Times they are a changin'

Just realized I owned a blog! Whod've figured? Forgot all about this handy little communication tool, even though cousin Roy recently started his blog and has posted some very good stuff on it. Well, maybe it's time to start communicating again. Some good stuff has been happening...

For a while now - oh, roughly the last several decades - I've been mostly concerned about what's right and wrong. In my walk with God, I've been primarily trying to figure out what God is doing, how I fit into that plan, how all the events and activities in the world fit into that plan, and other such ramblings. Now I see I've been totally missing the point.

What God wants most is relationship, plain and simple. All that other stuff is by comparison crap (I have a better word - different spelling, same smell - but I probably shouldn't use it here even though it's the same word the Apostle Paul used for "dung" - as in "I count all my grand accomplishments as dung"...bet you didn't know Paul was a potty mouth eh?). All this other stuff only gets in the way of my loving God with all my heart, soul and mind.

What does the uprising in the middle east and its supposed implications for end time prophecy have to do with my loving God and loving my neighbor? Precisely zero. No matter what kind of hell or high water is going on around me my mission remains the same - to love, period.

So here I am on this new journey, one in which I feel totally out of place and unsure, but I know somehow that it's the right thing. For example, I saw Tim LaHaye (author of the Left behind series) on a cable news show the other night and just couldn't stomach listening to him. Don't get me wrong, he's got his place in this world and it's not my place to either condemn him or give accolades. It's just that such things really matter so little anymore that they have become totally meaningless. There are much bigger fish to fry than to stare dreamily at my future in heaven. Jesus wants us to be His kingdom HERE and NOW. So I for one am going to just get on with that goal, whatever it looks like.

Graham Cooke has been an incredible inspiration to me, easily the most influential teacher in my entire life. Please give a listen, download a couple MP3s, order a few CD sets and let me know what you think. He is running way out in the lead, and I for one am trying hard to join him. Here's a great place to start with Graham Cooke: on his website, go to store, choose MP3s, and download any of the Permission Granted talks. They're cheap, they pack a whallop, and I guarantee you'll learn something new and fresh about who God wants to be for you.