2012 Focus - "Cultivate"

I'm taking a Photoshop class. Because, in this year of 2012, I have determined to cultivate the seeds planted in 2011.


...the results of my first class...

Sweet Friend

I am so blessed to love and be loved by this beautiful lady...here she is, dancing with her husband. She is a fellow Jesus Freak, a lover of Jesus and a lover of children....and she has a definite flair for the dramatic. (She leads our church's drama team, along with her assistant Lisa Privetts.)

The Team...at the close of an incredible group-dance!

She and her husband and two daughters also minister to our school-aged children as children's pastors. Is there a higher calling? A more difficult, yet rewarding job?

...her daughter Kate...(these pictures were taken the night of our church's Christmas Play - which Cheryl wrote!)


...her other daughter Christina...

...Kate and Christina...



If children are the heritage of the Lord (and they are!) this sweet friend of mine has a fine, fine, fine inheritance, a great reward in heaven - she, and her husband and family. I'm privileged to call her friend.


Just wanted to give you a glimpse into what is my sweet friend, and even sweeter church life. People's lives in Harvest are so intertwined, and this family have touched each and every person in meaningful and sacrificial ways.



Precious!

"My" Baby...

It is with great pride and pleasure I introduce you to either baby girl Howe, or baby boy Howe - we don't know which one yet:

I'm already smitten.  I warned you that these sorts of posts would be coming.  There is no blessing like the blessing of grandbabies (as my friend Cyndy R. can also attest - her granddaughter Molly was born yesterday!) ...

...nothing compares.  Go on!  TRY to make me jealous of your Hummer/castle in Spain/baubles/seven figure income/vacation plans/Nubian goats/Arabian steeds/fill-in-the-blank.  You'll see a flicker of interest, if you are an interesting person.  But after too much of it...I yawn, and then I yawn.  Then I yawn again.  I mean, if it blows your skirt up, I get that. I will always track with you, up to a certain point.

I mean, I find a measure of whoopity-do in things that money can buy, too.  I can enjoy your hobby with you, and my interests vary far and wide.  And I love it when you share with me.  But I can't bring myself to admire you for it...I'm impressed by the likes of Amy Carmichael and missionaries to Cambodia.  I'm a Jesus Freak, what can I say?

Just sayin'.  I like stuff, too...but you won't find me dedicating a whole blog to My Fabulous Estate, nor will you find me going out of my way to, through any means possible, oh-so-obviously make sure you hear about my latest purchases - even when I pay cash on the barrel for every bit of it! (...as opposed to leveraging assets for the tax break that gives me...)

I find it to be bad manners to flaunt stuff, be it animal, vegetable, or mineral.  You can safely flaunt your man and you can always flaunt your grandbaby.  That's really about all you can happily flaunt, and still be in good taste.  Other than that, no one really cares or wants to hear about it, unless she's your Bestest Friend Forever. Certainly not if they haven't spoken to you in years.  I can't tell you how often it happens, when someone (who imagines that I will be slightly impressed) will stretch to find any means possible to insure that I know what is their latest "thing"...their newest, non-human acquisition in which they find joy.

All the power-planning in the world can't insure you snuggle up tonight with a man you are crazy about.  My hobbies don't give good backrubs and they sure as heck won't slow dance with me.  Money can't buy you one single healthy relationship. 

I can't take my Nikon out for breakfast at Mimi's Cafe and talk about its day.  I've tried.  My poodle is a decent snuggler, but he can't call and check in on me.  My diamond ring never sends me one email telling me how much I've blessed it.  But my girlfriends do, and I do the same for them.

And I can't take out a loan to finance a single kiss from a grandbaby.  Those are priceless.

I know.  I'm so old-school.  I sound like a granny.    

Think With Me

Think with me.

To refuse - even to the smallest degree -  the message of the Gospel of the Finished Work of Christ is to refuse God. To try to add anything of our own performance (or "righteousness") to the revelation of Jesus is to be under a curse, so says Galatians and Revelations.

The Gospel really is that radical.  You are either all in, or all out.  If you want to rely on trying to keep less than one percent of the Law (10 Commandments) to merit God's blessing, you must keep the whole She-Bang.  To choose to rely on Christ's obedience to said law as being the only thing that merits God's smile of favor towards you, is to refuse to trust in anything else. Nothing of yourself you bring, only to His Word you cling.

Funny thing.  Once you are "all in", and you kick your law addiction cold turkey...you will find yourself living in such a way that "against such there is no law". 

I know, right?  God is so weird and powerful like that.

Don't add to the message (Revelation) of Jesus by adding Jewish law or religious ritual or the arm of the flesh. ("Sacrifice and offering You refuse.  Rather, a body You have prepared...")  Don't take away from the Revelation of Jesus by diminishing the grandeur of grace. For from Him and through Him and to Him is everything.  God, at this very moment in time, right now, watches over His Word (the Person and message of Christ) to perform it.

Today, if you hear His voice, don't harden your heart.  Your one choice?  Choose to live entirely, with abandon, under the New Covenant - Jesus plus nothing. You can't have it both ways - Jesus, plus Everything I Can Muster.  On your best days, your own efforts to earn and deserve the blessings of God are like so many dirty tampons in a gas station trash can.

Why would you refuse to let God wreak His limitless power to do you and your family good? Why would you refuse to let God wreak His limitless overflow of ability to meet you in any and every area where you have fallen short?

For fallen short you have. Today. Oh sure, you have.

That's why today is the time to receive The Message of the Gospel, and submit yourself to the gift of righteousness which is completely and only and singularly by faith, not by works...

Not. By. Your. Effort. 

...just in case you're ever tempted to boast.  Which you would never be tempted to do, right??

Yeah, right.  Me neither.  (And if you can believe that, I have some swamp land to sell you...)

Random Firing of Neurons

Well, I've come down with a headcold. And you know what that means. It means I get random. And I use flowery unnecessary adjectives On Purpose, which is Not Good Writing At All.

And I capitalize all the Terribly Important Words. It's an A.A. Milne thing.

Go Tim Tebow.

Revelations 3:20 could not have been written to the lost man or woman. It had to have been written to those of us who are alive in Christ Jesus. Dead guys don't answer the door. But oh, what a powerful promise we are given! "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and will intimately fellowship with him, and he with me."

Present tense - ongoing, present tense. God is standing at my heart's door. He is knocking...right now...on my heart's door. And if I answer His knock and open that door, I get to hear and be heard by the God of the Universe.

I lovelovelove the local church. I love the concept, and I love the flesh-and-blood reality of people with names and histories with me and I with them. I love the Merry Madness, the tedious sameness, the fresh newness of koininia with people with whom I share the gift of forgiveness and a timeline. I love the continuity of fellowshipping with one local church.

Notice I didn't say "one local church at a time" - I said "one local church".

Nothing like it. Nothing in this earth like it. I love My People. They'd have to kill me to get rid of me. Some have clearly considered it. But all I have to do is holla for my homegirls...like Jame...or Angel...or Vickie...or Wendy...or Maria...or Cheryl...but especially Jame and Angel. Nobody kills me without Jame and Angel raising me from the dead, and then hunting my killer down.

Like a dog.

I'm telling you, do not mess with me. I have People. I've stuck and stayed, and as my Harvest and Reward, God has given me people. I feel sorry for church hoppers. They got no people to kill people for them.

Nobody's a church hopper when they hop a church. Have you noticed that? It's funny - even as they do it (hop like the Easter Bunny), even as they hop right up the front steps and in the front door of a church, they say, "I'm. not. a. church. hopper. ya. know."

But. It. is. so. hard. to. focus. on. their. face....all that bouncing up and down. Oh the power of our own mind to conceal the Very Truth from ourselves. If we knew we were being deceived, we would no longer be deceived.

Last but not least, my "baby" ~

Yeah. We were the guests.

Mad Skillz. The child hoops. Where that exists in his DNA, I do not know.

Sometimes he's a downright Fancy Pants about it. That is, when he's not unselfishly dishing the ball to his team mates, which, as Point Guard, is often. He eats The Press for breakfast...when he's not helping up a fallen player from the opposing team, after breaking his ankles. (read: homeboy crosses them over in a split second. And he has good sportsmanship. #lovemyboy) He has been contacted by several small colleges. We have no idea what will happen, but we will never regret giving him the extra year. Exciting times!

Josh Garrels

Friends, I am sitting in a gym in Nashville Tennessee, even as we speak.  (It's about 3 PM central time, on this cloudy Saturday).  I am waiting to see my youngest son play in a basketball tournament, but I had to go to lots of trouble to log onto the World Wide Web, to tell you something important.

(my man is being my hot spot, and that might not mean what you think it does...it's pretty complicated.)

Josh Garrels.  He is my latest discovery, and I have to admit he's better than Audible.com poetry.

Read about him here, in Christianity Today. 

Then run.  I repeat, run, do not walk.  Run here, to download his newest album...for free. 
Then burn it to CD, and give it to every teen and college kid you know.


This guy is the real deal.  Trust me, I wouldn't go to all this trouble of getting a hot spot from my Preacher, if it weren't going to rock your world.  (And if you don't understand what I just said, give it time and get a smart phone.)  Listen to each song.  Really listen to the lyrics.

A voice to this generation.  A man who has sacrificed his own personal finances for the Kingdom of God, to get the message of the Kingdom out there.

Do what we did, and after downloading the free album, purchase his old stuff.  It is excellent too!

A New Love

I've long loved audible.com.  So why has it never occurred to me that I could purchase (and very cheaply I might add) my favorite poets and poetry...and listen to them, whilst walking in the woods or sitting in my jammies, tucked up in bed with a hot cuppa - and guess which one I am doing right now?? 

Oh, bliss!  Oh, heaven shall be somewhat like this!  Words, words, beautiful words!  For a mere five dollars and change, I have, at my fingertips, one hour and nine minutes of art for my ears and stuff for my thoughts to longlinger over. 

Don't worry.  I won't start assaulting you with made-up words just because they tumble tipsydrunk off the tongue.  I would never.

I.  can't.  stand.  it.  It makes me so stinkin' happy, I can't stand it.

Poor Tim.  He came rushing into our bedroom to see what all the vocalizing was about, and found me jumping violently up and down on the bed in my jammies, pumping my fist, gleefully yelling at the top of my lungs:

Art is long, and Time is fleeting,
        And our hearts, though stout and brave,
    Still, like muffled drums, are beating
        Funeral marches to the grave.

    In the world's broad field of battle,
        In the bivouac of Life,
    Be not like dumb, driven cattle !
        Be a hero in the strife !

    Trust no Future, howe'er pleasant !
        Let the dead Past bury its dead !
    Act,— act in the living Present !
        Heart within, and God o'erhead !

Just kiddin'.  But I wanted to.

::sigh::

And now, I'm jacked up on Audible-poetry-crack.

(I don't have an addictive personality.)