Apostle David Johndrow - Fire And Grace

I read a few blogs, and man, there are folks out there that have been hurt by church - lots of them! Today I was thinking about some of them, those that are blogging to express their pain and frustration. I have done the same; used my blog to give a voice to those same feelings. I used to think it was sort of funny that some of the folks I met at AA meetings would say, "I'm a recovering Catholic." They were men and woman that had found a relationship with God through the agony of alcoholism. I know what they were talking about. I had my own empty religious upbringing in which God was sort of a myth, and religion was more of a social/cultural activity. One day I met the living God, and all the education I had previously had, as shallow as it was, gave me a starting point. I went and dug out my little red leather bound Bible with the velvet bookmark still on the verse from John that we read when we became members of the church. I hadn't looked at it since. In the ...

I was sitting with my family at a local Mexican restaurant for my wife's birthday. Here is the conversation that took place between me and two of my daughters. 22-Year-Old: I am joining the gym. David: Why? 22-Year-Old: Well, when I go out running the neighborhood, I get home and hear gunshots around the corner (a few months ago, they were in front of the house, that last time there were in the neighborhood). David: Get a gun. 22-Year-Old: Yeah, right. I'll just shove one in my running shorts. 6-Year-Old: Don't do that, you'll shoot your privates off. So much for advancing the dialog for safe and legal gun ownership. U.S. Constitution: Second Amendment: A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed. As an average citizen untrained in constitutional law, I have a couple of thoughts. First, what is a well regulated militia? Second, doesn't this giv...

Once you get into Christian culture, there are some things that you need to learn, but they won't be taught from the pulpit. I have noticed that even new Christians pick these lessons up very quickly. -1 Watch Your Language Around Church Folks: I don't care where you are from, if someone is in a church, they usually stop using the "F" word and most of the other ones they wouldn't use in the presence of a 5-year-old. Especially if the pastor/preist is around. Why is that? I don't know about you, but I have never had a sermon on freakin' profanity. -2 Sermon Notes: Most churches give out a bulletin of announcements. While some outline the service, they inevitably gets used to make a sermon note or two. I have even seen sermon note spaces and my favorite, fill-in-the-blank sermon notes. If I forget my pen, they have some cheesy small pencils in the chair backs. -3 Pray With Your Eyes Closed: Maybe it is Billy Graham, but why Christian pray with their ...

I was at an AA meeting many years ago and someone said, "If you worry, why pray, and if you pray, why worry?" I like that. It places trust in God to do His part, and relieves of the burden of managing an outcome from a situation that we cannot control. I think that everyone prays when things get worrisome. Here are 5 1/2 things that help me not to worry. -1 Past Experience: I survived a flood losing most of my personal possessions. I survived divorce, a deadly car wreck, the loss of a close friend to an overdose, my parents to cancer, not mention the problems that I created for myself due to my own sin. 1 Peter 1:6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. -2 God’s Peace: I just believe him. I g...

Today I am the guest blogger at Brett Barner's Godly Sheep . He is a hi-tech Christian with a sense of humor! Don't just read my post today, but be sure to visit Brett, you'll get a kick out his Monday Morning High 5 - I sure do. The Parable of the Internet Explained In beginning Al Gore [Judas] created the Internet [the Heavenly Realms]. It was 1969, and it took 4 host computers to make "Hello World" appear on the monitor screen [oracle of God]. At the time, a partnership with the world seem like a good thing.... Read more...

Delaware Republican Senatorial nominee Christine O'Donnell is a political powder keg waiting for the fuse to ignite it. Even for me, one who often avoids the media side-shows for thoughtful political dialog - this is a opportunity of a lifetime. I have been hoping to write about a couple of important topics before the elections next month, but I cannot pass up and opportunity to write about Christianity, masturbation and witchcraft ! I have to laugh as I watch ABC's George Stephanopoulos try to keep a serious tone as he plays the MTV clip of O'Donnell talking about the sin of masturbation . I can't even imagine how much Bill Maher is enjoying himself with what he thinks in a right-wing Christian lunatic. Let's face it, even Carl Rove is running gun-shy over the TEA Party 's favored DE candidate for Senate . CBS News says the vibrant senatorial candidate is a clearly a criminal for the way she used $20,000 in campaign funds, [allegedly] for personal use....

I just returned from the Fall men's retreat. We went to a beautiful summer home on the water facing Buzzard's Bay (North Atlantic). I have been on men's retreats on and off over the years. It's usually church to the 4th power. You arrive on Friday, and there is an evening meeting. Saturday you get 2 more meetings and Sunday you get another one in place of regular church. Some of the guys go for a walk, others play a little golf, and the rest play cards Saturday afternoon. And the food, there is plenty of that. The whole thing can be exhausting - and you end up sleeping with someone that snores loud enough to set off the tsunami "early warning alarms" in the  South Pacific. And then there are men being men - it's not a pretty sight. I wonder how some of them ever got married!?! This one was different. First, I didn't know anyone - new church, new faces, bad with names - a losing combination, I thought. Well, I liked...

Isn't it amazing what people focus on? I was thinking about the different church movements, or whatever you call them: Hipster, Emergent, Relevant, Authentic, Charismatic blah blah blah. I don't think these terms aquatically express what is important to me as a believer. Does it really matter whether we meet in a home, or in a mega-church building in an Industrial Park? Does it matter if we use beanbags for pews? What are the basics of a persons faith? Reading the Bible, prayer, and going to church? What is important to a Christians anyway? Here are my top 5 1/2 -1 The Presence of God: I remember the first few times I felt the manifest presence of the Almighty. The day I went from darkness to light.  There was time I sat in the sanctuary with the candle; symbolic of His presence, at it lit the host on the altar. Amazing. My wife and I went to a church in East Boston and sat in his presence for a few hours - just beautiful. When I was in Brazil, ...

I have a online friend, I'll call him Marshall for the sake of anonymity. He has been struggling with this whole "God" thing. My suspicion is that he has had some bad religious experiences. I'd like to say get over yourself and join the club, but how would that change his mind and heart? It is pretty common in pop-culture to believe in god, but deny the whole Christian/Jesus Christ thing. And honestly, I wish it was that easy - just believe in God. I remember when I cane to believe in God, I didn't know who it was, I just knew I was different. I remember singing Amazing Grace and I couldn't hold back the tears. I honestly don't know what happens when the human spirit is infused with the Spirit of God. The Bible uses terms like "seal of the Spirit," and "hearts filled with joy"; stuff like that. None of them explain what regeneration really is... oh and what it feels like. If you go to an evangelical church, you might hear "test...

We took my wife out to dinner for her birthday, and the conversation was fun. Here is a snapshot. 6-year-old: Mom, when you were pregnant, how many babies did you have? My wife: Just one, Honey, you. 6-year-old: Did you sell some? I really think that she spends too much time at the barn and around animals...

It's Primary Day here in Massachusetts. On the coattails of Scott Brown's overthrow of the Kennedy Monarchy, there are, in fact; Republicans running in every Congressional District! It wasn't' long ago that many Democrats and few Independents ran unopposed as Bay Stater's were lulled to sleep by government over indulgence and the housing bubble. I am NOT a Republican, I am NOT a TEA Party advocate and I am NOT a conservative, but I do like to see a good political race. I don't think my friends in either party find me very predictable. I have changed my voting strategy in the last decade. As a Christian, it used to be important to me if someone was part of the fray. It's a little shallow, I know. As I look back, I still would have supported G. W. Bush, but much more because Al Gore and John Kerry fall way short of my religious and political ideals - and they still do. Let me add, I thought there were better choices in the presidential primary last time ...

Can you answer this question: do you fit into the body of Christ, and feel as if God is using you? It is not two questions, but one. If you fit in the body of Christ, He will be using you. If you are not being used , and you are attending church, there is a problem. If God is only using you outside the church, there is also a problem. 1 Cor 12:12 The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. The body is not made up of believers (saints) all having the same sort of gifting, anymore than a body is made up of folks that all have the same personality traits. In the body of Christ, there are two classes of gifts. 1 Cor 12:5 There are different kinds of service , but the same Lord. 6 There are different kinds of working , but the same God works all of them in all men. Most church folks are tuned into service, but when it comes to the "kinds of working", some f...

In the beginning Al Gore [Judas] created the Internet [the Heavenly Realms]. It was 1969, and it took 4 host computers to make "Hello World" appear on the monitor screen [oracle of God]. At the time, a partnership with the world  seemed like a good thing. Though no one owns the Internet [heavenly realms], it is governed by The Internet Society [denominational authorities]. The Internet , mostly unseen - virtual - is very real. The fact that millions of computers; all connected to form a huge network [religion] accessed by billions of faithful users [believers], trading packets of information [prayers of the people], is a miracle! The World Wide Web [Christianity] is only one way to use the Internet, and it's quite useful for the average citizen [parishioner]. The users [saints] know that the "Web" can help us perform  many types of "computer tasks" including: shopping, banking, research, entertainment, and social networking [ch...

Ever since I was a kid, I liked to play games. Matchbox cars, catch, hockey, cowboys and indians, cops and robbers, but board games such as Clue, Checkers, Parchisi, and Monopoly; those were some of my favorites. The video world seems to have taken over, and kids are a lot less imaginative then they once were, but they still like to play games. I was thinking about the disciples and Jesus. They hung out a lot. It seems like it was so serious all the time. All that preaching, healing, casting out demons, the Pharisees creating tense moments, and Jesus sort of letting them experience life long enough to teach them a lesson. I was thinking, what if some of pop cultures best sellers were available to the King of Kings, it might have lightened things up, don't you think? -1 Monopoly: Count out your play Minas, Talents and Denarii and drop a couple of hundred under Free Chariot Parking. Set aside the plastic houses and stables, and choose a game token: the donke...

I have been thinking about what's important in church. I read the preface to a book where the writer gave a warning about his seemingly unorthodox approach to church ministry. I am a sort of unortohdox guy, so I kept reading. There are things that seem to upset religious church folks, and the following is a list that could easily cause an uproar in the average congregation. -1 Bring a tattoed and pierced teenager to the service.  Church folks can get pretty confortable with the status quo. I used to bother me when a drunk alcholic would come to an AA meeting and disrupt it -n like they shouldn't be there for some reason?!. I guess some times it's easy to forget that we are there for every human that is seeking God. He loves them in the package they come in. Maybe we would grow more if more folks that were not like us showed up every Sunday? -2 Start giving a tongue, or a prophesy, or offer a word that is on your heart at the service. It's so easy to be a ...

Whose fault is the sagging economy? George Bush, President Obama, Wall Street, or someone else? As we head into election season, it seems certain that many Democrats will get blamed for the sputtering economy. The question: Is it really their fault? As an uneducated American, I suppose I represent "the" average citizen. Outside of the biased headlines, the experts on both sides of the aisle, and partisan politics, how could anyone figure out how we really get into this recession? I have a few thoughts - hey, isn't that why you read my blog? Gas Prices: I don't think that anyone would disagree that the financial fireworks came in June of 2008 when gas prices topped $4 per gallon ( SOURCE : Reuters). Certainly cutbacks in the labor force had already been taking place. G. W. Bush provided tax rebates which came a little too late, and in the face of skyrocketing fuel prices, were ineffective. Fuel prices continue to be a contributing fac...

Well, we survived Hurricane err... Tropical Storm Earl. He was sort of a wuss compared to his grandparents Bob '91  (Cape Cod, MA) and Gloria '85  (CT). I have lived in New England all my life; most of it on the coast. We have some pretty severe weather from time-to-time. I survived a tornado or two  in Connecticut. We have Nor' Easters that pound the coastline and drop huge amounts of rain and/or snow - one nearly wiped out the Bush family home in Maine during the Nor' Easter of October 1991  with hurricane force winds and 39 foot waves. I survived the Blizzard of '78 where we had snow drifts that completely covered every car in the driveway and rose 6 or more feet about the ridge of the roof on the house! Sometimes winter storms don't get much credit, but we had 42" of snow in 32 hour s back a few years ago.Massachusetts/Rhode Island recently had torrential rains that flooded malls and washed out all sorts of bridges. Hey we even had an ea...

This month my follow blogger; Matt Appling at The Church of No People , is raising money for water - he drinks a lot! He also might make you laugh - so head on over there and support his water project, read his blog, blow a couple of bucks and feel good about yourself. A few facts about water: - The number of toilets in the U.S. is between 300 and 350 million. - An average person uses about 123 gallons (466 liters) of water daily. - Roughly 70 percent of an adult’s body is made up of water. - Drinking too much water too quickly can lead to water intoxication. Water intoxication occurs when water dilutes the sodium level in the bloodstream and causes an imbalance of water in the brain. - Pure water (solely hydrogen and oxygen atoms) has a neutral pH of 7, which is neither acidic nor basic. - Of all the water on the earth, humans can used only about three tenths of a percent of this water. Such usable water is found in groundwater...

Have you ever had grandiose expectations regarding an some event that was supposed to amazing? Some life experiences people talk about with such fondness, you are certain that you are just going to love it too - but it is not the case. Or worse, have you been thrust into an event you didn't sign up for? I am always amazed at how folks brag about how they weren't scared once they've had a chance to change their pants. Here are a few things I wish I knew a little less about! -1 The Birth of a Child: I don't care what you think this is supposed too look like, or what type of film you saw in health education; when it's your kid, things are different. It is common for couples to say "we're" pregnant. If that is the case, then we should both receive an epidural. It seems folks tend to forget the ugly part. If you have a healhty baby, it makes it so much easier to be "fond" of this experience. Genesis 3:16 To the woman he said, "I will g...