On evening on a recent trip to Palm Springs, Sheila and I grabbed our drinks and settled in on our patio to watch the night emerge over the mountain range across from us. As the sky darkened, we spotted a blinking red light in the sky, kind of like an airplane but without moving. UFO perhaps, to hover that that? Then Sheila said…
Read MoreJesus Revolution
Viewing the new movie “The Jesus Revolution” refreshed many memories. I returned to God then, attended the Calvary Chapel Saturday nights in the tent, passed out Jesus flyers at the 1971 Rose Parade, even led a Christian coffee house at my church. But more deeply, the Jesus freaks speak to us today. First, in both eras, Jesus intrigued people, but…
Read MorePeople Care for People
Yes, social media can often come across as unsocial, or even anti, but it enables us to establish new relationships and rekindle some from earlier days. Facebook taught me a great spiritual lesson not long ago. Two good friends faced serious health issues at the same time, one with COVID, the other with cancer, and I asked if I could share their need on Facebook. The former agreed and wanted to stay anonymous, with good reason; John Prothero, the latter, allowed the use of his name and picture. At least ten times as many responded with an emoticon or comment for…
Read MoreA Well-Traveled Leaf
A month back, Sheila and I drove twenty miles north to Canyon Lake to look at a living room bench—kind of a flat white church pew. A few miles up the freeway, I noticed a liquid amber leaf from the tree next to where we park our F150 was stuck on the windshield wiper arm. That leaf stayed on the entire trip up and back, at speeds up to 75 mph. AND, the wiper arm still holds it, with several other trips in between. That’s one tough leaf to take such a beatin’ and keep on truckin’. Feel like you’re taking a beating from life? A job, a spouse, a church, a friend? Let…
Read MoreIntegrity
Early last December, when fall still held sway, a strong wind stripped our trees of many of their leaves. A sixty-foot liquid amber, a broad fruitless pear, and a neighbor’s trees all contributed to the mass of leaves covering the ground cover on our south slope and driveway. Wanting to avoid the debris from choking out our ice plant and from drifting onto our neighbors’ yards, I grabbed my leaf blower to blow them off the slope and pushed them into a pile…
Read MoreRelentlessly Seeking
In an almost New Testament manner, an earlier church we attended had a satellite campus at a winery east of Temecula. The pic above shows the view the gathered believers have during worship. This last Sunday, just after the sermon began, a small, yellow-breasted bird flew up to the window, beating his wings trying to get in. Tiring, he flew back to a grapevine branch, rested, then resumed his attempts to enter God's presence. After a few moments he tired…
Read MoreHave a Beer?
I may get some push back on this post. In a previous book, I mentioned that the Bible doesn’t forbid drinking alcohol in moderation and received some VERY critical reviews..some quite personal. Yes, reviewers, we remember the good, the bad, and the ugly. However, I did intentionally forget your name. Well, most of it. In the early 1970’s…
Read MoreFish by Faith, Not Sight
As you read this post, I’ll likely be on a stream like the one above. So please take a look at the pic. A close one, and focus at the middle of the pool just below the horizontal line of white water, just below the good sized rock. See any trout? Peer closely…
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