Being Buffeted is Nothing Like a Buffet - The Path to Brazil (Part 2 of 3)

The thought of going to Brazil, doing something for God, and hanging out with friends was getting evermore exciting. Like many Christians, I was planning for the blessings, but I forgot that there is always opposition to God's plans.

2 Corinthians 12:7 (b) there was given me a sting of my flesh, an angel of Satan, to buffet me.

That is a nice way of saying he (Paul) was demonically afflicted. The word buffeted literally means "to be hit with small punches. (fist)" I prefer to think of it as buffet-ed; the French word buffet - "a spread laid on a cart to feed to the hungry; with salad at one end and desert at the other."

Behind the scenes the devil working overtime to oppose the will of God in my life. Hindsight is always 20/20. I can now, clearly see that there was an equal and opposite reaction to God's advancing Kingdom, by the one roaming around seeking to devour us.

The Passport:
I went to the Post Office and got an application for my US passport. I decided to get two copies in case I made an error. Just a few blocks away I went to the photography studio I once worked at to have instant passport photos taken. My plan was to go right back to the Post Office and be done with it. One problem, I need a "certified" birth certificate from New Haven; 175 miles away!

After frantic phone calls, online searches and Fed-Ex packages, finally a certified birth certificate arrived about 10 days later. I placed the application, photos and birth certificate in a large envelope and headed back to the Post Office. What else could go wrong? The passport photos taken by a professional studio were the wrong size, that's what! The next day I made another appointment, got new photos, and finally my application was on it's way to Boston for processing.

In the midst of getting ready to go to Brazil, I was ministering at a few local congregations with my friend Carlos. HERE is one story, and HERE is another from that season. God was on the move and His supernatural presence followed us wherever we went.

One Saturday someone ran into my car in a parking lot. It was no big deal, the insurance company was going to pay for it -- well some day. It took months to straighten out a dented bumper.

On Tuesday morning I woke up to go to work, and my car with the dent was gone from in front of the house. The bank had sent a repo crew to pick it up. Wow, and I had even paid them on time. It turns out there was some mail fraud in the area, and my checks never made it to the bank, nor did my late notices make it to me. It was going to take a couple of days to fix that problem and I was scheduled to leave in a few days.

Things just seemed to be stacking up - issues that were, well, out of the ordinary.

The Visa:
My team of 4 kept praying, ministering and fellowshipping. To enter Brazil I need to get a travel visa. I Fed-Ex'd my application, a check for 40 dollars, and my passport to the Brazilian Consulate in Boston. All the delays with the passport photos, and birth certificate had made the time-line very tight. I was to leave on Saturday and here it was Wednesday. On Friday afternoon at 3 PM, I received a Fed-Ex from the consulate - VISA DENIED.

God, what is going on? I called the travel agent to cancel my tickets from JFK to Sao Paulo.

On Saturday I took my wife's car to transport my Brazilian friends to the airport. I was able to transfer my tickets for the connection to them. It was emotional as I saw the plane take off from Hyannis headed for JFK without me.

Now what God? You promised me, you provided for me, and now I am standing here. I don't get it!

I went home and prayed for my friends travel. I was so certain I was supposed to go - to be on THIS trip. I began pacing the house, and I was so angry that if I'd had a dog, I would have kicked it.

In my spirit I heard this verse. Mateus 11:12 E desde os dias de João, o Batista, até agora, o reino dos céus é tomado a força, e os violentos o tomam de assalto. Matthew 11:12

The words violento and assulto gave power to my prayer. And the Lord spoke to me. "Go to the consulate in Boston on Monday and I will give you a visa and favor."

Are you kidding me? I don't have a car, my wife needs to get to work. This is crazy. I needed the vise for today, and favor? I needed that before today too! God what are you doing?!?!?

At dinner, I asked my wife, "Can I use the car to go to Boston on Monday to get a visa? I can drop you at work, and get the kids to school on the way."

"I think that would be OK - actually I can go into the stained glass supplier and pick out some glass for my boss and you can drive." She said. "We can get lunch on the way back and then pick up the girls from school."

Wow.

Sunday I just kept praying. My phone rang, and it was the guys in Brazil. They were there - and I was still in the US. I told them about the promise I had from God for a visa. They didn't seem too convinced - but said they would pray for me.

Monday my wife and I dropped the kids off at school, got a coffee and made the trek to Boston.

"Parking is really bad downtown - and expensive ($13.00/hr), my wife said."

"I was told there are some free spots near the building." I said.

"Well, we'll see." she replied. "I could wait in the car."

We pulled up in front of the Consulate and there was one free spot right in front of the door! It was 2 hour parking. The line was all the way from the second floor, down the stairs and into the street. I took a number; 26, and got in line with my papers. I told my wife I would page her when I was done, but she agreed to wait in the car because we had a free spot.

They stopped giving out numbers for the day at 40.

A gentleman came down the stairs and threw his ticket on the ground mumbling some about the line. I picked it up, number 4. As they called the numbers on the second floor, there was a "telephone" line in English and Portuguese coming down the stairs. "Two!" "Dois!" "Two!" "Dois!" Each person relaying the service number from the second floor.

"Four!" "Quatro!" I went up the stairs, making my way to the window passing, dozens of other folks. Thank you God.

At the window I handed my paperwork to the gentleman there. "David Johndrow" oh - this was a problem. He went back to talk to a supervisor. "You are all set, the cost is $40 dollars and it will be ready this afternoon." He said, returning to the window.

"Would you mind using this Fed-Ex mailer so that I don't have to come back?" I asked.

"That will be fine Mr. Johndrow. Go in peace and bless my people." He said as he handed a receipt back under the glass.

"God bless you." I eked out, in utter surprise at his statement.

I went back down to the car. 17 minutes had passed. Wow!

As I started the car, I heard that still small voice say, "You'll be leaving on Friday."

"Lord I don't even have a ticket!" I thought.

We went to the glass shop as planned, and I decided to stop at the travel agent in the Sommerville section of Boston. I had almost forgotten about my ticket refund. "When would you like to leave?," the agent asked?

"I will have my visa tomorrow, so any day after Wednesday." I replied.

As she scanned the PC screen, she said. "I have one seat for this Friday, and no seats for next week..."

"Friday will be fine," I blurted out. "Friday - yes - Friday"

I paid the $15 fee ticket transfer fee and called my friends in Brazil. "I'll be there on Friday to join you!" I said.

It seemed like anything that could go wrong, did. I wasn't able to get the car issues solved before I left. I broke a crown. I slipped and fell down the stairs - things were tense at home - but I was on my way to South America.

God Rocked My World - The Path to Brazil (Part 1 of 3)

This month marks 10 years since I went on my first mission trip to Brazil. On November 13th I will be posting a few testimonies and pictures from that trip. In this blog I would like to tell you about some of the events leading up to that amazing journey - some a blessing and some very difficult - the war between Heaven and Hell.

In April of 1999 I met a Brazilian pastor in Hyannis, MA. He is now my good friend Carlos. You can read some of that story HERE. Through him many doors were opened for me to minister in his community both here and abroad. He was my faithful interpreter and has seen me through the good times and the bad times.

The real story of Brazil starts in January 1997. I received this prophecy from a gentleman named Denny Cramer.

"I will give you a heart for nations as well, says the Lord. And you will travel from coast to coast. And you will learn what I am doing upon the earth. You’ll pick up this truth and that truth. I see you going to several major conferences. I see several airline tickets being purchased. I see you getting on a plane-- flying here, flying there, flying here, flying there."

Regardless of how you feel about spiritual gifts, let me tell this was all very exciting; yet bewildering. After all, I am afraid of heights, I don't like flying and had a fear of being in a country where I don't speak the language. It rocked my complacent little, religious world.

During a small meeting, Carlos introduced me to another Brazilian named Lessak. Pastor Lessak did not speak English at all; therefore, all of our conversations were translated. He was convinced that the power of God was not something you could actually experience - just something to have faith in. God was not going to knock him down, and no minister was going to push him either. He stood there and challenged God like Gary Sinise atop the mast of the shrimp boat, in the movie Forrest Gump.

He readied himself like a linebacker before the call to "set." So I gently touched two fingers to his forehead and simply asked Holy Spirit to come. The power of God came like a shotgun to challenge his beliefs.

As he lay on the floor across the room he began to prophesy in English-- "Dav- i - G (the sound of my name in with a heavy accent) will be a minister on our team in Brazil. He will come with us to Brazil."

Wow! Ummm I mean, thanks but no thanks. I like it right here in the good ole' US of A. Carlos was trying to make sure that I knew what he was saying. I heard him loud and clear in English.

The word of God is like fire in your bones. PS Lessak's words resonated in my spirit, but I was scared. What was going to happen to me in a foreign land? What if it was too hard, or something happened to me? How would I pay for it? What if I couldn't get the time off from work? What if...

The wheels began turning. Not too long after, I decided I would go to Brazil. Making the decision was hard - it was way, way, way out of my comfort zone.

After I had a chance to minister in a couple of dozen Brazilian churches here in the states, I started to become comfortable with the culture, and the language. I had a few friends - and well, it didn't seem so unbelievable after all.

Funding the trip was going to be a problem - and I sort of felt that if God would pay for it, then I should really go. The two Brazilians and I went to the beach and prayed for about an hour. We prayed about it on a number of other occasions.

Through a friend, I was asked to participate on the ministry team of a Refresh conference. In the process, one of my teammates wrote me check for $1000. That was enough to buy tickets for me, and for the others.

One obstacle down.

I also needed to get time off from work, so I went to the owner of my company. He needed me there, so 21 days was going to be significant. But he gave me the time off with pay!

The next step was to get a passport. I thought this would be easy, but it wasn't. Check out Part II in a few days to see how God handled that one.

Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh - Making Happy Campers

We've all heard the song "A Letter from Camp."

"Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh. Here I am at Camp Granada. Camp is very entertaining. And they say we'll have some fun if it stops raining."

What's it going to take to make us all happy campers in church? I think I have a few ideas - so bear with me as I lay a foundation.

The song assumes that the "singer," a child, has two parents, one male and one female. But this blog is not about families - no - it's about church.

Presently, in most developed countries, the cultural status of the nuclear family is fractured. There is rampant divorce both in and out of the church, resulting in single parent families, and various other aberrations of the biblical family. Regardless of what the world thinks is politically correct, God has a standard.

I am assuming that you have noticed there is a difference between the way males and females act? The healthiest families are meant to have a father and a mother. I am not dissing single parent families - thank God one of you is taking the responsibility to raise your child!

The male is meant to be the leader and initiator (Father God), where the female is meant to be the nurturer and comforter (Holy Spirit). This does not mean that men cannot be nurturing, or that females cannot initiate. These are however; the "natural" and instinctive roles for men and woman.

Interestingly the church is designed to be the model of marriage, with Christ as the head, and the church submissive to His loving leadership. That's normal, regardless of how you "feel."

Ephesians 5:23 "For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church"

In a marriage, a woman is not to be the head of the house, although she may feel the need to take over if the husband does not lead. The man is not created to be the one with the "nesting" instinct. These (and all) biblical principals are meant to bear fruit for the family by balancing love, grace, discipline, and submission. All are essential elements in a healthy relationship with Jesus.

Although grace has been available in the church since the beginning - much of that has come from Mother Church - she has held that name for nearly 1500 years. This understanding comes from Ephesians 5:23 (above). At best it is an incomplete revelation - and possibly a wrong interpretation of the scripture. Having a one parent church over the centuries has caused some problems in the church.

We are in the post-denominational era. It is an interesting time for the church global. Participation in denominational churches is subsiding in the US and elsewhere. The term "recovering Catholic" has been coined but it is commonly used to describe every other "recovering" denomination. The growth of non-denominational churches, although still seeing a decline in attendance, is doing a better job in attracting congregants than its denominational siblings. That's a fact, not an opinion.

Unfortunately all churches not only have declining attendance, but they also have an exodus of young people to other religions such as Islam and JCLDS, as well as followers of the paranormal and occult. This is sad news parents!

So, what does all this have to do with parenting, kids falling away and denominations? Everything! Let me explain.

The same thing that is going on in the world, for the most part, is going on in the church. Believers in our churches are parented in the same way many children are - with one parent. And in some cases a dysfunctional parent. In the worst cases, there is no parent at all!

Parent-less; but particularly fatherless believers show up at church every week looking for significance. Maybe you're one of them. As Christians, we need both spiritual fathers and mothers!

Do a word study on "father" and then do one on "mother," you'll see.

Look, I don't care how we got here, but we need to fix it. We need the church to act as both parents, not a parent. That means we need both fathering and mothering. Maybe you remember when you told you mom you were too sick to go to school. She got you and aspirin, and a cup of tea. But when your father came in he said, "If you are to sick to go to school, then you are too sick to play in the game after school.

You may remember your mother saying. "Wait until your father gets home." I do.

Fathers are to provide some "spine," it is part of who they are. Mothers are to be nurturing. It is part of who they are. And when both dynamics are part of church, we are much more likely to become disciples.

We need spiritual fathers and mothers, and we need them now!

And now for the good part. You can be a spiritual farther or mother. Woman you can dote on your kids with affection, and smother them with love. Fathers, you can take another male and teach him to be accountable, help him pray and make decisions that are good for him and his family. You can be affectionate, loving and hear confessions. You can be a family.

Sure, many of us have had bad modeling in terms of parents - particularly fathers. So? There are a lot of things we used to be, but then we met Jesus? Amen?

Think about it. You can find someone in your church or neighborhood and model God! You can bless them, laugh with them, cry with them, and take on their burdens. You can hug them and kiss them, and expect nothing in return. If you do, you will probably have a spiritual kids that you are proud of. A child that serves God, and loves others.

What's that you say? This wasn't done for you? Well, its got to start somewhere.

Next time you see a lonely teenager in the back row, grab them. Next time you hear someone say, "let's get together." DO IT!

What would it mean to you if someone who had invested something in your life said, "I am proud of you kiddo!" What would it mean to have a cheerleader for every decision? How would you feel if someone showed up at your game?

Me, I'd be a happy camper.

Health Care, Ethics and Community Service - What the Hell are We Doing?

John 14:12 I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.

That's right, we will do what Jesus did -- and even greater things!

Why is it that in most churches have sustained a Gospel that seems to only perpetuate the central truth of Christianity (salvation by faith), and not much else? I am sure there are some churches that are seeing the fruit of the supernatural hand of God - while others wouldn't recognize God if He showed up with cherubim and seraphim.

We must get past making decisions for Christ, and start doing what Jesus did! Even a man who has a ticket to a faraway island gets off the plane once he arrives!

Our salvation is not complete. We get saved by the faith changing moment, we are being saved as the new man is released from the grave clothes, and we will be saved when we arrive prostrate on the sea of glass (Rev 15:2) before the throne of the Most High. Until then, the Kingdom of God is at hand - and one of the ways that we know it by a supernatural God, doing what man can't using a vessel like you.

Luke 10:9(b) ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’

What about you, is your salvation producing fruit by lovingly doing what Jesus did? What is keeping you from doing what Jesus did: fear, bad theology, laziness, lack of faith, under poor leadership-- what?

Getting out there isn't hard. I went to church with a woman who would regularly go and sit in the chairs near the prescription counter at the local drug store just to find sick people to pray for! She had lots of testimonies.

There was another woman that got free day-old bread at the local supermarket and went to the projects knocking on doors handing it out and inviting folks to church. Through her ministry dozens came to church, got saved and some filled with the Holy Spirit.

A worship leader I knew took a small team to nursing homes just to play old hymns and look for fertile soil to plant seeds of salvation. Again, more souls saved and some folks healed.

Yours truly invites everyone in the neighborhood to an open house at Thanksgiving time.

Have you thought about your faith, and how God might use it? Do you have faith for healing a cold, for healing a broken bone or cancer? Could you really bring someone to Christ, or pray for them to received the baptism in the Holy Spirit? Our faith needs to know no bounds - if you want to see people raised from the dead, bring the dead to church or hold services at the funeral home. That should raise the odds!

We live in the WWJD generation, so let's take a look at what He did not just how He acted.

- He built intimate friendships
- He healed the sick
- He cast our demons
- He wept with compassion
- He slept through the storm
- He encouraged others
- He applauded faith
- He let the religious people know where they stood
- He taught
- He studied
- He prophesied
- He used the word of knowledge
- He calmed the storm
- He gave peace
- He gave joy
- He forgave sin
- He raised the dead
- He fed the poor
- He had compassion on widows
- He hung out with prostitutes, corrupt politicians and the deathly ill
- He fed the hungry
- He gave drink to the thirsty
- He gave His life

That's what Jesus did, any questions?

A New Trick - Obedience Training

Sit, roll over, fetch - it's a lot to remember for a dog with a brain the size of a golf ball. Just think what dogs would be like if they were as smart as - well you.

The Christians that read my blogs are like the rest of the church, diverse. My readership embodies everything from Charismatics to Catholics, and lots in between. There are those that have some training and those that don't. If it was an intellectual game, some would win, and some would lose. Thank God it's not.

The good news is the Good News. The Gospel is fit for each one of us, and the trick is contained in one word: obedience.

There are a bajillion people running around asking WWJD? He'd be obedient - perfectly obedient. He would have cleaned his room when asked and as a reward, I guess He'd get to use the family donkey. He would have given His tithe, been honest on his time-papyrus at the carpentry shop, and given up His favorite hitching post in downtown to a crippled man - well, if He didn't heal him and send him off praising God.

Jesus said, "I do what I see the Father doing." How about you?

In America it is very easy to get caught up in the lifestyle. Think about it. In the time of Jesus, they didn't have toilet paper, cell phones or malls. There were no cars, no electric heat, or grocery stores. That is a lot of life to manage with manual tasks. Yet, Jesus never sinned, and was always obedient in spite of the hard work just living life was. Leave it to us to have a flat tire in the rain, a power outage or some other inconvenience. God forbid the Internet goes down or we lose our cell phone. Don't those things make you annoyed? I confess, they can make me crazy some days.

And for those of you that get your political panties in a bundle, Jesus lived under some ruthless people - like the ones that crucified Him. And He didn't sin.

Keeping up with life in America and some other places leaves the average Christian little time for church services, reading the word, meaningful fellowship or prayer. All worthwhile activities.

Lots of Christians talk about balance - but as usual - the word is not in the Bible. How can you be obedient to a principal that is not biblical? We talk about priorities and one can make an exigetic case for them. Here they are if you don't have them memorized.

- God
- Spouse
- Family
- Work
- Ministry
- Free Time

God, however; is looking for obedience, not legalism or conformity to a set of values.

Have you ever noticed how helpful a kid is a couple days before their birthday? When there is the promise of a reward, it is a lot easier to be obedient -- but God wants us to be obedient unto death, not unto rewards.

And when God speaks - unless He says in a week - do it now. Delayed obedience is also disobedience.

Think about it. God's balance for your life could be serving Him full-time and not punching the clock. It could be dropping everything and doing a family mission. It could be working 4 "10's" so that you have time with your family, or to volunteer somewhere.

Can you see Him, what's He doing?

In my last blog I talked about the difference between the soul and the spirit. Hearing God is essential to being obedient! If we can't see what the Father is doing, then how the heck are we going to do it? This is why WWJD is a basically for folks that want to put a label on good. But Jesus didn't come to make bad people good, He came to make dead people live. He is not looking for people to do the "right" thing or the "good" thing. He is looking for folks to do His thing!

Jesus said that He came to bring life, and bring it abundantly. Is life full of blessings? It should be. But as Americans we can easily get into the mind-set that a house, a spouse, a 401k, two cars and 2.3 kids is the blessing goal. When we reach it, we'll be blessed.

The reality is that some times the "American Dream" can be the very thing that keeps us from doing the will of God.

We can't always trust our emotions, we need to trust God as He sends messages to our spirit. The truth is that we can't even trust the word of God apart from the Holy Spirit that teaches us. That is why it is essential to hear His voice!

I challenge you to say "You know what God, I need to hear your voice, I need to do your will, and I need your word to be alive. Not so I am smart about Bible stuff, but so that I can know you and see what you are doing. I'd like to be obedient, whatever the cost. Amen"

This little prayer might just be the breakthrough you are looking for -- releasing gifting, ministries, and causing us to learn a new trick or two. Even a dog can fetch.

The Root of the Problem

I was talking to a few friends, coworkers, and even my wife this past week. Each discussion about a current issue seemed to go a little sideways. Here is what I mean. I was talking about immigration, and a friend stated the problem was that illegal aliens are able to show up in the local Emergency Room (or other places) and get care at the expense of working Americans. The facts are that someone is here breaking a law, and yet, we need to have compassion and give life saving medical treatment that they cannot afford.

It certainly is a quandary - an ethical dilemma, and there is no clear cut Bible verse that we can stand on without debate which allows us to know what exactly what to do. There isn't and don't gag me by saying, "What would Jesus do?" He would have healed them supernaturally, free of charge.

As I thought about this issue and others like it - beyond cable news and the rhetoric of Washington- what I discovered is that the situation at hand was a symptom of a deeper problem. In this particular instance, it due to a number of factors.

1) We don't have an established "line" to get into. Every foreigner that hopes to come the US doesn't have any idea where the line is exactly, how long it is, and what type of treatment they will received in moving towards the coveted Green Card. That a huge part of the problem.

2) As a country, we have not decided morally [ethically, biblically] what to do about health care. We just have opinions about it - especially about giving it to lazy folks; unwilling to work, and those with severe sicknesses that even the best insurance doesn't cover. We haven't decided, as a country why or why not to provide universal health care. We are already into "how" to do it.

One side says you can't legislate morality, and I think they are wrong - yet it seems they are right.

The root issue in health care is moral - the rest of the debate is about money and power - what else is new? The symptoms of the problem are those that feel entitled to having something for nothing on one side, and those that are greedy in the industry on the other along with working Americans that do not want to shoulder the bill. Neither position addresses the problem. And part of the reason health care is so expensive is the ludicrous malpractice suits that give millions and millions of dollars- awards without end to those that may have truly suffered. (That's my opinion.)

It's a moral issue at the root and no amount of debate is going to make it just work out until we decide the moral issue. But we won't, and therefore it won't get solved satisfactorily.

For a less controversial issue let's look at oil prices now that they have receded for the time being. We could drill in ANWR and hopefully get enough oil to lower prices for a few years. Higher prices, again, are a symptom of a much bigger problem, not a root cause. The root cause is we have had poor energy policies for many decades and they have caught up with us. Drilling is a temporary fix. Converting to renewable energy source is a solution. And it solves the foreign oil issue - which personally makes me feel safer here in the US. Also, my opinion.

When we look at the many issues facing us personally, our regions and even the world, there are root causes. If we want to solve things, we must look at root causes, not the symptoms. Sure we have complex problems, but fixing symptoms is never a long term solution. For example: Money doesn't solve spending problems - most folks that win the lottery end blowing it all and resorting to the same life style they had before they won. Interesting.

Certainly there a myriad of other social and political issues that don't fit into a specific biblical paradigm - ones for which a chapter and verse do not point to a direct solution. These require thought and most of all godly wisdom - wisdom that seems to be in short supply.

So what's bugging you?

Finances, health, relationships, kids, work -- things aren't going well at church - what? God wants to get at the root of these issues in our lives and provide a solution. He wants to build a foundation so that the choices we make in the future have something foundational to sit atop of.

There are many stories in the Bible of folks that didn't get it - Saul is an example. Of course there are others that finally did. Peter is a good example of finally lining up with the God's will, and making tremendous strides for the Kingdom. It cost him everything.

Hebrews 4:12 For the Word that God speaks is alive and full of power [making it active, operative, energizing, and effective]; it is sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating to the dividing line of the breath of life (soul) and [the immortal] spirit, and of joints and marrow [of the deepest parts of our nature], exposing and sifting and analyzing and judging the very thoughts and purposes of the heart. Amplified Bible

Before you stop reading - this is not a lesson on reading your Bible. You're an adult now, just do it.

Consider Hebrews 4:12 for a moment. It points out a couple of important things about how we humans are put together.

1) The word divides the soul and the spirit. That means that what you feel, and think could be wrong according to the spirit which God controls. Hopefully the new man is released in us (the Spirit), and God is controlling the soulish realm of our thoughts, will and emotions. Of course we all periodically, and sometimes monumentally, fail at this because of our sin nature.

2) It points out how closely related the soul and spirit are - as close as bone (joints) is to the marrow. If you are not familiar with marrow, the only way to separate it from the bone is to scrape it! The two are virtually one. Now that's close.

What does that mean for you and me? It means that our feelings could get in the way of our spirit - the Spirit that God puts in us. We just might miss God. It means that my opinions about health care and the price of oil could be wrong. The good news is that when we immerse ourselves in Gods' word - we have a much better chance of getting it right.

I know a fellow in the church. He's very intelligent and has an amazing entrepreneurial spirit. This guy can think up a viable business in a matter of hours - one that has true potential for making a profit. He can organize people around the idea and motivate them to give it their all. So, why is this guy not "successful" and not a millionaire? Because business, like the kingdom of God, requires a foundation and generally functions by a set of rules or "best practices." Business requires a blend of knowledge, gifting, timing and godly wisdom.

As a Christian, solving problems, personal, corporate or regional (and not creating them) requires a blend of knowledge, gifting, timing and godly wisdom. Amen?

Here are some biblical principals that might help you get to the root causes for some of your issues. You can look them up, they're in there.

How do we get to the root of relationship issues, we learn how to love. We ask God to revel that root of bitterness. We learn forgiveness, sacrifice and service.

How about divorce? We get healing for the "deal breakers" addictions, abuse and infidelity. Jesus said that hardness of heart was the problem - not getting a new spouse.

God has a plan for finances that honestly, is contrary to the way we live in so many places. It starts with not borrowing. Wow, not even $20 from your parents.

As you can, the Bible is pretty clear about the root of many of our woes - and the remedy! But problem solving is not an intellectual endeavor, nor is it a throw it up in the air and let God figure out one either. We must use the Spirit that God has given us to control our soul-- to allow it to filter our thoughts from His. We need to let Him decide if what we are feeling is truly His will, or a way for us to rationalize our own will.

Church, we need to hear God on all issues. When someone says, "I think" - they could be in trouble. Of course when some says. "the Lord said," I hope they're really listening, for if they are, it will bear fruit.

I could write a book on solving problems - but the Bible is already written.

Kingdom Bloggers Goes Live

It is always exciting to to be a Christian. You may not always know what God is up to, but when you are listening, and hanging out with God's people, things do happen!

For a almost a year, I have been an online friend with the author of Woe Is Me and more recently the author of Tony C Today. These two guys have caused me to think, to pray and to be challenged in the things that I hold close. And they enjoy my sarcasm (to tear flesh). Together we have banded together in Jesus' name to write another blog focusing on the Kingdom of God.

This week it's testimonies, and I believe we are going to talk about answered prayer next -- who knows where it will go from there.

So check us out at www.kingdombloggers.com .

Some may ask why 3 guys that already have blogs joined to make one another? Good question. One night I had a dream about it - and then pretty much forgot about it until Dave called me. In the course of our conversation, he brought up the fact that we should do something together. Interesting. We thought that it would be an example of the body working together.

So here we go, both feet firmly planted in thin air-- holding on the promise we have a witness too.

Enjoy.

And be sure, you can enjoy more of the same smart alec rants on Christian and political topics here - just like before.