Apostle David Johndrow - Fire And Grace

I am on my new blog schedule. I get to sit here in the atrium with plastic flowers and cheesy elevator music - well if the cell phone screamers are not around -I can hear the music of someones life, not mine. Do you think Crazy Train would sound good on classical guitar and flute? I was thinking about things that people get passionate about. Have you wondered why some subjects like killing babies or "a woman's right to choose" get people wound up and other topics like ping-pong balls and lint don't? Here is a burning burning question I see in various forms out there in the blog-o-sphere. I am going to do a "Burning Questions" series - so be sure to suggest some if you like. Why is it some folks think love is letting someone do whatever they want? Isn't freedom of choice just that, the choice to do as we will? (Don't you hate folks that answer questions with questions?) There are lots of ways to look at love - but today I want to focus on love in ...

Today, and now every day, I am more limited to the amount of time that I have to write blogs. It is good and bad. Increased security at work means little or no access to the web which means I have to fire up a laptop when I have a chance - three floors away. On the other hand, social-not-working at work was probably a bad idea anyway. This week has me thinking about lots of things. Health care, church, music, work, kids and retirement. So here is the run down. Kids should make a lot more money so their parents don't have to kick in so much, so often. I feel bad for one of mine that is up to her eyeballs in student loans, and another that is weeks away from being able to pay for her car repairs. My 6-year-old is pretty good with the dough, she spends what she has so that she doesn't have t0 "keep it clean," or put it away. She is mad at the bank because they stole her money she wanted to get a doll with. It is an interesting season for church - personally I feel like s...

In listening to Christians around the world, I have discovered a few things. One, the church has caused a bit of damage. I find that sad. Two, church goers are looking for something that is life giving. And three, the patented formulas for church growth are leaving a lot of folks feeling lonely. Online there is a lot of noise about how hypocritical the church is, the scandals and abuses - and the naysayers are still talking about the crusades! Bill Marr, and Elton John can't seem to spew enough hate to go around. And then you have the Larry King preachers like Joel Osteen and Rick Warren who can't even spit out a simple gospel when they have an audience. It's a good thing Jesus doesn't need a PR agent. I actually don't think it is possible to change the image of the church enough so that people notice. It's seems like it is always going to be about money and bad character. I have a lot Christian friends through blogging, Facebook, and some other social media. M...

After a nearly full day in court last Thursday, I am ready to be a lawyer - for Jesus! Not that Jesus needs my help, or defense skills. One of the things that intrigues me about the Bible is that so many folks do not appear to have read the Best Selling Book of All Time ! Ouch! Therefore; I suspect that there are some things that they don't know about God. It's true that most Christians have never read the entire Bible, and readership is dropping quickly. HERE are the stats. But I don't really want to talk about the Bible today. I want to talk about what's NOT in the Bible. Here's a list of stuff that people seem to accept as members of Team Jesus, that are quite possibly man made traditions. To view them as "requirements" and " biblical mandates," they can certainly get us off track. Church Membership - If you are a Christian by faith in Jesus, you are a member of an eternal order of saints - umm you'll spend eternity in Heaven with Jesus...

One of my readers asked if I like anything about the church. Whoah!?! It was a good question. I have to admit, some days I feel like the church is the biggest dysfunctional family on earth. But beyond all that, God is on the throne, and the Kingdom is at hand. If He wasn't I would have left the church a long time ago. Here is what I love about church: Outrageous Worship - Musical worship is a joy for me personally. I like to stand up, to rock back and forth, sing, shout, pray, and I have enjoyed dancing in the presence of the Lord too. I can't describe it, but there is a presence that is different in each worship service - when it's God, it's fresh and exciting. Some times the lyrics become part of my soul; touching things that have been hidden for too long. Other times I just sing the syllables that come to my lips. My preferred style of music is the one in which God shows up in His manifest presence. From Matt Redman , Burn Service , Tim Hughes , Michael W. Smith an...

Tomorrow at 8 o'clock I start a jury duty assignment; my civic duty. Who knows what that will entail. It could be hours or months, or anything in between. I don't really like court, and for good reason. Not to mention it is just not as romantic as in Law & Order. I doubt that anyone enjoys court unless they have sure case to settle for a lot of money. I find that court is stressful, dirty, and there is a certain authoritarian feeling that I don' t have the words to describe. You might be thinking, how much experience does he have with court? In some respects, much more than I'd like to admit. In 1976 I got a speeding ticket; 51 in a 35. I decided to fight it. The fine at the time was $25 and in my own mind, I should get off. Until that day, I was a court-virgin of sorts. I met with the magistrate and he decided that I was a long-haired nuisance. He sort of threatened me - "well, you'll be a fool if you go in front of the judge." He said. I paid the tic...

I was thinking over life now that a couple of major projects are completed at work, the daughters three are enrolled in school, Yaris 3 is almost repaired and the sun has returned after a Nor' Easter dumped as much as 10 inches of rain on us in 4 days. I thank God is wasn't snow. Today it's St. Patrick's Day. I talked to Mary Anne about living a simple life on a farm somewhere a lot warmer than Boston . We've laid out a retirement plan that hopefully includes not working. ;o) There isn't much holding us here and the cost of living is just plain stupid. Some days I feel trapped by the rats, and occasionally I get a few days off an run one of them over. Rick Warren spent a lot of time writing and teaching on the Purpose Driven Life . I was reviewing those purposes listed below. I am not a huge fan of Warren since his flip-flop on Prop 8 in CA and I find his stuff sort of elementary. It is however; engaging for the average American trying to eek out a Christian...

Today I am a guest blogger over at Abundant Living where Tracy has tossed her religious sensibilities to the wind. On the steps of St. John's Episcopal Church in Essex, Father Thomas told one of his parishioners that I was his friend and resident smart-alec (he actually used another word - but this is a nice blog - Tracy is a nice person). Now that we have that out of the way, I'd like to thank Tracy for inviting me to share some drivel on her dime. I have been around the Christian church for a long time - heard all the blasphemies and heresies you can imagine. IMHO, I may have created a few myself. I have written about the Top 10 Stupidest Things Christians Do , Things I Hate About Christianity , the 10 Commandments for Facebook , and my most popular blogs are about Poor Folks , and The Cost of Following Jesus . In my most sarcastic style (which my wife won't let me use at home), I thought I would debut with the 10 most popular hot-button issues in church today. If I go d...

Some years ago I had a friend who was a cop. One night he got a call and responded to a domestic disturbance call. A woman let him and his partner into the house. As they were interviewing her, the drunk husband showed up. He pulled up behind the police cruiser and came crashing through the door. The two cops easily took him down and had him cuffed. When the enemies of God come against the Christians, the church and defy God himself, like the two policeman, He can take them down without incident. Some Christians think like the Jews did in the time of Jesus and expect the Messiah to shatter every obstacle - eventually, on the last day, He will. The question is this: is that realistic? Didn't David, Daniel, Moses, Gideon, and 13 of the 14 apostles have battles to fight? The answer is yes. Some were physical battles and others were spiritual - coming against men, organizations, governments, factions, religious folks and the unseen forces of the devil, his band of demons, and the princ...

Leave it to the Dutch to mix sexual services and national health care. Apparently one of the most liberal nations in the world when it comes to sex, dope and politics, has pulled back. It seems that the nurses union is not willing to provide a helping hand under some circumstances. Read about it HERE . For a fleeting moment I was grateful for the prudishness of the Obama administration. As the health care debate heads into the home stretch, it seems a little surreal to think that unions might one day have to draw the line, allowing nurses to refuse to provide sexual gratification along with tetanus shots. In any case, here we are at the crossroads of socialized medicine. I suppose we'll get a vote here in the next week or two. Personally I am disappointed in the entire process. Here's why: Coverage - We have 30 million Americans that have no health care. Why can't we just give them basic care? The US could offer yearly check ups and catastrophic care. The rest, could come ...

I've had trouble coming up with a topic and the Heavens have been silent. I thought I would fall back to some lame attempts to blog " random thoughts " but they were too vulgar. I pondered posting videos of me playing guitar , but I have it on good authority that some of you hate country - it makes Dave T. sick. I have written about health care , but Washington isn't listening to me - Mitt says it's broken. I was going to post some twisted conversation that I had with one of my kids, but I've been so busy, that nothing seems entertaining enough to post in public. Today I was thinking about being a Christian, and how grateful I am that I have joined the club of faith, but on occasion I have my doubts. You know, it seems like yesterday that I was rescued from the midst of alcoholism and all that goes with it. There I was at the New England Ala-teen Conference during the summer of 1978 and God surprised me as I let go of the fact that I didn't believe in G...

I grew up in an era when books were pretty much the only alternative to TV. I am sure you love your Kindle, but I had some favorite books with real pages and everything. My most treasured was The Wind in the Willows , which I received as a birthday gift from my grandfather in 1963. It was inscribed with a blue fountain pen. I couldn't read back then, but it was in a wonderful paper wraparound jacket and a green tweed like cloth binding. My mother would sit on my bed and read it to me. The experience is much less about the story line or the plot, but the experience of the book - turning pages, my mother's voice; its changing cadence and emphasis, depending on the character. When she read to me I could hear the wind in the willows. When I started to read, I had some childhood favorites: Little Toot , Winne the Pooh , Harold and the Purple Crayon , and The Little Engine that Could . I can hear that words "I think I can, I think I can." as if I was there in my upper bunk,...