Dance

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My Daddy and I went out to the paddocks where the horses were. I loved watching horses. Even at that young age, I was taken aback by their beauty. I loved to watch them running free. I loved to watch them with a rider with whom they were comfortable.

There were several riders out that day running with their horses. “See over there?” my Daddy said, pointing to a beautiful quarter horse and its rider. “See how the rider needs to pull pretty hard to get the horse to turn?” I nodded.

“Look over there,” he continued, pointing to the most beautiful thoroughbred horse I had ever seen in my life. You could see its strength as it ran, it muscles rippling as he strode. It was so much bigger and stronger than the quarter horse.

“Do you see how the thoroughbred horse turns when the rider lays his reins on the side of his neck?” my Daddy asked. I didn’t answer and watched for a while. It was true. The rider barely laid his rein on the horse’s neck and the horse turned.

“Every day they come out here to practice, and the horse gets better and better at moving with his rider. Even though it’s a stronger horse and could do whatever he wanted to do,” my Daddy said, “it learns to turn when he first feels the direction of his rider. That’s the mark of a great horse, a thoroughbred.”

I continued to watch the beautiful dance between the thoroughbred and its rider for a while longer, and then my Daddy said, “That’s the way we need to respond to our Lord Jesus when He directs us. We should move with Him the first time we feel Him directing us to change our course. That’s the mark of a faithful child of God, a disciple.”

To this day, when I see a thoroughbred and its rider dancing that dance, I am reminded of the dance that we and our Heavenly Father dance every day. Ever so gently, he directs us to move with Him as one. Every day, we have opportunity to learn how to do that better as we dance the dance together with Him.

We are caught up in the wonder of that dance, solely focused upon Him and His loving touch as we move together.

But somewhere, over at the edge of our lives, there is someone standing and watching.

Somewhere, over at the edge of our lives, a little child is gazing as we are learning to dance that dance with our Heavenly Father, as their own Daddy says, “You see over there?”

Dance.



Click on the arrow in the middle of the video screen to watch a wonderful music / video clip about horses and their riders.







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A Horse With A Rider

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“Should I keep going in this, Father?,” I’d repeatedly prayed. “I know that this was Your purpose for me back then, but do You still want Me to continue? Is this one of those things that You want out of my life?”

I was praying about whether or not I should continue in something with which I’d been involved for some years. I shouldn’t have been, but I was pressing for an answer.

Sometimes we pray and pray and never stop to nestle into Father’s lap and just be there. Just be there with Him. And if He wants to talk, He will. We all forget that at times along the way. This was one of those times for me. I’d been praying about this “thing” so much that this had become a central focus of my prayer life, and that’s not what God wants. To Him, it’s never about the “things.” It's about Him and us.

One day, my 4-year old son came to me and said, “Dad, I have a picture that I drew, and I think that God wants me to give it to Messerschmez.” I didn’t quite hear the name clearly, but thought I knew what he’d said. I said, “Sure, son, I’ll drive you over there to where Mrs. Messerschmez works and you can give it to her.” My son gave me a puzzled look for several seconds and then said, “OK, Dad.”

We drove to the parking lot of the store where Mrs. Messerschmez worked and parked. After we had prayed, I said, “C’mon, let’s go give that picture to Mrs. Messerschmez.” My son got this uncomfortable look on his face and said, “Dad?” “Yes?,” I replied. “Dad, the picture isn’t for Mrs. Messerschmez. I was supposed to give it to you.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, son,” I answered, and helped him to come sit in the front seat next to me so we could talk. “You have to write something on the picture for me, Dad, ‘cause I can’t write it,” my son asked. With that, he placed the picture in my hands.

On the paper were two pictures. One was a horse. The other was a horse with a rider. “Write down what God told me to tell you, Dad.” “OK, son.”

“On the bottom of the picture,” he said, “write, A horse with a rider is better than a horse.”

I began crying, while assuring him that they were the good kind of tears. “Do you understand, Dad?,” he asked. “Yes, son, I understand.”

Sometimes we get so focused on the horse that we forget just how much Father cares about us, the rider. To Father, horses come and go. They are ways and means for times and seasons. They all will pass away. They cannot be loved by Him, nor can they love Him back. He doesn’t care about horses. His love for us, however, is constant and eternal. We are the apple of His eye.

A horse with a rider is better than a horse.



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Our Father's Delight

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When I look at my son, I see myself. He is almost exactly like I was when I was his age. The stamp of his lineage is indelible and undeniable. I am blessed that, with God’s loving wisdom and guidance, I can help to guide my young son through the simplicities and complexities of youth. Perhaps his life can be more fruitful, and sooner, than was mine. No matter what, though, I deeply love him just as he is today.

I used to wonder whether my Father looked down and saw Himself in me in the same way. Was the stamp of His lineage as indelible and undeniable in me? I would have liked to think so, but some days I would blunder about so clumsily that it made me wonder how He could see Himself in me.

My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD; neither be weary of his correction: For whom the LORD loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.
Proverbs 3:11-12

You see, He delights in us. Though He hates sin, He is not frustrated by our ignorance or disobedience. He corrects the error in us, yes, but His chastening is a sign of love from our Father above. His correction is given to us because He delights in us, even in our present, sometimes very flawed state. He loves us just as we are, and He loves us enough not to leave us that way.

Even though we may sometimes be disappointed by our own behavior, our all-knowing Father never is. He knew of our blunders and missteps and outright disobedience before He framed the worlds. And knowing of them and the eternal punishment that our sins would ultimately bring, He sent His Son Christ Jesus to pay the price for our sins, so that we - being forgiven through the blood that Christ shed on the cross - might know the sweetness of God’s loving presence, even in our current state.

God, who already knows our hearts, is not shaken by our actions. He is not troubled by doubt when it comes to His children, for He already knows that our destiny it is to spend eternity living with Him. But - do you suppose?........

Do you suppose that - from within the security of His knowledge of us - He might actually find some kind of joy in the occasional, clumsy blundering of His children, as I did recently with my own young son?

[Our family is riding to the store in the van].
Son: Dad?
Dad: Yes, son?
Son: Dad, my hand is stuck in the window of the van.
Dad: What?
Son: My hand got stuck in the window when you just now closed it with that button up there.
Dad: (immediately opening window) But, son, I told you to make sure your hand was out of the window right before I closed it.
Son: I thought you said to put my hand in the window before you closed it.
Dad: But son, why did you think that I would tell you to stick your hand in the window and then close the window on your hand?
Son: [silence]
Dad: Son?
Son: Yes, Dad?
Dad: Son, you can take your hand out of the window now.
Son: Oh.
Son: Ok, Dad.

I'm glad that God doesn't get frustrated with me. I’m glad He finds delight in His children, even when we clumsily blunder.



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What Do We Do With The Children?

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One of the biggest questions for many in the Western Church is "What do we do with the children?" Most of those believe that shipping them off to Sunday School to hear Jonah and the Whale 2000 times before they're 18 years old isn't the answer. Most of those also know that it's wrong at its core that they're trying to determine how to best "incorporate children into church," when Jesus simply said "Let them come to Me." What Do We Do With The Children, then?

The Eastern and Third World Church, by and large, practice the simplicity in this matter that Jesus commanded. The Eastern and Third World Church generally don't separate the concept of church and life, and they approach raising children in the faith in the same manner. Just as parents do not abdicate responsibility for their children's education when they send them to school, neither does "the church" bear the primary responsibility for our children's spiritual upbringing. That rests with the parents. Daunting as that challenge may sometimes be, it holds the promise of a shared journey in which child and parent alike become a mutual blessing in truly learning from God through one another.

Our friend Hamo from Perth, Australia, vividly shares this simplicity in a recent post, telling about a revelatory experience with his daughter, Ellie. Hamo writes:

"It was a short time ago that it dawned on me just how vital our input and role modeling is to the children we raise. On a Monday morning after making the kids breakfast I let them know I was going to spend some time in my study ‘talking to Jesus’. They have seen me do this each day and it is just part our routine now.

My 6 year old daughter Ellie, asked ‘Daddy can I talk to Jesus with you some day?’

‘Sure honey’ I answered. ‘Finish your breakfast, grab your Bible and come in!’

I began wondering what to do and how to teach my 6 year old daughter to speak to Jesus..."

A quiet smile and a nod of the head to Hamo for this post and to Terry for making us aware of the beautiful song in the video below, entitled My Father's Chair by David Meece.

Read the rest of Hamo's wonderful post.







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You Formed Me In My Mother's Womb

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Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out;
you formed me in my mother's womb.
I thank you, High God—you're breathtaking!
Body and soul, I am marvelously made!
I worship in adoration—what a creation!
You know me inside and out,
you know every bone in my body;
You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit,
how I was sculpted from nothing into something.
Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth;
all the stages of my life were spread out before you,
The days of my life all prepared
before I'd even lived one day.
Psalm 139:13-16

Our Fortress Of Safety, Christ

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I remember that our oldest son was 4 years old on 9/11. We were traveling out of state and were getting ready to depart from our motel room when we saw the planes fly into the towers, live on TV. My spouse and I said nothing, just watching. Then our son spoke almost under his breath, saying, "That's not good." It wasn't the fire that led him to say that, I realized, but it was just something he felt.

Answering the questions that followed was a challenge for my spouse and I. It was a good exercise, though. We knew that we needed to immediately return home but we didn't know that, that evening, our living room would end up being packed with 40-50 adults who had experienced that same unsettled feeling that our son had, and that they would need answers just as he had.

Our son got to watch as every person in that room left with a relationship with Christ. There was no button pushing on anyone's part, no "evangelism" needed. It was a simple understanding that everyone there had. Tomorrow we may die. Are we in Him today?

Our son realized that night that the safe place we inhabit in this life is actually a place beyond this life. He realized that the worst thing that could ever happen to us is the best thing. He realized that when we finally close our eyes for the last time on this earth, the first face we will see will be that of Jesus.

And he realized that, for him, that was the safest place he could be - in a relationship with Jesus.

A couple years later as he had listened to a story about some brethren in the third world that had given their lives for Christ, he shared with us, "You know, when one of us dies, two more of us step forward like never before."

Out of the mouths of babes, we hear of His strength within us.

Like Little Children, Touching This World

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For an answer Jesus called over a child, whom he stood in the middle of the room, and said, "I'm telling you, once and for all, that unless you return to square one and start over like children, you're not even going to get a look at the kingdom, let alone get in. Whoever becomes simple and elemental again, like this child, will rank high in God's kingdom. What's more, when you receive the childlike on my account, it's the same as receiving me.
Matthew 18:2-5

A community of spiritual children giving birth to other communities of spiritual children and becoming a network of communities of spiritual children, then joining with other networks of communities of spiritual children until those networks begin to live and move more like one childlike spiritual community - the Body of Christ around the world.

Not invisible and not silent, but nameless and faceless other than His own.

Beginning to respond to God all over the globe, beginning to live and move as one in His Spirit like a school of fish or a flock of birds.

Not identical, but one. Like little children, barely noticing the differences but revelling together in the shared wonder of the Journey.

Like little children, breathing out regret for yesterday and concern for tomorrow, and breathing in the exhilarating hope of today living fully and well in the midst of our Father's kindness.

Trusting enough in the Destination and the One who takes us There to put down our fear and become Love.

Like little children, touching this world.

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The video below, entitled Unless You Change, will bless you with its simple presentation of this Truth from Matthew 18 about becoming like little children. Sit back and enjoy.

Nothing Left Unsaid

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My Dad passed away in 1994, but left an indelible impression upon everyone he met. I remember that he spoke of Christ in a way that I hadn't heard others speak of Him. He was familiar with Him. He had a living, breathing, growing relationship with Jesus.


Many other people that I met as a boy had religion or church, but my Dad had been given a new life about which he was thrilled, and he would tell you so.

My Dad was strong, yet gentle. He was easy-going, but deep. He was simple, but profoundly wise.

My Dad and I were aware of it when we had our last conversation before his passing. He had told me that it was imminent, and so we shared our love with one another one more time.

I remember that at one point during the conversation there was a pause, and I had a dramatic revelation. There was a pause because my Dad and I had spoken all the words that we were supposed to speak to each other in this life.

What a gift I was given in that regard. There was nothing left unsaid or undone between my Dad and I. It was all out there, spoken, shared, experienced. I miss him. But I have never felt that there was something that I wish I could go back and say to him. And I realize that this is a tremendous blessing from God.

So we paused, knowing that the end of the words had come, and our parting was at hand. And then he spoke his last words to me. I knew they would be the last words of a life unrivaled in my eyes, words with which he specifically wanted to leave me.

"Son?," he said.

"Yes, Dad?"

"Walk with Jesus, son."

"I will, Dad."

"I'll see you there, son."

And so concluded all the words.

My Dad had told me while he was still living that if I was to ever wonder how I could best honor his memory, that it would be by seeking to live the things that he had taught me.

I'm giving it my best, Dad.

I'll see you there.


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When I was spiritually weak, and lost, and afraid and unable, my Dad carried me, just like the Dad in this video.

My Daughter's Peace

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Some time ago, our Lord placed it upon my heart to share a scripture with my then 6 year-old daughter:

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:6-7

Universal Challenges
I explained to my daughter that, whether we're a child or an adult, we all face problems that can get the best of us at times. All of us succumb to “being anxious” now and again. “It's not a kid thing,” I shared with my daughter, “it's a people thing.”

My daughter was comforted to know that she wasn't the only one who sometimes faces these things. Funny how satan works that way - telling us that we're the only ones who are challenged by this or that. God says different, though. God makes it clear to us that there is one adversary - satan - there is one Saviour - Christ Jesus - and there is one kind of person - people like us.

1 + 1 + 1 = Peace
I asked my daughter what 1 + 2 equaled. "Three, Dad," she replied proudly. "Will the answer ever be four....or five.....or two?" I asked her, and she replied to each question with a smile and a confident "No!"

I then explained to my daughter that God's Word is much the same way; it adds up to the same answer every time, if we'll only practice it as God says.

"When we look at this scripture we find out that 1 + 1 + 1 = peace, my daughter," I said. With her eyes wide and her interest piqued, she asked "How Dad?"

God's Sure Equation for Peace
When it comes to Philippians 4:6-7, 1 + 1 + 1 = peace.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

If we:

(1) Refuse to be anxious about a certain thing
+
(1) pray to God, giving Him thanks from our hearts for the things He's already done in our hearts and lives
+
(1) make our request for His help
=
And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Sounds good, right? But does it work?

God's Promises Put To The Test
My daughter and I had a 3-step plan from God for peace in the midst of any situation, and we were ready to put it to the test. Once my daughter had memorized the 3 parts to God's equation for peace, she put it into action.

The next time my daughter was upset, I reminded her of the scripture. She stopped and said, "Can you help me remember, Dad?" I simply asked her to tell me what the scripture said, and she repeated it to me, and then prayed to God.

I listened as she tearfully prayed, "Father, I don't want to be sad or angry. Thank you for my new bike. Please help me not to be sad or angry."

Then she leaned up against me and was quiet for a some time. "Do you feel the peace?," I asked. "I feel it, Dad," she said quietly as though she was somewhat amazed that it had actually worked. "I'm not upset anymore."

Like You're Getting Tired.....
After a few days of successfully using this scripture in her life, my daughter came to me with a wonderful revelation.

"Dad," she said, "Every time when I pray to God to help me, it's like I get tired at the end." I didn't understand at first, but then I watched as she illustrated for me.

My daughter lowered her shoulders and deeply exhaled. "Like that, Dad," she said. The light bulb came on inside of me, and I smiled and said "Do you know what that feeling is, my daughter?"

"It’s the peace, isn‘t it, Daddy?," she asked, and I nodded with a lump in my throat.

Simplicity
It's funny how easy it is for us humans to complicate the simplicity of God's Word. In our well-intentioned efforts to greater understand what His Word is saying, we sometimes miss that its greatest power is in its simplicity.

The Apostle Paul urges us to remember and remain in the simplicity that is in Christ. He also tells us that when we believe that Word of God, it works. My daughter's peace has put an exclamation point on those truths for me. She's learning the Word, believing it, applying in her life, and it's working just like God said it would.

How to describe the sweetness of the peace she receives from Him when she prays?

Well, it transcends all understanding.

At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.
Matthew 11:25

Perhaps For A Moment Just Like This

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Esther was a beautiful, young Jewish girl, living a normal Jewish life when she was selected as a potential new queen for the king. When the time came for him to select his new queen, he noticed her beauty and chose Esther, not knowing she was a Jew.

Granted, Esther was just a young teenage girl, but she must have wondered at some point “Why me? Why was I chosen?”. She must have known that her beauty played into it, but she must also have known that, had the king known that she was a Jew, he probably would never have married her.

Esther would have found it difficult to fully appreciate and enjoy her queenship as a result, you see. She was just a young woman. She did not seek out the throne of the queen. It was thrust upon her, seemingly by forces beyond her control. There was no way that Esther could have known the terrifying circumstance that had caused God Himself to choose her and exalt her to her current position.....

A Plot Is Hatched
Fortunately, Esther’s uncle Mordecai was nearby and was a wise man of God, and he counseled Esther regularly during her reign. This was providential, because an evil man named Haman (the king’s right hand man) who hated the Jews - and especially Mordecai - had devised a plan to destroy all of the Jews in the kingdom.

Haman told King Ahasuerus that there were a people in his kingdom that did not follow his laws, and that they should be destroyed. He convinced the king to decree that these “Jews” were to be killed at a certain date.

A Dangerous Assignment
Now when Mordecai heard of these things, he began to mourn, and eventually had opportunity to send word to Esther about what Haman had purposed to do to their people. Mordecai sent word to her that she should go unto the king and ask the king to stop this from happening.

Esther, however, was deathly afraid of doing that. She sent word to Mordecai, saying “All the king's servants, and the people of the king's provinces, do know, that whosoever, whether man or women, shall come unto the king into the inner court, who is not called, there is one law of his to put him to death, except such to whom the king shall hold out the golden scepter, that he may live: but I have not been called to come in unto the king these thirty days.”

When Mordecai heard of Esther’s hesitancy to go to the king to save her people, he sent word back to her, saying Think not with thyself that thou shalt escape in the king's house, more than all the Jews. For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father's house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?

Esther acknowledged the wisdom of Mordecai’s words, took action, and her people were saved through the courage and bravery of Queen Esther. Were it not for the willingness of a young Jewish woman to face death, we would never have heard of a man named Jesus, never have had the opportunity for forgiveness of our sins and eternal life, never have received God’s New Testament Word through men of God named Peter and John and Paul.

She was scared to act, scared to die, but when Esther heard Mordecai’s last words to her, it spurred her to respond with faith and fearlessness to the call of God:

Who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?

A Rainy Assignment
Some 50 years ago, a nameless, faceless man had come to know Christ as his Saviour and Lord. Soon after, he had invited a couple of his closest friends to a church service so that they could learn about Jesus, too. Both of his friends received Christ as their Saviour and Lord that night.

On their way home, it began raining torrentially, so powerfully that they eventually could not see beyond the hood of the man’s truck. So the men pulled over to the side of the road and began to chat until the rain had passed. That’s when our Lord dropped a bombshell on that man.

“Tell the rain to stop” the Lord spoke inside of his heart. The man just kept talking to his friends as though he hadn’t heard the Lord. “Tell the rain to stop,” the Lord spoke a second time, and the man tried to ignore Him again. But the third time the Lord spoke to the man, He changed his “tone of voice”.

The Lord said somberly, “Tell the rain to stop.”

In recounting the events of that evening, that nameless, faceless man said he knew from the Lord’s “tone of voice” that he would never have this opportunity again. He felt the urgency of the Lord, and he knew that he must respond to Him.

He hem-hawed around for a couple minutes trying to find the words to explain to his two friends what he was about to say, but he finally gave up and simply said, “Look, the Lord told me to tell the rain to stop, and I have to do it.”

With that, he said, “Peace be still, in the name of Jesus.”

At the moment that man spoke the name of Jesus, not one more drop of rain touched the truck. Instantaneously, there was not a single cloud in the sky. The men sat in that truck by the side of the road and cried for hours and hours.

That man had been scared silly to do what the Lord had told him to do. But he became aware of the urgency of the Lord directing him to act in obedience. He became aware that he had to respond to His command. He became aware that, perhaps for a moment just like that, God had called him to the kingdom.

Who Knows?
Is God asking you to do something right now that you’re afraid to do? Are you wondering why you are in this situation in the first place? Are you wishing that someone else would take responsibility? Are you wondering “Why me?”.

Who knows whether or not God placed you in the spot you’re in for a moment just like this? Who knows what miraculous result might come about when you respond to God with faith and fearlessness? Who knows what God can do when we say “Yes” in spite of frightening outward appearances, past failures or personal insecurities?

When we are afraid, we must acknowledge and act upon our faith, for His Word tells us that God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love and a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7). When we are afraid, we must acknowledge and act upon our hope, for His Word tells us that we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us (Romans 8:37). When we are afraid, we must acknowledge and act upon our love, for His Word tells us that perfect love casts out fear (1 John 4:18).

My friends, sometimes God’s very best blessings are found in the darkest of circumstances.

I will pray for you what I pray for myself, my friends, that we would be of good courage because of our God, that we would realize that fear's attempts to bind us must come so that His courage within us can be made manifest, and that we would respond to fear in faith, knowing that the victory over fear has already been accomplished by our Saviour and Lord Jesus Christ.

NOTE: This posting is a copyrighted writing by the author, published on this blog with their express consent. You may not re-publish this writing (including in blogs or e-mailings) without the express, written consent of the author. You may obtain such permission by contacting Nameless Faceless Love via e-mail.

Bart Starr and The Dimes

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This post is short and sweet. Simple. Powerful. It's a story about legendary Green Bay Packers quarterback Bart Starr and a tradition that he established with his children.

He probably understood that the tradition was an investment in the confidence, self-esteem and very core of his children's lives. But I wonder if he knew before this incident that it was an investment in his own life, as well.

Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full—pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap.
Luke 6:38 (NLT)

Read. Consider. Live for Him.

When a considerably older Bart Starr was quarterback for the Green Bay Packers, he had a way of letting his kids know how much he appreciated it whenever they did something well. He’d give them a dime. If they did something extra well, he’d give them two dimes. That doesn’t seem like a lot of money in terms of today’s values, but you have to remember that Starr retired over 30 years ago.

One day, when the Packers were playing the Bears in Chicago, he had a terrible game - one of the worst he’d ever had. He couldn’t seem to find his receivers, he got mixed up on a couple of plays, and, in reality, he probably lost the game for the Packers. To make matters worse, the game was televised, and the commentators were unmerciful. They began to say very uncomplimentary things about him - mostly having to do with speculation that he was getting too old to play anymore.

So, when the team flew back to Green Bay that night, he was about as low as he could get. He was even beginning to believe, himself, that maybe they were right. Maybe he should stop playing. But then something happened that changed his feelings completely.

He arrived home at about 3:00 a.m., long after everyone had gone to bed and was asleep. When he started to go bed, he spotted something on his pillow. Lifting it up and taking it to the light, he saw a note from his son. It read, “Dear Dad. I think you’re the greatest quarterback who’s ever been, and the greatest dad too!”

Down at the bottom of the note, carefully taped in place, there was not just one dime, and not just two dimes, but three shiny dimes.

To Recognize The Rabbit

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For a 6 year old child, 30 minutes can seem like an eternity. Nonetheless, the promise of spending time with my Dad down by the river in the woods was too lucrative a prospect to pass up. So I left my toys, and my daydreams, and my busyness and walked down the Big Hill behind the Brown House toward the woods.

When we arrived there, Dad began to move slowly and speak quietly, and though I didn’t know why, I mimicked him. Dad motioned for me to slowly sit down beside him on a log just inside the tree line of the woods. In front of us, about 40 feet away, was a big wood pile comprised of branches and old pulled-up stumps and the like.

My Dad slowly pointed to the wood pile, and spoke to me in hushed tones. “Son,” he whispered, “look at the bottom of that wood pile, right in the middle next to the ground, and tell me when you see the rabbit.” “OK, Dad,” I whispered, and turned with anticipation to see the rabbit in the wood pile.

My anticipation quickly faded, however, as I stared at a wood pile that obviously had no rabbit in it. “Dad,” I whispered respectfully, “I don’t think there’s rabbit in that wood pile.” “Keep looking at that wood pile, son,” he replied, “at the bottom, right in the middle next to the ground, and tell me when you see the rabbit.”

Time after time we repeated our dance, with me claiming there was no rabbit and my Dad encouraging me to just keep looking. And then, after 30 minutes, it happened.
Before my eyes, in precisely the same spot at which I’d been staring for half an hour, a rabbit appeared. It was as though that rabbit leaped into my vision. Hidden amongst the dead branches and brittle leaves of his surroundings, he crouched as though frozen stiff, unmoving, knowing that I had been watching him the whole time.

I was, for perhaps the first time in my life, speechless. My Dad smiled silently, allowing me to soak in the magnitude of the experience without hindering it with words. After a few minutes, he spoke quietly and said, “Son, sometimes you need to keep looking at something for a while to see what’s really there.” That was the lesson, but it was 25 years before I would truly recognize what that meant.

You see, Jesus Himself used to go to the mountain to pray. It seems clear that he did it because that’s the only place that He could be alone. He had to climb to so high a place that other people wouldn’t follow, a place arrived at through greater labor and with a higher price of ascent.

It was in this place, high above the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things, that He found vision. From this lofty vantage point, He could look down upon the issues of life and godliness and see them clearly, even as He was looking above to His Heavenly Father. Our Lord Jesus found clear vision on the mountain of solitude and prayer.

He did not make that climb just once. Again and again, He would climb to the mountain to pray. Time and time again, He would leave the people and problems and distractions of this life to look solely and completely upon His Father.

As we make this same trek, we will receive something vital to our lives. By going to the mountain and looking upon the things of God again and again, the clear vision we experience there will be transformed - sometimes in an instant and before our eyes - into the recognition of what we’ve been staring at (and praying for) the whole time. It is as though the understanding leaps into our vision in its appointed time.

Our Father is drawing us to the mountain, if we’re listening. Not to a place of casual, hastily blurted requests to a vending machine God. God is drawing us to a place where we remove the shoes from our feet because the place whereon we stand is holy ground. He is drawing us to a place so remote, and yet more intimate than we have ever known.

I would like to think that, at times, our Father does as my Dad did; that, as we bask in the wonder of learning from Him, He stands quietly smiling at a child so beloved. Oh, how He adores His precious children.

Have you been praying for a while without an answer? Perhaps it is time you discovered the mountain. Perhaps you used to visit the mountain, and now it is time for you to return. Perhaps you are on the mountain and it is time to make that higher climb with a greater price but a greater blessing.

Then again, perhaps you are already there, and it is time to just keep looking “at the bottom, right in the middle next to the ground” until you see the rabbit.

“Son, sometimes you need to keep looking at something for a while to see what’s really there.”

Amen, Daddy, amen.

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[So I went with Him, and when we were climbing the rocky steps up the hillside, my beloved Shepherd said to me] O My dove, [while you are here] in the seclusion of the clefts in the solid rock, in the sheltered and secret place of the cliff, let Me see your face, let Me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely.
Song of Solomon 2:14 (AMP)

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The Best Night Ever

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Shortly after my son's ninth birthday, he sent me this e-mail, detailing a night he spent wrestling with a very bad dream.

We've all spent such nights in battle, but I am touched by the simplicity and effectiveness of this nine year old boy's response to those trials.

It is a response born of acknowledged need and unfeigned faith. this young man knew that he was in over his head, and he believed that Jesus not only could help him, but wanted to to.

This post is short. Please do not gloss over it. Read it and "chew on it" like a cow chews grass; over and over. Please do not read it as an adult, but rather read it as the little child of God that you have been made through Christ Jesus; wide-eyed, trusting, and willing to take a chance because you know that Christ's love for you is real.

Be blessed by this pure example of a desperate need and a wondrous response from Christ Jesus our Lord. It is entitled "The Best Night Ever."

I love you all in Christ, fellow journeymen and journeywomen.....

hi dad!

last night I asked Jesus to give me a good dream to take the bad one away. And Jesus gave me a spinitual ride. In this dream he was giving me a bath and Jesus was giving me the bath . The water felt like the Holy Spirit was holding me . And that was the end of the story.

I LOVE YOU DADDY.

Missing Children

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"I love You, Jesus."

"I love you. I died so that you would have joy. Some of God's children are missing. Go and find them. I will lead you."

At The Master's Table

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Following is a parable about God's children in the dining room. It's just a little tidbit, but provides a gentle nudge and nourishment to us all as we daily gather at the Master's table.

As we are seated, we come to realize that there are seated, in front of us and at either side, children of the Living God who are hungry like we are. How we respond to this mutual hunger will tell us much about how far we have come in Christ Jesus.

Heavenly Father, we take this food we're about to receive in Jesus' name. Amen.

Hot off the stove.

Enjoy, dear brethren.

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A righteous man was praying one day when he asked our Lord a question.

"Lord, can You show me what You see when You look at God's people, and what You would like to see when You look at us?"

Our Lord led the righteous man to two doors. He opened one of the doors and the righteous man looked in.

In the middle of the room was a large round table. In the middle of the table was a large pot of stew which smelled delicious and made the righteous man's mouth water. The people sitting around the table were thin and sickly. They appeared to be famished.

They were holding spoons with very long handles that were strapped to their arms. Each person there found it possible to reach into the pot of stew and take a spoonful, but because the handle was longer than their arms, they could not get the spoons back into their mouths.

The righteous man shuddered at the sight of their misery and suffering.

Our Lord said to the righteous man, "You have seen what I sometimes see when I look at God's people."

They went to the next room and opened the door.

It was exactly the same as the first one. There was the large round table with
the large pot of stew which made the righteous man's mouth water.

The people were equipped with the same long-handled spoons, but here the people were well nourished and plump, laughing and talking.

The righteous man said, "I don't understand, Lord. Why is this vision of God‘s children so different?

"It is simple," said our Lord.

"The people in the second room have acquired but one characteristic of Mine. You can see it and hear it and feel it in them, and I can, too.“

“This is what I long to see in God’s children; children who have learned to feed each other.”