad inspired me to write this for, I am constantly praying for you and would appreciate you doing the same, thanks, and may Dad continue to bless you all richly!

A Eulogy for Gary

Look! Dad has moved into our neighborhood, making his home with us!  We are his children and He is Dad! He'll wipe every tear from our eyes!  Death is gone for good—tears gone, crying gone, PAIN GONE—all the first order of things gone!.....Revelation 21:3-4

Tribute Video

A homeless brother of ours named Gary recently passed away.  A sister of ours named Patricia recently had breakfast with him at Hometown Buffet cause, “you can eat all day there!”  Our brother lived in the woods for years, broken and hurt.  He tried to assimilate into society but because of the pain inside of him, he just couldn’t.  Did he jump into the river or fall?.....Either way, our hearts are hurting and we will miss him. 

If you are reading this, we ask that you pray for the loved ones left behind including all of us, his brothers and sisters.  We also ask that you pray for his wife Jesse who is developmentally delayed and in potential danger of her family selling her for drugs.  Yes, this is a real danger and as Patricia prayed last evening when we found out, we ask Dad to have mercy on us regarding any inaction on our parts we could have taken to prevent tragedies as such that occur in multiple fashion, all over the world, every day, right in front of our eyes. 

A while back, I had someone close to me depart this world in similar fashion.  Dad has since confirmed to me that her pain is gone as she is safely in His arms now.  This personal experience I had combined with the promises captured in the above Scripture and tribute video convince me that is where Gary is also.  And even though only Dad and he know for sure, I would rather error on the side of mercy rather than evil (Matthew 9:1-8) and would ask that in praying for this situation that you would allow Dad to lead you to do the same. 

This concludes the eulogy Dad inspired me to write for Gary, please continue to pray for this situation as He prompts you to, and may He continue to bless you all richly!

Communion at the Blue House

Taking bread, he blessed it, broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body, given for you. Eat it in my memory."  He did the same with the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant written in my blood, blood poured out for you.".....Luke 22:19-20

When partaking of communion with other brothers and sisters, the elements used aren’t as important as taking it in the spirit of remembering big brother Jesus and what He did for us all on the cross. 

And it is in this spirit that my son Christian, Jaime’s son Cole, our sister Jennifer, brother Danny and I took of it together at the blue house the evening of 6-23-11.  In that spirit, by Dad’s Holy Spirit, we gave thanks, broke a loaf of Italian bread, passed around a batch of grapes, and then prayed together in commemorating big brother Jesus, by the power of Sarayu (the Holy Spirit via the Shack), for Dad’s glory…..and it was awesome!

If this sounds appealing to you, come join us on Thursday evenings to see how we roll, don’t feel like you have to come out every time if you can only do it sometimes, continued prayer is appreciated, and may Dad continue to bless you all richly!



Getting High at the Blue House



This is exactly what four of us did on the evening of June 16, 2011.  It involved my sister Jaime and I and our brother Danny and sister Jennifer.  We discussed, amongst other things, Matthew 17:24-27 and how we wanted big brother Jesus to give us direction for provision concerning current matters in our lives.  We then commenced in family prayer concerning this.

During this family time, Dad gave me a vision of a pile of His spiritual cocaine in the middle of our prayer circle and told me to blow on it.  When I did, particles of the pile dispersed to all of us in the room.  At that moment, Jennifer thanked Dad for the in-filling she just received, Danny uttered an eloquently fluid prayer over a matter in his life, and Jaime both prayed and wept over us all.  It was beautiful for at that moment, we had all experienced a Holy Spirit high, and it was awesome!

If this experience sounds amazing to you, come join us this upcoming Thursday evening when we are going to enjoy communion together, don’t feel like you have to come out all the time if you can only do it sometimes, thanks for continued prayer, and may Dad continue to bless you all richly!

A Little Slice of Heaven

I was caught up in Heaven. Whether I was in my body or out of my body, I don’t know—only Dad knows.....2 Corinthians 12:2



A nice Sunday afternoon nap was the occasion for the vision/dream I am about to share.  Within the vision, I woke up from the nap with tunnel vision, got up, and began frantically searching for something of which I had no idea what it was, and in the end all I found was exhaustion. 

Standing there exhausted, Dad asked me what I was looking for, to which I had to admit I had no idea.  At that moment of confession, the tunnel vision disappeared and our current home where I was instantly transformed to the house I grew up in.  From the middle of the living room, I glanced over my left shoulder to the front screen door and suddenly had a desire to leap through it, a thought I believed was only known to me.   However, Dad invited me to go for it, to which I responded.  The door served as a portal for I leaped through it from one dimension to another as I went from leaping to floating to the awaiting ground outside.

Once outside, the place I was now in had a sense of peace all about it and I felt the most peaceful I had ever personally felt.  I was then surrounded by a host of friendly individuals and the encounter can best be described as something out of the Wizard of Oz.  Everyone warmly greeted me and I simultaneously couldn’t visually identify them and yet felt safe around them as if I’d known them all my life.  I am convinced they were loved ones who have passed on and that my earthly vision couldn’t capture what they look like in Heaven now.  They accompanied me down the path, carrying on friendly chatter with me all the way, until we arrived at a building that looked very similar to the one pictured above. 

When we arrived at the building, I glanced in one of the doors and saw an individual inside.  When I asked who it was, they told me this was a church and the man inside was the assistant pastor.  I then asked about the main pastor, to which they told me he had to run an errand, would be back shortly, and his name was Herschel Holley, my father-in-law who passed away in January 2008. 

Needless to say, I was elated to finally soon be encountering someone I finally both knew and, as I sensed, would be able to identify.  As I anticipated him coming around a bend to the building though, Dad calmly told me it was time to go.  He didn’t force me to depart though, but simply suggested it, and even though it was extremely tempting to stay in what was no doubt to me, Heaven, I knew I couldn’t stay.  I then turned to face Dad, and that is when I awoke. 

As the apostle Paul declared similarly in the Scripture above, I don’t know if this was a dream, reality, or a combination of both.  My own personal relationship with Dad has me steering towards the latter explanation and that there isn’t much of a difference.  In any case, I hope you enjoyed reading this and I’ll leave interpretation between Sarayu (aka the Holy Spirit in the book The Shack) and you.  In sharing this story with my wife, she told me not to be leaving her anytime soon.  I take this as an indicator she and I both believe I experienced in some shape, form, or fashion, a little slice of Heaven. 

This encounter happened a while back, but the picture above prompted me to share it now.  As I previously mentioned, it is a similar depiction of the church building in my vision.  It is also a church my wife took a picture of while on her last mission trip to Ethiopia.  With that, hope you enjoy reading this, share as led to, thanks, and may Dad continue to bless you all richly!

Sheep or Goat?

Matthew 25:31-46

Was looking through some of my wife’s pics from Ethiopia when I came across this particular one that Dad spoke to me about.  My wife described images as such as “Hell on Earth” and another of the Ethiopian crew who overheard this and thinks we overuse the term Hell to often depict “sufferings” in our own lives, nonetheless agreed, and I agree with them both. 

This IS an image of Hell on Earth!  There are roughly 75,000 of our brothers and sisters, adult and children, who eek their survival out of this Hell every day, and it’s only fitting that goats are portrayed at the top of the pile with, ironically, a black one located at what appears to be the top center of this Hell heap, looking directly at the camera at the time of this pic, almost as if he knows what’s at stake. 

Why is it fitting you might ask?  Because of whom big brother Jesus said the goats are in the Scripture above.  The goats are the ones who extend only themselves and others like them (ie: American, willing to work, white, etc.) food to eat, something to drink, hospitality, clothing, medicine, etc.  In other words, they only extend Dad’s love to those who are like them. 

If you are reading this and feel this implies you may be a goat, I didn’t imply it, you did, I didn’t say it directly to you, Dad did, and in the end, it is Him you need to hash this out with, for these were His words, not mine.  As His son, I just happen to agree. 

Dad didn’t prompt me to share this to condemn you though, but to save you, so please take the time to discuss this further with Him to see what changes He may be prompting you to make, and then make them.  Ask Him to help you make them not out of guilt, but love for Him, yourself, and the rest of our family currently at the mercy of the goats of the world.  With that, we love you and so does He, and may He continue to bless you, and through you the rest of the world, richly! 

Messy Spirituality

Relationships are a whole lot messier than rules, but rules will never give you answers to the deep questions of your heart.....and they will never love you.....Sarayu from the Shack

The depth of truth contained within the above quote is why I am Dad’s son, Liz’s husband, and why we and others of our sisters and brothers such as Jaime Glandon and Lee Bower continue to GO!.....to the blue house…..and beyond!

May Dad continue to bless you all richly!

Hope Delivered!

Then the angel showed me a river with the water of life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of Dad and big brother Jesus. It flowed down the center of the main street. On each side of the river grew a tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, with a fresh crop each month. The leaves were used for medicine to heal the nations.....Revelation 22:1-2

The Ethiopian crew is all back safe and sound.....thanks for all your prayers which were the asphault that paved the way.....and praise Dad and may He continue to bless you all richly:-)

With that, if you are reading this and either aren’t in a relationship with Dad or aren’t sure of the status of your relationship, please click here, read, reflect, and respond as led to.  If you have any questions, comments, or need more info concerning anything here or on the site, please respond either here, via email, or on face book privately or publicly.  If you make any decisions in response to anything in this article or the site, please feel free to share as led to.  With that, may Dad continue to bless you all richly!

 

All Excuses are Off!

Then the servant with the one bag of silver came and said, ‘Master, I knew you were a harsh man, harvesting crops you didn’t plant and gathering crops you didn’t cultivate.  I was afraid I would lose your money, so I hid it in the earth. Look, here is your money back.’

“But the master replied, ‘You wicked and lazy servant! If you knew I harvested crops I didn’t plant and gathered crops I didn’t cultivate, why didn’t you deposit my money in the bank? At least I could have gotten some interest on it.’

“Then he ordered, ‘Take the money from this servant, and give it to the one with the ten bags of silver. To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away.  Now throw this useless servant into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’…..Matthew 25:24-30

These are Dad’s words, not ours, but we will keep singing this song Until The Whole World Hears…..and reacts!

The following is an email I recently received from my wife in Ethiopia:

Just wanted to update you all on the Korah Dump Trip. Korah is a Hebrew word for Cursed. There are currently 75,000 people living in this community - most are descendants of lepers that were forced out by family and society due to their disease. There is such a horrible odor from the dump that when the Korah people go into Addis to look for work they are rejected b/c of their smell. The children try to go to school but are called bad words by the teachers because of their odor - so the children just don't go back. We have met two young men while we are here that were two of nine children randomly picked from the dump and sent to boarding school. Yemamu has bachelor's degree in business and is now going back to Korah to start an organization. He has all of the government licenses and is required to do monthly, quarterly, and annual reports for accountability. He is only 25 years old - but has a glowing testimony of how Jesus changed his life. We watched a documentary that was produced about life in Korah - it is difficult to watch children eat food right off the top of the garbage heap - but it is necessary to understand what their lives are about - Drew is working with Yemamu, hopefully, to produce the film in English - Unfortunately, many "Christian" organizations are raising money for Korah - but the money never gets to the dump. There is more corruption than I could imagine. We have a lot of confidence in these young men - their families still live in the community around the dump. I will share more when I get home - but wanted my family to start praying. My life will never be the same - and I know that I am to respond in some way - please pray that God will be clear in what ways that will be. We met a man that lost his fingers to leprosy (sp?) yesterday - he weaves door mats at the hospital to earn money - these folks do NOT ask for handouts - they ask for a chance to earn money - their dignity blows me away. So please begin to pray with me. Love you all - can't wait to get home.

Circumstances as such are completely unacceptable and fall squarely on the shoulders of us as the professing body of Christ as Dad declared in the enclosed blog I shared a while back.  And because He has fully equipped us to address the problem as presented in this other enclosed blog, we will be without excuse and in the words of Lucy’s husband, “have some explaining to do”, if this situation is still the same when big brother Jesus returns.   Finally, Dad equipping us to address the issue of poverty all over the world exposes both our greed wrapped up in extreme capitalism and the fact that emails suggesting that we only take care of people in our own back yard are ignorant.  Dad has equipped us to address it all and the entire world is our backyard!   

With that, please and absorb the enclosed info, pass on as led to, pray and listen to Dad, and then do what He lays on your heart to do in response.  With that, may He continue to bless us all, His whole world, richly!

Pics from Ethiopia

Was supposed to share these through Delivering Hope but am currently in Pike County Ohio and forgot the info to get into the site so this is my attempt to share what pics I've seen so far through this site.  Hope everyone can see them okay, enjoy, and may Dad continue to bless you all richly!

 Drew and Jaime with some of our Ethiopian family

 Cole in Ethiopia

A mother and her child that our sister Gretchen gave some candy to

 Jaime with one of our Ethiopian brothers

 The groom of the Ethiopian wedding they attended

The bride

Delivering Hope Homeless Outreach: May 26, 2011

We can make plans, but Dad’s purpose will prevail…..Proverbs 19:21

Thus went this particular evening of family business in Chillicothe, Ohio.  We always tell others if you are looking to be a part of a predictable ministry, what we do may not be for you.  However, if you want to be a part of an awesome movement of Dad, come join us!  And this evening was proof positive of that. 

We began in the parking lot of the brown building where we always meet.  Since my wife Liz, sister Jaime, and others of my brothers and sisters are currently in Ethiopia, my brother Jeff and sister Brooke met us here and took my boys for the evening, and I thank them for that. 

Dad’s agenda began to trump ours when my brother Lee and I arrived thinking he and I would probably be the only two going out this evening.  Instead, Dad had prompted four of our sisters, Jami, Catherine, Kelly, and Shannon to join us.  It was great to meet you all, thanks for coming, and you were a true blessing on one of our most awesome evenings thus far. 

After praying as a family in the lot, we headed to Charleston Pike to the woods.  For nearly three months, we’ve consistently went to this sight for someone is camping there who we’ve never met.  For nearly three months, we’ve kept leaving a bag of food there in a tree that someone keeps getting.  And for nearly three months, we’ve consistently introduced ourselves to the woods with the greeting, “Hello?  Is anyone there?” with the woods remaining silent. 

On this evening though, the woods responded back!  This evening, the woods introduced us to a brother of ours named Bob.  He was accompanied by an enemy who hates him and, as a result, had equipped him with a rather large and heavy spiritual back pack full of the pieces of his shattered life, and two large bottles of Cobra to ease the burden. 

By Dad’s grace though, in the name of big brother Jesus, we laughed, cried, and prayed with our brother.  On his behalf, we hog-tied the enemy and helped him begin to empty the garbage in his back pack so Dad could refill it with some food, clothing, and a portrait of Bob as His son whom He loves and in whom He is well pleased. 

From there, we then went to the Blue House where we have developed intimate family relationship with brothers and sisters of ours like Jennifer, Cheyenne, and Danny.  We’ve gotten to know these brothers and sisters so well that we’ve started an extremely informal, yet awesome, Dad-filled small group with them while there.

Having encountered our brother Bob in the woods set us back a bit on when we normally arrive here.  Dad was already there though as Jennifer, Cheyenne, and Danny has already began conducting family time with Him before we got there, which is awesome and what all this is really all about.  By the time we arrived, we did manage to talk a bit about the centurion’s faith, and in that faith we, the Blue House crew, prayed for our brothers and sisters currently serving in Ethiopia. 

Finally, we arrived at our last stop to visit our brothers Greg and Brandon who run a men’s shelter for some of our other homeless brothers.  They had a full house on this particular evening so the ribs and barbecue sauce Lee and I brought, combined with the abundance of men’s clothing and other supplies our sisters brought, was a welcome blessing.

Sound like an awesome evening of blessed family business?  Then join us one evening and don’t feel like you have to come out every time if you can only do it sometimes. 

With that, if you are reading this and either aren’t in a relationship with Dad or aren’t sure of the status of your relationship, please click here, read, reflect, and respond as led to.  If you have any questions, comments, or need more info concerning anything here or on the site, please respond either here, via email, or on face book privately or publicly.  If you make any decisions in response to anything in this article or the site, please feel free to share as led to.  With that, may Dad continue to bless you all richly!

Blue House Fellowship: May 19, 2011

Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the UNFORCED RHYTHMS OF GRACE. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly.....Matthew 11:28-30

And these unforced rhythms of grace were experienced last evening as we witnessed the religious chains of God being a task-master, fall off in exchange for the embrace of Him being Dad.  He’ll never give us a load too heavy to bear without being there to shoulder it.  He’ll never give us anything ill-fitting for His rules are for our benefit, not restriction.  And in the end, He took the 600+ link chain of law that man forged, and whittled it down to one: Love Dad through loving each other! 

That’s my King! ..... That’s my Dad!

With that, if you are reading this and either aren’t in a relationship with Dad or aren’t sure of the status of your relationship, please click here, read, reflect, and respond as led to.  If you have any questions, comments, or need more info concerning anything here or on the site, please respond either here, via email, or on face book privately or publicly.  If you make any decisions in response to anything in this article or the site, please feel free to share as led to.  With that, may Dad continue to bless you all richly!

Three Bags Full

Then Dad will say to those on his right, "Come, you who are blessed, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world.  For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home.  I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me."

Then these righteous ones will reply, "Dad, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink?  Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing?  When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?"

And Dad will say, "I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my children, you were doing it to me!".....Matthew 25:34-40

Music for Meditation

For anyone interested, enclosed are three links to where Dad has my family and I conducting family business as of late and I have added these links to the left of this site for future reference:

Love INC

Homes of Hope

Delivering Hope

With that, if you are reading this and either aren’t in a relationship with Dad or aren’t sure of the status of your relationship, please click here, read, reflect, and respond as led to.  If you have any questions, comments, or need more info concerning anything here or on the site, please respond either here, via email, or on face book privately or publicly.  If you make any decisions in response to anything in this article or the site, please feel free to share as led to.  With that, may Dad continue to bless you all richly!

Herd Fellowship in the Blue House

Pastor Tom of the Grove City Vineyard recently shared a message on May 8, 2011 about genuine fellowship.  He described it as sort of a herd mentality, like a herd of cows, all mooin, snortin, and such, all up in one another’s business, chaotic, but with a genuine beauty to it.  That’s what genuine fellowship is, that’s what my wife prayed we’d experience at our first small group gathering tonite at the Blue House…..and that’s what occurred!

The place we’ve officially coined as The Blue House is a somewhat run down blue building located under the overpass on the corner of Bridge and Main in Chillicothe, Ohio.  In it resides approximately 20-25 otherwise homeless people, primarily veterans, and Dad has blessed us with the opportunity to hang with them. 

With that, five of us conducted the first Dad-ordained gathering at the blue house.  This gathering involved two women and three men, of which one of the men was about half-lit, but engaging and in search of and in love with Dad nonetheless.

Our attempted goal this evening was to discuss Psalm 150:6 about letting everything that has breath praise Dad…..and we did!  Most of the time there was two or three dialogues or trialogues going on at one time.  It was chaotic, but beautiful!  We even managed to briefly discuss the designated Scripture and concluded by praying together that Dad would continue to empower us to praise Him even during the chaotic times in our lives…..just seemed appropriate;-)

We devoted ourselves to continuing to praise Him no matter how chaotic life gets, and tonite we did just that!  Tonite, a small band of Dad’s children performed genuine herd-like fellowship with one another, for Him.

With that, if you are reading this and either aren’t in a relationship with Dad or aren’t sure of the status of your relationship, please click here, read, reflect, and respond as led to.  If you have any questions, comments, or need more info concerning anything here or on the site, please respond either here, via email, or on face book privately or publicly.  If you make any decisions in response to anything in this article or the site, please feel free to share as led to.  With that, may Dad continue to bless you all richly!

Yard Selling Liz to Ethiopia

Liz and her sister Sara are having a yard sale on May 14, 2011 from 9am to 5pm at 6901 Crescent Boat Lane, Canal Winchester, Ohio 43110.  All proceeds from this go to sending Liz to Ethiopia from May 25 to June 4.....So please stop in and check it out, purchase to help out, and continue to pray.  You can also donate to the cause through the button to the right to send Liz to Ethiopia.  Thanks and may Dad continue to bless you all richly!:-)

A Love Letter

Dear brother or sister,

You are receiving this because God (aka: Dad) loves you and so do we.  Dad is the invisible, but very real, creator of everything and everyone, including you, and he created you to both love you and be loved by you. 

He created you to have a perfect love relationship with him, which includes the freedom to be or not to be in the relationship.  If you are currently not in a relationship with him or not sure if you are, and have ever done anything wrong you know you shouldn’t have done (we all have), that is the reason you are currently not in a relationship with him and there is nothing you can do yourself to change that. 

Fortunately though, Dad can do something about it, and did!  He loves you so much, He sent one of our brothers, Jesus, to show us how to live the best life possible.  Jesus then died for us for everything we’ve done that separates us from Dad.  Three days later though, Dad brought him back to life as a promise that if we simply believe all this whether we fully understand it or not, and live our lives as best we can as proof of our belief, that He will do the same for us once we die here as well.

If as you read this, you believe all this, then welcome back to the family!  If you want your restored relationship with Dad to grow, then talk to him every day, listen as he talks to you, read his book every day known as the Bible to learn how to recognize his voice more, and then do what he invites you to be a part of. 

One of the best ways to get better at doing all this is to hang out with some of our other brothers and sisters attempting to do the same.  Maybe we are the ones you’d like to hang out with.  If so or if you’d like more information concerning this letter, let us know. 

Love,

Dad and your brothers and sisters

How Did He Do That?

I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father.  You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father.  Yes, ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it!.....John 14:12-14

Music for Meditation

How did big brother Jesus do all the amazing things He did?  Yes, He was Dad in the flesh, so is that how He did it?  Did He just pull out His “God card” whenever He wanted to make things happen?  Yes, He was Dad in the flesh, but no, that is not how He did it, for He was also human. 

Philippians 2:5-8 tells us that even though Jesus was indeed Dad in the flesh, He set aside all His Godly power in order to know what it is like to be limited as a human.  This is also how He was the fulfillment of Scripture such as Hebrews 4:14-16.  So how did He perform all the miracles He did?  The answer is found in His baptism.  Not only do we find this answer here, but also one of the most beautiful illustrations of the harmony of the trinity as well. 

In Matthew 3:13-17, we see God the Son, Jesus, submitting his human will to God the Father and, as a result, being empowered by God the Holy Spirit to do everything God the Father wanted Him to do.  In submitting His human will in performing all the miracles He did, Jesus didn’t do all He did for show or based upon what His humanness may have been tempted to do (Matt  4:1-11, 26:36-42, 26:52-54), but what Dad wanted Him to as attested to in John 5:19.  He submitted His human will as God the Son, to God the Father, and since Dad won’t say no to His own will, that is why Dad empowered Jesus with the Holy Spirit to do it and how Jesus did all He did. 

So why do I share all this?  Because, the exciting part is, Jesus told us in John 14:12-14 above, that we are capable of doing all this, and greater things, as well by following His example.  As professing followers of Jesus, if we too submit our human will as children of Dad’s, to His will, He will empower us to do all He wants us to do as well.  The often common problem though, is that upon realizing and accepting we are His children and, as a result, receiving his Holy Spirit, we stop there, content to just be saved, and then just wait around for Jesus to return. 

I’m not suggesting not being grateful for being saved.  What I am saying though is that Scripture suggests that while we who are redeemed are sitting around waiting for Jesus to return, His return is waiting on us to go.  Being redeemed by Dad doesn’t stop with us as Jesus attested to in Scripture such as Mark 16:15-18.  Once we believe and receive His Holy Spirit as our ancestors did in Acts 2, we receive it not to just sit around, but to then go and do as He commanded in Scripture such as Acts 1:1-11, suggesting that works performed as such are from something other than Dad is blasphemy of the Spirit as Jesus eluded to in Matthew 12:22-37, and anything less has eternal consequences attached to it as He eluded to in Matthew 25:14-46. 

With that, if you are reading this and either aren’t in a relationship with Dad or aren’t sure of the status of your relationship, please click here, read, reflect, and respond as led to.  If you have any questions, comments, or need more info concerning anything here or on the site, please respond either here, via email, or on face book privately or publicly.  If you make any decisions in response to anything in this article or the site, please feel free to share as led to.  With that, may Dad continue to bless you all richly!

Delivering Hope Homeless Outreach:3-17-11

For who is powerful enough to enter the house of a strong man like Satan and plunder his goods? Only someone even stronger—someone who could tie him up and then plunder his house.....Matthew 12:29

And it is through that strength, fasting, praying, and switching to Thursday evenings that we finally broke into and began to loot the enemy’s house. 

Since info we had been receiving didn’t produce any results, we began this evening by approaching a homeless person with a sign named Tim.  By Dad’s grace, we got to both serve him and pray for and with him.  We also connected with a local men’s homeless shelter and made arrangements to provide some meat weekly for the men who stay there.

And with that, the ministry Dad called us into produced its first fruit!  J

As always, you can get involved by continuing to pray for us, donating monetarily or supply wise through this site or Delivering Hope, and/or bringing some supplies and joining us on Thursday evenings at the site located on the sign to the right of this screen.  You can participate by engaging one, any, or all of these options, and don’t feel obligated to come out every Thursday if you can only do it sometimes. 

Finally, if you are reading this and either aren’t in a relationship with Dad or aren’t sure of the status of your relationship, please click here, read, reflect, and respond as led to.  If you have any questions, comments, or need more info concerning anything here or on the site, please respond either here, via email, or on face book privately or publicly.  If you make any decisions in response to anything in this article or the site, please feel free to share as led to.  With that, may Dad continue to bless you all richly!

Delivering Hope Homeless Outreach:3-11-11

Afterward, when Jesus was alone in the house with his disciples, they asked him, “Why couldn’t we cast out that evil spirit?”

Jesus replied, “This kind can be cast out only by prayer and fasting.".....Mark 9:28-29

 

In light of the events involved in our first attempt out, Dad revealed the truth of the above Scripture concerning this particular ministry.  He also revealed that the homeless community of Ross County are victims of both abuse and secrecy in terms of being forced to hide and, as a result, difficult to find and hesitant of receiving help when found. 

The first revelation of abuse was confirmed when, in researching on the internet about our homeless brothers and sisters in Ross County, the first thing discovered was a video of a homless person getting exhaust blown in their face while being told to get a job.  Fortunately, a web search renders different results now.  The second issue of being forced into hiding and the hesitancy of being discovered was also confirmed when in our second attempt out, we found a homeless individual who ran from us upon attempting to approach and assist him.  That was basically the extent of our second night out. 

By Dad’s grace though and a daily growing love for both Him and our homeless brothers and sisters, we continue to fast and pray concerning this scenario, rebuke the enemy, and will continue to be out weekly anticipating Dad slowly, but surely, utilizing us to heal the wounds of abuse inflicted on our brothers and sisters and, as a result, giving them permission to come out of the shadows of the enemy’s corners they’ve been forced into, to embrace the nourishing light of their Dad and brothers and sisters who love them. 

As always, you can get involved by continuing to pray for us, donating monetarily or supply wise through this site or Delivering Hope, and/or bringing some supplies and joining us on Thursday evenings at the site located on the sign to the right of this screen.  You can participate by engaging one, any, or all of these options, and don’t feel obligated to come out every Thursday if you can only do it sometimes. 

Finally, if you are reading this and either aren’t in a relationship with Dad or aren’t sure of the status of your relationship, please click here, read, reflect, and respond as led to.  If you have any questions, comments, or need more info concerning anything here or on the site, please respond either here, via email, or on face book privately or publicly.  If you make any decisions in response to anything in this article or the site, please feel free to share as led to.  With that, may Dad continue to bless you all richly!

Delivering Hope Homeless Outreach:3-4-11

Music for Meditation

Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.  1 Peter 5:8

We have been doing Dad’s work He’s led us into entering into seven weeks now and beginning with this, I will attempt to journal our progress along the way. 

We viewed our first week out as an awesome way to celebrate my sister Jaime’s birthday which was the same day.  We soon realized though, the enemy had no plans of giving up His territory easily, but rather to crash the party through a rainstorm that nearly stalled one of our vehicles on Bridge Street, our scheduled babysitting falling through, and Jaime’s little girl sucking a bead up her nose which led to an unexpected ER visit. 

Fortunately though, His children Dad chose and will continue to choose to wage this particular battle are warriors at heart.  Even though Satan is like a lion, he is a mere kitten to the One we serve, the King of the lions, the Lion of Judah!  The One we serve bounds and gags the enemy, crushes his head, eats him alive, and leaves him for dead!  And its by this example, power, and authority that as I write this, we are entering week seven (or as my wife put it, I said, no homeless people in Chilli huh?  We’ll see about thatJ

If after reading this, Dad stirs you to get involved, there several ways to do so.  First, pray for us constantly as that is the foundation of all we do.  Second, you can donate either monetarily or supply wise through either this site to the right or through Delivering Hope.  Third, you can gather supplies and join us on Thursday evenings at the location mentioned on the sign to the right of this site.  You can participate by engaging one, any, or all of these options and don’t feel obligated to come out every Thursday if you can only do it sometimes.  

Finally, if you are reading this and either aren’t in a relationship with Dad or aren’t sure of the status of your relationship, please click here, read, reflect, and respond as led to.  If you have any questions, comments, or need more info concerning anything here or on the site, please respond either here, via email, or on face book privately or publicly.  If you make any decisions in response to anything in this article or the site, please feel free to share as led to.  With that, may Dad continue to bless you all richly!

Crazy!.....Like a Dove

That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life, whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing?  Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are?  Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?  And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are.  And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?  So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear? These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs.  Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.  So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.....Matthew 6:25-34

The advice contained above is often easier said than done, and in the current season my family and I are in where it often seems we are being asked by Dad to do more in regards to advancing the kingdom than our tangible budget appears to be able to handle, its often more so. 

Having said that, Dad came to me in a dream recently concerning this.  In the dream, our boys were at my mom’s house.  They became hungry and let my mom know.  My mom responded by giving them a credit card to get what they needed. 

For many obvious reasons, I had a reaction of shock.  Interestingly though, it had nothing to do with them being kids and whether or not they would even know what a credit card is or how to use it.  It was more of “Mom! What are you doing?  Don’t you realize they won’t use it for just what they NEED?”

I was even more surprised though when my mom seemed to not share my concern, they did use it solely for what they needed and then gave it back, and this whole series of events went down as smoothly and naturally as if my boys had asked me for it…..or would it have went down the same?.....and Dad soon revealed to me that is the point!  My reaction to this series of events revealed more about me than them. 

As dad, am I always as open to meeting others needs as I should be, or does the concern of having what it takes(physically, mentally, and/or spiritually)hinder that at times?  This relationship of exchange does often seem to go more naturally between grandparents and children versus parents and children, for reasons parents reading this can relate to.  I believe Dad showed me this though to reveal that He’d like to strike more of a balance in His relationship with us that combines elements of both the loving responsibility of a parent with the freedom that often comes with being a grandparent.  As the reader, “hopefully that just makes sense” for I’m quoting what Dad said to me when I asked Him to expand on it as well.  

More importantly, as Dad’s child, am I embracing a relationship with Him where I believe I can openly ask Him for anything I need?  And do I, in childlike faith, trust His judgment when He answers yes, no, or wait?  Sure, as His child, I’ll pout and tantrum sometimes(probably more than I’d like to admit)when He says no or wait.  In the end though, do I have a relationship with Him that knows He loves me even when I pout or tantrum, and knowing this allows me the freedom to eventually pout or tantrum myself into acceptance of His answer?  For the benefit of you as reader, I purposely left these questions unanswered to promote personal dialogue between Dad and you, much like He did for me. 

The next morning I woke up remembering this dream which was Dad’s way of telling me I needed to share it.  I got our boys ready for school and as my oldest raced out the door to the bus stop, below is a couple of pictures of what was in our front yard to greet us, completely unmoved by our pre-teen bolting past it:

As Mike opened the door, the heavens were opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and settling on him.  And a voice from heaven said, “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy.”.....Matthew 3:16-17 personalized

If after reading this, you want to consciously begin to live a relationship with Dad like this(for the first time or in a more intimate way), click here, read, and respond as led to.  If you respond to this invite, have had similar dreams or other encounters with Dad, or wish to share any other comments here, please do so…..and may He continue to bless you all richly!

Delivering Hope in a Microwave Society

Music for Meditation

Who is powerful enough to enter Satan's house and plunder his goods?  Someone even stronger who could tie him up and then plunder his house.....Matthew 12:29

When they arrived at Bethsaida, some people brought a blind man to Jesus, and they begged him to touch the man and heal him.  Jesus took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village. Then, spitting on the man’s eyes, he laid his hands on him and asked, “Can you see anything now?”  The man looked around. “Yes,” he said, “I see people, but I can’t see them very clearly.  They look like trees walking around.”  Then Jesus placed his hands on the man’s eyes again, and his eyes were opened.  His sight was completely restored, and he could see everything clearly.....Mark 8:22-25 

The first Scripture cited above is what big brother Jesus has been doing in Chillicothe, Ohio lately and the second one reflects that it is a process, which we are learning as we go.

We began this journey with Jesus about 4 weeks ago on March 4, 2011, which was also our sister-in-arms Jaime’s birthday. We celebrated it on a stormy day which included near van failure on Bridge Street, our scheduled babysitting falling through, and Jaime’s little girl sucking a bead up her nose which led to an unexpected ER visit. Through all this by the vision and power of big brother Jesus, we realized we were trespassing on the enemy’s territory and, in human fashion, took it a little to lightly the first round…..but it was just that, the first round!;-)

Jesus replied, “This kind can only be cast out through prayer and fasting".....Mark 9:29

Through tools in big brother Jesus’ arsenal such as above, we have had success since then with no intentions of backing down, and why?

Put simply, we love Dad and our brothers and sisters, regardless of their economic situation or what put them there. By growing in seeing our world through Dad’s eyes rather than through a black and white microwave, we are growing in realizing that it is not our job to judge, but to love. We can do that through, amongst other things, realizing that many of us have been where they are and the rest are only 2 or 3 steps from being so.

Given that, if you are reading this, there are many ways to get involved. First, you can pray continuously as led to. Second, you can give of time and/or materially. There is a donation button on both this site and that of Delivering Hope to give as led to. You can also give by bringing supplies with you and joining us on Thursday evenings at 6:30pm at our Homes of Hope location on 213 East Water Street beginning April 7, 2011. If you wish to join us this upcoming Thursday, March 31, please do so in the Shawnee Square parking lot behind the Bob Evans off of Bridge Street.

You can participate as schedule and such allows, so don’t feel obligated to participate every week if unable to do so. If interested in participating in this outreach of love to our homeless brothers and sisters in any shape, form, or fashion, or for further information, please contact me via email on this site or face book. Continued prayer would be appreciated, thanks, and may Dad continue to bless you all richly!

Updates on Delivering Hope Homeless Outreach & Sending Liz to Ethiopia

For Jesus had already said to the spirit, “Come out of the man, you evil spirit.”.....Mark 5:8.....In the context of Mark 5:1-20

When they arrived at Bethsaida, some people brought a blind man to Jesus, and they begged him to touch the man and heal him.  Jesus took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village. Then, spitting on the man’s eyes, he laid his hands on him and asked, “Can you see anything now?”  The man looked around. “Yes,” he said, “I see people, but I can’t see them very clearly.  They look like trees walking around.”  Then Jesus placed his hands on the man’s eyes again, and his eyes were opened.  His sight was completely restored, and he could see everything clearly.....Mark 8:22-25 

Satan and his evil forces will not give up their strongholds in this world without a fight that comes through our willingness to persistently wage these battles in big brother Jesus’ name, for the sake of our brothers and sisters, for Dad’s glory. The couple of instances of Scripture above are perfect examples of this. If the evil forces that be resisted big brother Jesus as illustrated above, how much more do we have to follow His example in being willing to be persistent as well? With that being said…..

Our first night of our homeless outreach in Ross County came head to head with these forces as they manifested themselves in the form of one our vehicles nearly breaking down on Bridge Street, our scheduled child care provider getting called in to work, and one of our fellow sister’s little girl sucking a bead up her nose which led to an ER visit.

With all that, the enemy managed to temporarily slow us down. However, in following in the footsteps of big brother Jesus, we will be out again this upcoming Friday night to wage the battle again. With more praying and fasting involved this time, combined with potential further forces involved in the form of some of my brothers and sisters I do a similar outreach with in Columbus on Tuesday nights, we praise Dad in advance for different results this time.

In regards to Liz’s future trip to Ethiopia, the last time I mentioned this, if 100 people were willing to donate $25 each, she would be on her way. She has inched closer to this since then and as of this writing, we only need 80 people willing to give $25 each to make this happen.

To conclude, how can you get involved in these adventures Dad has us on? First, you can pray as led to. Second, you can give as led to by donating through the two buttons located down the right side of this site, or go to Delivering Hope to donate as well as purchase some nice mementos of your giving to boot. Finally, you get together some of your own supplies and join us on Friday evenings in being a part of the feet that provide for our homeless brothers and sisters. A list of commonly needed supplies is located through this link. As always, you can participate in any or all of this as led, if you have any questions or want any more details about anything, please email us at either site, we thank everyone who is already involved in some capacity, and may Dad continue to bless you all richly!